Altitude Diving

[ScubaRob0311]

I apologise if this is in the wrong section.

I was curious if there are any other considerations besides theoretical depths when diving at altitude? I plan on doing some dives around 2000 feet above sea level next year.

 

[Joebar]

2000 feet is roughly 610m. The original Buehlmann tables covers 0-700m as sea level.
I would check if the DC has adaptetd the lower atmospheric pressure and thats it.

 

[Esprise Me]

So my OW course taught me that anything above 1,000 feet is an altitude dive. But then when I decided to do an aquarium dive in Vegas (elevation ~2,000 feet), I found out that my Cressi Leonardo uses the same settings from sea level up to 2,300 feet. So you might not even have to worry about that. Do look into the elevation changes for the drive home, if applicable; my trip involved a mountain pass of over 4,000 feet. Since my dive was a max of 23 feet, I figured I could linger over dinner and get home without getting bent, but you might be planning something more ambitious.

 

[NAM001]

So my OW course taught me that anything above 1,000 feet is an altitude dive. But then when I decided to do an aquarium dive in Vegas (elevation ~2,000 feet), I found out that my Cressi Leonardo uses the same settings from sea level up to 2,300 feet. So you might not even have to worry about that. Do look into the elevation changes for the drive home, if applicable; my trip involved a mountain pass of over 4,000 feet. Since my dive was a max of 23 feet, I figured I could linger over dinner and get home without getting bent, but you might be planning something more ambitious.

that shouldnt be an issue the altitude change is a relative slow one as compared to a plane goig form ground to 14k

 

[loosenit2]

Traversing higher elevations before and after diving is a factor that has to be taken into account when altitude diving. I agree that driving is much more forgiving than flying with its immediate ascent to 8,000 ft cabin pressure but it is still a factor. If the diver is doing aggressive, repetitive dives and then going through a 4,000 ft mountain pass the same day there are at increased risk for developing DCS.

I don't know any dive computers that account for this, they all seem to do the more simple fly/no fly decision. NOAA and the US Navy have dive tables that have ascent to altitude guidelines that are much more detailed than anything found in recreational agency guidelines, but you have to be aware that the pressure groups that they use are different than the typical recreational dive tables. A couple of products are attached to this post.

 

[Joebar]

Traversing higher elevations before and after diving is a factor that has to be taken into account when altitude diving.

In my opinion traversing higher elevations (before and) after diving is a factor that has to be taken into account after every dive including sea level!

 

[loosenit2]

In my opinion traversing higher elevations (before and) after diving is a factor that has to be taken into account after every dive including sea level!

totally agree

 

[broncobowsher]

I apologise if this is in the wrong section.

I was curious if there are any other considerations besides theoretical depths when diving at altitude? I plan on doing some dives around 2000 feet above sea level next year.

Not really. As stated above 2000 feet may not even be considered altitude diving by some standards, or it is the lowest level by others. Mountains apply the same as if they were next to the ocean. If you understand the theory and dive accordingly you will be fine. The limits come slightly sooner, just don't push them.

 

[maadJurguer]

I guess to answer your question, where you will be going (we assume somewhere 2,000 ft ASL), and how soon after your dive you will be leaving (time), and what elevation profile will you take to get there (flying assumes 7-8,000 ft ASL, give or take for a pressurized cabin). If you're driving home, what route and over what elevation profile? These are the things that joebar and others are rightly saying must be taken into account.

For the actual diving itself, you don't need to do anything special if you're sticking to recreational diving at 2,000 ft ASL. I can't answer for any mix gas scenario, so that might be a different story.

 

[mcohen1021]

I apologise if this is in the wrong section.

I was curious if there are any other considerations besides theoretical depths when diving at altitude? I plan on doing some dives around 2000 feet above sea level next year.

Already mentioned but I'll share my example.

I dove new Mexico's Blue Hole years ago (5000 ft). Traveling from Albuquerque to Santa Rosa (amd back), you rise to 8000 ft. Luckily, your typical dive pc takes that into consideratin, but please don;t take my word for it - check your manual to see the pc has overlapping algorithms.