Taking Open Water course for the 2nd time....

[Jay Adams]

If I were his instructor, I'd have him get full medical clearance from an ENT dive specialist first. No such thing as "good to dive to a max dive of". There should be no medical stipulation or condition to what depth the dive can go to here (recreational diving depths). You are either medically qualified to dive or not.

I missed the ear part, thats a bigger deal than the depth they're being required to do skills at. more important too

 

[inquis]

I was unable to clear one ear at about 10 feet

If that's the depth of your first clearing attempt, I'm not surprised. I think I probably have cleared at least twice before getting to 10 ft.

Can you clear on the surface? If so, then I would guess you're just waiting too long. It shouldn't hurt when done soon enough.

Doing a clear before even starting the descent may help. IIRC, training materials say descending feet first is also useful.

 

[tursiops]

About 5 years ago I took the open water course, I did the book work, and 4 confined pool dives. I was unable to clear one ear at about 10 feet, causing a lot of pain. I decided to forgo the open water portion as my ear hurt for a few days.

On your first post on this subject, you said you did 3 of the 4 OW dives. The story seems to be evolving.
PADI Standards say the minimum depth is 15 ft.
In agreement with others, it does sound like you have never actually learned to clear your ears.

 

[scubadada]

OK, no, you will not be able to be a scuba diver if you can't go below 10 feet. Find out why you cannot equalize and take it from there

 

[boulderjohn]

I then went in the pool to practice and I am still having issues past 8 feet.

Are you doing this on your own while holding your breath? You should have a totally different experience in scuba gear while getting help from a competent instructor. Most people can't get past 8 feet while holding their breath without training. Those same people will normally have no trouble doing it on scuba, when you can take your time over many breaths to get it done.

It will get easier. When I first started diving, I was so bad at equalizing that an instructor said that diving might not be in the cards for me. Today I have no issues with it.

If you can equalize, 60 feet won't be a problem; if you can't, even 10 feet will.

This is absolutely correct. If you get past 10 feet and clear your ears at that depth, you are usually good for however deep you want to go.

There is no point in getting certified with the plan of having a maximum depth of 8 feet.

 

[rick00001967]

ssi standard requires the student to dive to at least 15 feet for 15 minutes for each dive. that is the "minimium" standard.

but even if you were planning on only diving to 10 or 15 feet for the rest of your diving career you would still need to be able to demonstrate to your instructor that you can safely equalize your ears.

you should be starting to equalize as soon as your head hits the water. some start before they even start to descend. then you need to keep equalizing as you continue to descend. try swallowing, stretching out your neck, yawning, pinch your nose while swallowing, and pinching your nose while gently trying to blow out your nose.

make sure your sinuses are clear before attempting any in water scuba activities. if your doctor clears you to do so, you might try a good decongestant.

bottom line is that you need to be able to equalize in order to get certified. period.

i agree with someone above who recommended seeing an ent that is experienced with scuba related issues. not all doctors are created equal.

 

[TMHeimer]

I won't address the possible medical problems (only a doctor should). Our OW ocean checkout dives were at approx. 20+ feet.
I do believe that is the norm.

 

[tursiops]

Our OW ocean checkout dives were at approx. 20+ feet. I do believe that is the norm.

Perhaps where you are!
Many instructors, conditions willing, try to go to 40 ft on dives 1 and 2 and 60 ft on dive 3 and 4. That gives the student the best training and confidence, makes the CESA easier (and meets standards), and preps them for real diving later.

 

[rick00001967]

Our OW ocean checkout dives were at approx. 20+ feet. I do believe that is the norm.

we have a couple of sites where 15 to 20 feet is max. if i use those sites, i always make sure to get them out to another site where they can hit at least 30 or 40 feet.

 

[boulderjohn]

I believe you should get students as close to the 40 and 60 foot maximums as you can. Here is Colorado, there is one site where we can get close to 40 in early summer when the water is high, but we have to go out of state for more. We can get all we need in New Mexico and Utah.

I think some shops that keep the dives shallow do it for a really bad reason--they want to be able to do two dives on one cylinder. (I KNOW this is true in some cases.) Keep the dives short and shallow and you only need half as many cylinders at the site. I believe students need to get the maximum experience you can give them.

I believe this is especially true for the AOW deep dive. It only has to be more than 60 feet, but that shallow is close to worthless. The most important thing divers learn on that dive is how much faster they go through air at depth.