Diving at or above 60 feet

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Always come up slow. You shouldn't ever come up faster than 30 ft/ min. unless it is an absolute emergency of life or death. Even at relatively shallow depths, when breathing compressed gases underwater, there is still a risk of decompression sickness. If I make a dive over 25- 30 ft. deep, I will always make a safety stop at 15 ft for a minimum of 3 min., usually 5 min. Deeper than 50 ft., I will also typically do a 1 min deep stop 1/2 way, just to be extra cautious.
 
I make a habit of always doing a safety stop at 15-20'. It may not be needed on a shallow dive, but its good practice for bouyancy control and weight tuning. I used to skip it on some shore dives, doing a gradual ascent following the bottom to the exit point. However, as senility has set in, I would rather develop an automatic reflex to always do one all the time rather than risk forgetting to do one in a stressful situation. Just my 2 cents.
 
If your diving t or above 60 feet. What is the normal protocal for surfaceing. Do you come up slow or stop every so many feet. Or at or above 60 does it matter.

What are they teaching you in class???.... the answer to your question is very straight forward ie think of the word s-l-o-w--unless you're late for a very important date.........
 
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Yep, come up slow from 60 ft., it will be good for you. Is there a rush/race to get to the surface? I hope not, as racing could cause huge problems for you physically. Come up from 60ft. relaxed, who wants to get to the surface anyway as we all have been there most of our lives. I want my tank to last as long as possible.
I have spent a couple of two hour dives at thirty feet before (Marathon Key), it is a great way to spend your time searching for things you've never seen and certainly never see once you've exited the water.
 
The old guideline for safe ascent was 60 feet per minute, which has been revised down to to the current recommendation of 30fpm.

The rate of ascent is more critical at shallower depths, so many might ascend faster at deeper depths and slow to 30fpm or less as they get higher. From 60' or less I'd try to adhere as closely as possible to the 30fpm rate, slowing down as I come to 30 feet or so in anticipation of leveling off at 15-20 feet for my safety stop. Afterwards, I'll usually use far more than 30 seconds to surface from my 15' stop depth.

As a new diver, who may have trouble managing bouyancy, I suggest pausing for a few seconds and re-establishing neutral bouyancy at 40', 30' and 20', partly to manage the overall rate of ascent, but mainly so you don't become positively bouyant with ascent and accelerate past your desired safety stop depth.
 
The only time I skip safety stops is when my dive is very shallow (like 20-25 feet max) or the end of my profile puts me at 15-20 feet for multiple minutes....in the first case, it's almost like doing a safety stop for the entire dive, for the second case, it is in essence doing a safety stop that's just part of the profile, rather than just needing to hang at 15 feet (this is very common for shore diving).

If I were to go to 60 feet, I would definitely do a safety stop for 3+ minutes at 15 feet. Additionally, I'd probably also make a point to be at 30 feet (half depth) for a few minutes. You NEVER want to shoot up to the surface like a rocket. The recommended max ascent rate is 30 ft/min, so if you don't exceed that you should be in pretty good shape.

However, if you look at the dive tables, you will note that you do not HAVE to make a safety stop unless you are nearing or exceeding your NDL time limit. That said, I'd rather dive conservatively and make a couple stops....besides, I enjoy diving, so any extra time in the water is a treat, not a punishment.
 
How to word this...

If you are diving with a computer, the internal algorithm has certain assumptions and you should ascend in such a way as to keep the computer out of an alarm state. In some cases, that will be 60 fpm below 60 feet and 30 fpm above 60 feet. Whatever makes it happy. Read the manual! Some computers lock up when they get angry.

However, if you are diving within the NDLs of a recreational dive table (say PADI RDP or PADI Wheel), you are never obliged to make a safety stop and the maximum ascent rate is 60 fpm. So sayeth the PADI "Open Water Diver Manual" (page 239), the PADI "Adventures In Diving Manual" (page 169), the PADI Wheel, the PADI RDP and Nitrox RDPs and the NAUI RDP all of which I have laying on my desk.

PADI does recommend the 3 minute stop at 15 feet as a precaution but they come far short of requiring it. Quoting PADI, "Safety stops have been tested to a limited degree, and show significant benefit in reducing the probability of decompression sickness". Sounds like a good thing to me! See,again, page 169 of "Adventures In Diving Manual".

So, that's about it! If necessary, you may do a direct ascent to the surface at a rate of 60 fpm from any dive that is within the table NDLs. That's what NDL means: No Decompression Limit! But you will gain significant benefit from an ascent rate of 30 fpm and a 3 minute safety stop at 15 feet.

No algorithm, no table and no recommendation can ever eliminate the possibility of DCS. Slowing the ascent and hanging out at 15 feet will certainly help. I would highly recommend it.

Richard
 
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I make a habit of always doing a safety stop at 15-20'. It may not be needed on a shallow dive, but its good practice for bouyancy control and weight tuning. I used to skip it on some shore dives, doing a gradual ascent following the bottom to the exit point. However, as senility has set in, I would rather develop an automatic reflex to always do one all the time rather than risk forgetting to do one in a stressful situation. Just my 2 cents.

Exactly. Just remember to go slow when ascending.

I applaud you for trying to get as much knowledge about diving as you can before you certification. Just keep in mind that some of the answers given her may not line up with you knowledge reviews or tests. Continue to study and ask questions. We are here to help.
 
How to word this...

If you are diving with a computer, the internal algorithm has certain assumptions and you should ascend in such a way as to keep the computer out of an alarm state. In some cases, that will be 60 fpm below 60 feet and 30 fpm above 60 feet. Whatever makes it happy. Read the manual! Some computers lock up when they get angry.

Richard


I don't have my PADI book with me and I could be wrong but shouldn't you ascend slower from a greater depth (i.e. 30 fpm below 60 feet) than a shallower depth (i.e. 60 fpm above 60 feet)?
 

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