Was this a terrible idea, or merely a bad idea?

[scrane]

Once again, thanks to everyone who has weighed in. I've gotten what I had hoped to get in posting this topic....a much more informed perspective on how to approach decisions like this going forward. I fully expected to get get flamed a bit given the topic, but even those who thought it was an incredibly poor decision were constructive and helpful with their comments. As we all know that can be a bit of a rarity in internet-forum-world, so it was a pleasant surprise. Grateful to have found this site....I've got lots of reading to do in advance of my trip next month.

So, what's your conclusion? Was it a terrible idea? Or just a bad idea? Or maybe the right decision?
If you had it to do over again: would you?

 

[Nation of Heat]

So, what's your conclusion? Was it a terrible idea? Or just a bad idea? Or maybe the right decision?
If you had it to do over again: would you?

At this point I'm in the "merely bad" mindframe. If I knew then what I know now I likely would've waited to get a bit more experience under my belt. That said, I feel reasonably good that we were in good hands, and the divemaster/instructor had a handle on where we were in terms of skills and was in position to deal with issues if they arose. We genuinely felt comfortable throughout the entire dive. But the stakes are obviously high, so I might err towards the more cautious side. Lots of little things that could go wrong that would be better to process for the first time at 30 feet than 100 feet. Reading lots of case-study type things in the year since we've been certified I've gained a healthy respect for how many factors can come into play that I never even considered. (At 80 feet your weight belt slips off, falling down to the sandy bottom at 100 feet. Go retrieve it? How will an ascent without the belt be compared to a normal ascent? etc etc)

The dive was incredible, and I'm glad we got to do it. But I've gained a lot from reading all the perspectives in this thread that will definitely factor in to similar decisions in the future. As many here have pointed out....at the end of the day it's a personal decision. My goal here was to educate myself as much as possible on the various factors that I wasn't considering (or didn't consider enough) due to inexperience. Nothing is going to replace experience, but for me at least, having the benefit of discussions like these will help me make the most out of my time in the water.

 

[Lorenzoid]

So, what's your conclusion? Was it a terrible idea? Or just a bad idea? Or maybe the right decision?
If you had it to do over again: would you?

At this point I'm in the "merely bad" mindframe. If I knew then what I know now I likely would've waited to get a bit more experience under my belt. . . .

This is how it goes, and how it will always go. Nobody gets their OW card and then rushes to SB to read up about all the things they should not do. No, what they do is go out and do some dives, including at least one that inevitably gives them pause: "Should I have done that?" That is when they seek out advice from the supposedly seasoned divers. I guess that's just how we learn--in many endeavors, not just diving. As someone said many posts ago, don't beat yourself up over it. It is natural.

 

[dmaziuk]

At this point I'm in the "merely bad" mindframe. If I knew then what I know now I likely would've waited to get a bit more experience under my belt.

Don't overthink it.

If this was the wreck I'm thinking of, my log shows 12 minutes below 25m w/ deepest point at just over 30m (I didn't go all the way down because a) my better half didn't want to and b) I've seen garden eels before). Subsurface shows 2m ceiling at that point using GF 30/75, but with total dive time of 45 min and average depth of 15m, there was plenty of time to clear that. Apparently I surfaced with 25 bar left in the tank without any more gas planning than "the bottom is at 110', watch you air".

What that means is: meh. As @NetDoc says: about the safest and easiest 110' out there. Personally I'd prefer my AOW Deep someplace where I'd actually get narced and stressed, to know what that's like.

 

[nolatom]

Sounds as though you have the right perspective and are in a good place about your future progress.

Best Wishes

 

[The Chairman]

at the end of the day it's a personal decision.

My second law of diving, what I affectionately call the Rule of Fun: You can call a dive at any time, for any reason with no questions asked and no repercussions. In this case, it should work other way as well. You should be able to do a dive and discuss it without fear of being trashed over it. In this case, those who have actually dove the wreck seem to be unanimous that it's a fairly easy dive and the dive op was prudent in taking the OP on the wreck. It's not that we don't appreciate different opinions, but we've been there and blown bubbles on that wreck. We really know what we're talking about in that regard.

 

[Eric M]

.

Jim, you make some great points that reminds me my circumstance. Prior to taking years' hiatus form diving, my diving experience amounts to lake dives in central Europe generally with depths of about 20 meters, with a handful of dives to 40 meters as was required for a local certification. This was over a period of about 3 years, about 40 dives in total. Having said that, now that I live where ocean diving is a norm and with that multi dive days, etc, 110 feet doesn't seem like a big deal (I'm OW certified so far). In addition, my dozen or so dives were with guides in Mexico and I came to realize, I may and will be diving off Catalina Island in so. Cal, where I imagine no dive guide will accompany me, or perhaps other places such as Florida. So suddenly I'll be the most experienced diver on the team and I'll have to account for things I took for granted when diving with a guide. It's gonna be a whole new ball game!

 

[tarponchik]

Man, you were impatient! I went to 110 ft only on my dive #10!