How Many Days of Straight Diving?

[uncfnp]

I'm a 50 something female and I often do 3 to 4 dives a day for a week on dive vacations. My last Bonaire trip I did 27 dives in 7 days. Just watch your NDL's since I assume you will be on air not nitrox.

 

[diver 85]

Hello!
I am getting my Advanced Open Water certification in Semporna, Malaysia which will consist of five dives over two days in early June. I would then like to do a three dives in one day package in Sipadan. I've only logged one dive (a wreck dive off Aramoana in New Zealand in Feb 2017) outside of my Open Water cert (Oct 2016) but I am a fit 30 year old. Will I most likely be fine (tired wise) if I do the 5 dives to get my Advanced over two days and then the 3 dives in Sipadan on the third day or should I rest a day in between? I'd like to just do them all over 3 days since there isn't a ton to do in the area outside of diving and that would mean cheaper accommodation but I don't want to be exhausted! Any advice would be appreciated!

I'm guessing--------you'll be fine.......

 

[James R]

I think if you're fit and stay hydrated you'll be fine, assuming you dive without expending a lot of unnecessary energy doing things like flailing and sculling, working harder due to poor weight checks, etc.

The dives at Sipadan are amazing, one of the best places I have been fortunate to dive.

Enjoy it!

 

[admikar]

You are right, they don't, and this (New divers . . .) is intended to be a 'friendly' and 'flame-free' forum. So, since you acknowledge that you have been told that, why not work on fixing it? You can post useful information and thoughts, without sarcasm. Sometimes, the best approach is to draft your post off-line, let it sit for a few hours, then re-read and edit.

I don't think @joe10540's post was too bad. If I was OP and got that answer I would find nothing "bad" to get upset with it. In my opinion it comes down to we don't know what we don't know, myself included. OP did not state his level of knowledge, so it is open to guess and answer on that guess. IMO, that post was quite good on things that we should look for.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

Ir really depends on how you feel each day of the trip. I've been diving since 1989 and have never made more than three dives in a day. I try to get the most out of each dive and don't try to make it into a marathon.

 

[Steve_C]

A dive is not a dive. They vary greatly in how much effort they take
-How long are the boat rides?
-How deep are the dives?
-How calm are the seas?
-Did you have to shlep your own gear and haul it a ways?
-How rested are you at the start of the dive period?
-How easy is it to get a good nights sleep.

I am 71. I have done 4 dives in a day several times and could have done a fifth. I also, after dealing with rough water and a long surface swim with current called it after one reef dive.

 

[Haleyeah]

You're 30 and fit. Go for it and enjoy it....Drink lots of water, and if you feel like you are too tired to make the next dive, sit it out. No harm in that. You clearly know how to dive, so you understand no deco limits. I don't think anyone on this site would give a second thought to someone saying they had 8 dives planned over 3 days...Don't be discouraged to ask questions either.

 

[Thrawn7]

AOW and Sipadan out of Semporna is very long days. Do it out of Mabul if you can as it saves a considerable amount of tiring boat travel time.

Sipadan is a a fairly advanced place as it gets very deep and strong unpredictable currents.

The issue with Sipadan is that permits are scarce and very expensive. You want to be in a decent shape to do it and maximise the time in the water in Sipadan. On the day I did Sipadan last year, I did 5 dives (4 Sipadan and 1 Mabul). But coming from a dive resort in Mabul, logistics are much simpler.

 

[dmaziuk]

Will I most likely be fine (tired wise) if I do the 5 dives to get my Advanced over two days and then the 3 dives in Sipadan on the third day or should I rest a day in between? I'd like to just do them all over 3 days since there isn't a ton to do in the area outside of diving and that would mean cheaper accommodation but I don't want to be exhausted!

I believe the common advice is take a day off every 7 days of diving. Lot of people do 3 dives/day for 7 days straight, I wouldn't expect diving to be a problem. If you're flying to SEA from US I'd worry about jetlag.

 

[outofofficebrb]

Hello!
I am getting my Advanced Open Water certification in Semporna, Malaysia which will consist of five dives over two days in early June. I would then like to do a three dives in one day package in Sipadan. I've only logged one dive (a wreck dive off Aramoana in New Zealand in Feb 2017) outside of my Open Water cert (Oct 2016) but I am a fit 30 year old. Will I most likely be fine (tired wise) if I do the 5 dives to get my Advanced over two days and then the 3 dives in Sipadan on the third day or should I rest a day in between? I'd like to just do them all over 3 days since there isn't a ton to do in the area outside of diving and that would mean cheaper accommodation but I don't want to be exhausted! Any advice would be appreciated!

I hear Sipidan is amazing! Lucky.

No one can say for sure whether you will be fine tired-wise or not. Everyone is different and every dive is different for each diver even though they dived the same site for the same length of time. Take my girlfriend who wears a 7mm with no hood or gloves in 55F water. I wear an 8/7 semi dry with gloves and I'm still freezing - one dive sucks a lot of life out of me and meanwhile, she's still going and up for more dives. I'm tired, cold, hungry. We dove in 75F water together recently and while I was cold she was fine. Getting back onto the boat - that darn ladder - took the life out of her to get up but I was fine.

These are all examples of how one situation can affect people differently. Since you don't have very many dives or experience with many repetitive dives to draw from to make your decision based on history, only you will know when the time comes. Don't be afraid to thumb the dive if you're not feeling up for it or comfortable. Being tired and not thinking clearly can lead to accidents.

As for what everyone thinks..You asked for people's opinion on whether they think you will be fine or not..Naturally, there will be instances where people will say you'll be fine, go for it, maybe it's what you want to hear. There will be instances when you will hear something you don't want to hear--not a good idea, are you sure you know what you're getting yourself into, etc. The nice thing about a forum is everyone will give you their input and it is just that - a suggestion. Take it and use it to make your decision. No one is forcing you to do it that way.

No one here can and should be able to say for sure (100%) that you will be fine; we can only hypothesize and share with you our experiences. As for me, I've only done 15 dives back to back on a liveaboard two separate times. I can handle it. The first time, I was on air and I was always tired and napping between dives. On nitrox, very manageable and fine - I could have dived more than the 4 a day we were doing!

I hope this helps. Have a great time in Sipidan and don't forget to tell us all about it! When do you go?