get nitrox cert. before going to saba??

[donnad]

hi, hubby and i haven't gotten nitrox certified yet, and are going to saba this summer. is this a destination where diving nitrox would be a significant benefit?? i think alot of the dives are pretty deep, right?

 

[CODMAN]

Donna, you'll be fine without Nitrox. It is not necessary. But in my oppinion, it is usefull in that it generally reduces the amount of Nitrogen you absorb! Along with a few other advantages. Since I've done my nitrox cert, I've used it exclusively. It was very handy, especially for multiple dives a day! It was definetly worth doing the course in my oppinion. If you plan on doing it anyways, why not do it before your trip? That way you can benefit from it in Saba. But as I said, it isn't a necessity!!! Hope this helps!

 

[tvictory]

Having your nitrox cert would be a good idea. On some of the deeper pinnacle dives at Saba, however, you might prefer to use air so as not to be depth limited.

 

[RTRski]

hi, hubby and i haven't gotten nitrox certified yet, and are going to saba this summer. is this a destination where diving nitrox would be a significant benefit?? i think alot of the dives are pretty deep, right?

Check my trip report from June 05 if you want - wife and I dove Nitrox with the exception of one dive (shark shoal, hit 128 max per watch); they mixed from 29 to 34 percent for us at Saba Deep. I'd recommend getting it. I don't think we'd have felt as peppy as we did after 3 dives a day otherwise. But it's certainly not required. Most of our diving was with a Dr. couple who stuck with air, and who were both way more experienced divers than us, and we felt bad because the husband (Bob) always had beaucoup air left even though we thought we had pretty good bottom times! He was definitely a deco-limited, not air-limited, diver.

 

[donnad]

thanks guys. i think we are going to go ahead and get nitrox cert. in the next few months before we go. which agencies require dives to get the cert? or have they all ditched that?

 

[peterjmaerz]

Hi donnad,

I've found that Nitrox adds dramatically to my no-deco time, especially since I use a conservative Suunto Cobra computer. If you're within depth limits (which you will be on almost any of Saba's pinnacles), you'll find you can add a third or more to your bottom time with the right mix.

I got my certification from TDI, through a local dive shop here in South FLorida. I was able to take the entire course on line, only needing to show up at the shop to take my exam. I was able easily to ace the test (which was quite comprehensive and involved a number of calculation problems) after properly studying the online course. I paid a small fee for a password to the study site and then a fee to the shop after passing the test, from which my password fee was deducted.

Here's a link to the course I took....

http://www.coralspringsscuba.com/tdi_tech/tek_n2o2_door.htm


Regards,