I just got back from a trip to Bonaire where we did several boat dives which I know is not what Bonaire is known for. What is interesting is how the DM's planned the dive. We were on either air or nitrox depending on your skill level. We started the dive on the wall by descending as deep as you would like to go, from about 60ft to 110ft, some went deeper. We were asked to turn at either 30 minutes or 1500 psi and then we began to ascend up the wall and finish the last several minutes of the dive at 15 to 20ft. By the time the max time of one hour was achieved you had completed a safety stop and then some.
I was not crazy about the 1500 psi turn pressure because
I have gotten use to diving 1/3rds and thought people should be turning at 2000. But by following the general pattern of the dives and turning at their 30 minute limit I was still getting back on the boat with about 1/2 of my gas. I just can't envision that rule of getting back on a boat with only 800 psi anymore. I want about 1200 to 1300 psi on the boat after a one hour dive, no matter what the depth. Of course toward the end to do that I had to quit playing out at depths beyond 90ft the first half of the dive.
My point is, a gradual slow ascent while you are still enjoying the view but by planning this strategy ahead of time made for some pretty awesome dives with several minutes of safety stop zone diving while still completely enjoying the whole experience.
What is the golden rule after all, planning.
---------- Post added July 5th, 2013 at 07:25 PM ----------
If you have ever dove with someone who is using a suunto computer believe me, it doesn't like those deep stops. It will continue to rack up deco until you wind up doing a 15 minute deco stop at 15ft deep on a dive where you went with someone else who had one after only a 60ft dive and less than an hour.