Class Prerequisites

[certified in 1976]

Wow, 190, 1st time I've ever heard that. I am certain when I was certified in 1989 140 was the max recreational limit.

I was certified originally in 1976 and remember our instructor telling us how he and his girlfriend had done a bounce dive to 200 ft while on vacation in the Bahamas. He didn't recommend it but AFAIK there was no actual official max depth back in those days.

 

[urbaneve71]

I was cert. in 2002 and my first "real" dive I went down to a 122' but.... I was with 30 other diver too and an experienced free diver and long distance swimmer. In fact, I recall that weekend, I was coming up with over 1800 psi while everyone else was coming with standard 500... we all thought something was wrong with my gauges, so we changed them out. Next dive was 2100. It turned out, my lungs were really conditioned. AND I'M ASTHMATIC TOO.

anyhoo, I digress. I actually ended up diving Nitrox during my check-out week-end

 

[tursiops]

Every time Boulderjohn tells that story, I like it better. Maybe it ought to be a sticky?

 

[boulderjohn]

Every time Boulderjohn tells that story, I like it better. Maybe it ought to be a sticky?

It's a thought. There are so many old and totally false stories going around and repeated endlessly that I feel the urge to correct that information.When I first started on ScubaBoard 13 years ago the common myth was that PADI divided the original scuba course into three parts to create their current OW series. I believed that myself.

BTW, the source of what I wrote was a draft of the history of NAUI written by Al Tillman (NAUI Instructor #1) and his son. It has many other interesting tidbits, and reading it really opened my eyes to a lot of the history of scuba. I recommend it heartily for those who want to speak with accuracy rather than repeat the old myths.

I also attended a special session with Jean Michele Cousteau, who first went on scuba at age 7 with the help of his father, using the very first regulator that he and Gagnon invented. That session, along with reading a memoir by Jean Michel (My Father, the Captain), told me a lot about the very earliest days of scuba.

 

[Hawkwood]

Every time Boulderjohn tells that story, I like it better. Maybe it ought to be a sticky?

Yeah, but then it takes away the fun that "old codgers" and the "bashers" seem to have.

Why ruin the myths they propagate with facts?

 

[boulderjohn]

I was certified originally in 1976 and remember our instructor telling us how he and his girlfriend had done a bounce dive to 200 ft while on vacation in the Bahamas. He didn't recommend it but AFAIK there was no actual official max depth back in those days.

Maximum depths are recommended only. Diving on your own you can do whatever you want. Diving with a dive operator limits you only to what the operator thinks the limits should be. A couple of years ago I dived in the Bahamas, and the operator's DMs would regularly lead OW dives to 150 feet. I am sure that if I had said I wanted to go to 200 feet, it would have been arranged.

 

[Neilwood]

Maximum depths are recommended only. Diving on your own you can do whatever you want. Diving with a dive operator limits you only to what the operator thinks the limits should be. A couple of years ago I dived in the Bahamas, and the operator's DMs would regularly lead OW dives to 150 feet. I am sure that if I had said I wanted to go to 200 feet, it would have been arranged.

I would imagine that these days he would have to check with his insurer beforehand

 

[boulderjohn]

I would imagine that these days he would have to check with his insurer beforehand

Maybe. I saw them lead 150 foot dives just 3.5 years ago.

 

[certified in 1976]

In Cuba we've been down to 150 ft. on a DM led dive a couple of times. Good luck trying to sue Castro if something went wrong.

 

[mcohen1021]

don't get me started on cuba. U should have taken those sorry ^^%$#ers down with lead weights and without tanks.