new to diving and want to know if i should get nitrox cert

[dbulmer]

Bob,
I once did a dive on nitrox where my buoyancy control was so miserable that I could have ended up at 70m - my buddy swore at me at 24m - at 30m I bounced off the bottom in Wile E Coyoyte style.

My point is that a new diver struggling with decent buoyancy control is better off developing better skills to start with either with a mentor or through paid tuition. At the time my buoyancy skills were usually better than that but on that day I got to learn how sound really travels underwater

 

[OneRestlessNative]

Bob,
I once did a dive on nitrox where my buoyancy control was so miserable that I could have ended up at 70m

Nitrox has no physical effect on buoyancy. Not trying to bash you, just wanted to clarify that fact for the OP.

 

[Altamira]

Relatively new diver here so my comments are limited to my experience with Nitrox. During OW training and during a two tank/day/for three days dive trip earlier this year, I was using Air and felt pretty tired after the second dive. By comparison, I just came back from a week in Bonaire, using Nitrox 32-33, where I was diving three and sometimes four times a day for six consecutive days without being tired. Although the Nitrox was more expensive to use, did not necessarily increase my bottom because of my skills level, I found the $100/week unlimited Nitrox premium that I paid was worth every dime for how much better I felt at the end of 3-4 dives, at the end of the day and the beginning of the next day. Since I am a geezer, I may have benefited more than you would have, but I am not diving Air again unless Nitrox is not available, or unless I am only doing one dive.

 

[theduckguru]

I was recently in Bonaire and met 2 people from California who had been doing 2 dives a day on air for 10 days in 50/60 foot water and one of them got a bend. For repetitive diving nitrox might help.

In locations like Bonaire where nitrox can be included as a free upgrade in a package it might help to use it provided you have the training of course

To the OP, do nitrox if you can control your buoyancy. If you feel your buoyancy control could do with some more practice it might be better to wait a while before doing Nitrox.

Do you have any statistics on this claim? I think you'll find the rate of DCI is less than 1/5000 dives - which includes the divers on nitrox.

 

[Stu S.]

You can read plenty about nitrox by doing an online search. Spend an evening reading up, and you'll know enough to determine if it benefits the diving you plan on.

The classroom part of nitrox training can be done online. And, there is no longer a diving requirement. In Central Florida, it is the most useful certification that $79 can buy.

 

[k ellis]

I am primarily a nitrox diver due to its overall benificial uses. It does extend bottom time but its optimal depths are usually around 60 to 80 feet where the increased bottom time is at its peak. It does create a shorter surface interval as well as increase bottom time.

As others have said my personal experiences have been less fatigue post dive though many would disagree with this. I agree with many of the previous responses that if it makes you feel better then it does help

 

[NAUI AL]

...I just came back from a week in Bonaire, using Nitrox 32-33, where I was diving three and sometimes four times a day for six consecutive days without being tired. Although the Nitrox was more expensive to use, did not necessarily increase my bottom because of my skills level, I found the $100/week unlimited Nitrox premium that I paid was worth every dime for how much better I felt at the end of 3-4 dives, at the end of the day and the beginning of the next day...

That's pretty much the golden ticket right there. Simply put, it makes active diving so much more enjoyable.

 

[dbulmer]

Nitrox has no physical effect on buoyancy. Not trying to bash you, just wanted to clarify that fact for the OP.

The ability to control buoyancy prevents you from exceeding the MOD of your mix and in my case going to 70m would not have been a good idea

 

[dbulmer]

Do you have any statistics on this claim? I think you'll find the rate of DCI is less than 1/5000 dives - which includes the divers on nitrox.

I said : "might help" and No I don't have any stats.

 

[OneRestlessNative]

The ability to control buoyancy prevents you from exceeding the MOD of your mix and in my case going to 70m would not have been a good idea

Haha, yeah I totally read that wrong. That indeed would not be a good thing at all.