100' before AOW?

[jbtut]

I would pass. I am not one of those screamers who chant "don't dive beyond your training" and have minimal respect for the AOW title, but at less than 10 dives in an emergency you may not have the ability to handle stuff yourself. Also some people get narced more than others and you can make stupid decisions. Much better to slowly work up to diving deep.

Lastly, diving with an experienced diver is not the same as diving with an instructor / DM who are trained to look out for newish divers. Personally, I think I am an experienced and savvy diver, but probably a crappy replacement for an instructor.

I think this is good advice.

OTOH, I've been to around 120' and am only OW trained and really have no concerns about it so long as I'm staying withing my NDL limits. However I wouldn't jump in on my 10th dive and head down as deep as my computer allows.

Second, I go diving to see stuff. Most of that stuff is in less than 80 feet of water, so I really don't care to go super deep. Additionally, I can stay under a lot longer at 60 feet and see more stuff for more time.

 

[Fusion94]

the guy/guys i will be with have been diving for close to 10 years...
the only reason i am asking is because i frequently freedive/spearfish in 60' and can freedive 80' comfortably... so am very confident in my water skills... just didnt know if there was a big difference between 80' and 100'
i would also be diving nitrox with a computer.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

" just didnt know if there was a big difference between 80' and 100'"
Answer is there very well could be,. Freediving you are not absorbing nitrogen like you do on scuba so the narcosis may be a big factor.

"i would also be diving nitrox with a computer."

And what mix will you be using and what is the MOD for that mix? You should know. And it may not have any effect on the narcosis. How much gas will you use? What is your SAC rate? Will there be enough gas to make the dive based on your rate of consumption?

My limit for taking students to 100 ft is they must have a min of 17 dives. 4 Ow checkouts, 10 dives post OW ,and the first 3 in my AOW course. They also must understand narcosis, gas planning, gas management, have good buoyancy and trim, be able to do all basic skills horizontal, and understand the risks involved with a dive to that depth. And I would never take someone down to that depth just to do it. We would perform actual skills, test their level of narcosis (I like to run a reel and then have them bring us back with it, and will then pull an OOA as we begin our ascent), and share air to our first stop at 1/2max depth. But they need to have my required skills to start the AOW first.

That said I went to 100 ft on dive 15, I believe, as part of my AOW class and had no real idea what I was doing, knew nothing of proper gas management or planning, and as a result would never do that to one of my students. It was a BS way to get a deep dive in.

 

[FWADIVER]

My first dives out of open water were to 130' It didnt seem like too much of a big deal, in a tiny quarry with 130' being the bottom in a drysuit.. I really dont think there is any trouble i could have been in that I couldnt get out of.. now I would be a little more anxious about it if there was nothing but blue in all directions.

 

[markmantei]

I think too much emphasis can be placed on depth sometimes. I am only OW certified. I passed 100' after 30 or 35 dives, but it was in clear tropical water with near perfect vis. I felt more comfortable there than some of my other dives to 60-75' in poor vis, cold water and current off the Canadian west coast or in cold mountain lakes.

That said I would NOT recommend it for someone with less than 10 dives. You need to be comfortable with your skills, and confident enough you can deal with stress underwater if something were to happen, do you recognize all of the risks @ the dive site, not just the risk the depth introduces? How are your buddy skills, buoyancy control, etc. What about your familiarity with your SAC and how it relates to your depth and air time remaining?

While I don't want to turn this to PADI bashing, I don't think AOW necessarily qualifies someone to go past 100' either, the question is experience and confidence in your ability to execute the dive plan safely.

 

[Buoyant1]

Not QUITE 100, but pretty dang close. I had more than 20-25 non training dives, AND was diving with guys that were pretty experienced who evaluated my competency and didn't see a problem with me following them that deep.

I ended up leading the deep dive during my AOW since I'd already been to where they were taking everyone a few times.

 

[warmwaterturner]

Did 112' for my AOW "deep dive" but that was after working up to it and having completed the deep dive portion of the certification.

 

[highdesert]

Dive guide in Roatan took us to 115' when we were at about dive number 20 (OW only). I didn't know we were that deep until we were there. Started slow ascent shortly thereafter. It wasn't smart then, and I sure wouldn't recommend it now.

 

[Garth]

My first dive out of open water was a dive in the cayman island, big tunnel to 114'. So what who cares as far as I'm concerned. Now take me to 70' in the 40 degree quarry I was certified in and I would have been scared ****less. It's all relative. That's why depth is only one factor which in my opinion is less relevant compared to temperature and visibility.

Sorry just thought I would give you my opinion. Unless you have dove In extremely cold, dark, low viz water you might not understand what I mean.

 

[Garth]

Dive 1