Changed depth limit for PADI Open Water

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First a quick summary of the accurate points already made by several posters:

PADI has no authority whatsoever to set RULES for the dives done by certified divers. They do have recommendations, and those recommendations are as described by Diver0001. The people who do have authority to set RULES are local governments and the people who run the dive operations through which divers get into the water. Many times, those governments and operators set rules that are consistent with common agency recommendations.

Now for a description of how that can play out in the real world.

I was on an Australian liveaboard a little over a year ago, and the director of diving for the trip gave a pre-trip talk on diving rules. In one rule that restricted how we could dive, he told us they had no choice but to make that restriction because it was a PADI rule. All of the diving employees were in attendance, all of whom were PADI instructors who should have known what he was saying was not true. I did not want to make a scene, so I spoke to him privately to ask why he had said that. He at first claimed he had said nothing wrong, but when it became clear I knew what I was talking about, he admitted that the rule was company policy, not a PADI rule. The reason for it was obvious. They wanted to make sure our dives were ultra, ultra safe so that they did not have a remote possibility of dealing with a DCS case while out on the Great barrier Reef.

Near the end of the trip, he announced the schedule that included our low level flight back to our starting point. He said we could not dive for 24 hours before that time "because of PADI rules." Of course, PADI's recommendation for flying after the diving we were doing is 18 hours, not 24, and every one of the PADI instructors listening to his speech should have known that. They obviously wanted to have some additional time to pack up at the end of the trip and did not want us doing the last possible dive. I assume that the playing it ultra, ultra safe before flying concept may have been in effect as well. They needed to be able to say it was not their fault that we could not do that last dive.

I am sure things like this happen regularly. Many, many thousands of people around the world have been told that the dive operator limiting their dives has no choice because of PADI rules, when in reality they are following their own rules and possibly the dictates of their insurance carrier. It is better for them to be able to pass the buck for an unpopular policy to someone outside of their control.
 
Kev,

What in the world does that post #7 have to do with the question asked?
Pitelli (OP) said any insight appreciated.

I just offered a real physical quantitative example with regards to gas planning which justifies the 18m/60', instead of everybody else's anecdotal qualitative interpretation (like BoulderJohn's above) on what the Dive Operators' & PADI's motivation is for their policies, "rules & recommendations" regarding Basic Open Water Limit of 18m/60'. . .
 
It is the PADI business model. They get big enough and reach broad enough, their recommendation is referred to as rules by dive ops. Dive ops probably do that out of liability concern as well. It is what it is. PADI is very successful influencing the industry.
 
Look at this objectively from the perspective of Air Sharing in an Emergency Out-of-Air Contingency for two novice divers at 30m:

A Quick Contingency "Rock Bottom" Calculation and Gas Plan Estimate for Open Water. . .

Given: For a single 11 litre tank (AL80), a total of 11 litres/bar metric tank rating and a volume Surface Consumption Rate (SCR) of 22 litres/min -same as a pressure SCR of 2 bar/min*ATA (divide 22 litres/min by 11 litres/bar)- using an example NDL air dive to 30m (4 ATA) depth in Open Water.

Emergency Reserve/Rock Bottom pressure calculation, from 30 meters with one minute stops every 3 meters to the surface,
-->Just "tally the ATA's":
4.0
3.7
3.4
3.1
2.8
2.5
2.2
1.9
1.6
1.3

Sum Total: 26.5

Multiplied by 2 bar/min*ATA equals 53 bar Rock Bottom absolute reading remaining on your SPG. --this also happens to be the pressure in bar needed for one person in an emergency contingency to reach the surface with the above minimum decompression ascent profile.

So ideally for a two person buddy team, multiply 53 by 2 which is 106 bar for both to reach the surface (sharing in a buddy Out-ot-Gas contingency).

But realistically, for two experienced divers stressed: 106 bar plus 30% of 106 bar equals 138 bar Rock Bottom SPG reading.

For two novice divers stressed: 106 bar plus 100% of 106 bar equals 212 bar (!!!)
--->obviously then, two novice divers on single 11L tanks should not be diving to 30m for any significant length of time. . .

If you run that at 1 min stops at every meter rather than every 3 meters how many more bars can you hit on the way up.

It really should not be necessary to pull out the chicken-little card.
 
Pitelli (OP) said any insight appreciated.

I just offered a real physical quantitative example with regards to gas planning which justifies the 18m/60', instead of everybody else's anecdotal qualitative interpretation (like BoulderJohn's above) on what the Dive Operators' & PADI's motivation is for their policies, "rules & recommendations" regarding Basic Open Water Limit of 18m/60'. . .

Right. So the rest of us made the mistake of answering the OP's question about the rules imposed upon him by his certification level by telling him about the rules imposed upon him by his certification level. I began by summarizing the actual rules and then went on to explain why some dive operators give inaccurate information about those rules. I will try not to make that mistake again.
 
John, purely out of curiosity, do you happen to know what the rationale behind choosing 60 feet was? I apologize if you already answered it earlier here or elsewhere, I do not remember reading it. Thanks!
 
John, purely out of curiosity, do you happen to know what the rationale behind choosing 60 feet was? I apologize if you already answered it earlier here or elsewhere, I do not remember reading it. Thanks!

Nope. I have no idea what the original rationale for that was, other than the belief that diving to the deeper end of the recreational spectrum involves more risk and thus should call for more training.

EDIT: I do know it had nothing to do with Rock Bottom planning and one minute stops every 3 meters to the surface.
 
Australia dive ops are especially conservative. As a newly certified diver, they kept me on a shallow reef, way shallower than the PADI recommended limit. Had I been in Cozumel, they would have said "If you feel up to doing 100 feet, no problem."
 
The territories in Australia regulate the dive industry there. For example, Queensland has the Recreational Diving, Recreational Technical Diving and Snorkelling Code of Practice 2010. These codes often place a higher burden (restrictions) on a dive operator than on the individual diver diving from the shore or his/her own boat. These codes also do not necessarily follow PADI or other certifying agencies' recommendations for depth limits.
 
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