100' seemed hard to breathe

[AfterDark]

.....not to hijack this thread...but where did you read/hear that there's nothing much to see past 100' ??? ....guess you're not a big fan of wall dives ???

I didn't "hear" it, 30 years of diving has proven it to me. Keep diving you'll learn.

 

[lamont]

I had dark/paranoid/CO2 narcs semi frequently past about 80 feet when I first started diving that deeply. The recommendations to communicate the problem to buddy/instructor and to ascend shallower are all good. There's no need to try to prolong the problem and push through it. With time you'll learn to be more comfortable at depth and to break the cycle that causes that issue.

I didn't quite have the severity of issues that you are describing, since I never felt like I couldn't get air (that indicates that you're probably letting the issue go too far, and should be building up to those depth a little more slowly). I did have anxiety at 95 feet, though, which I'd notice would immediately clear up at 80-85 feet. After awhile I gained experience at one particular dive site so that I was comfortable and my breathing was comfortable and I could dive there without any issues. Because the issue is so tied to mental condition, I found that I still had anxiety at another location about 200 feet away from the first one. I just slowly built up experience, and got to the point where I could do 30 minutes @ 95 feet on 32% at the site where I felt comfortable, and that helped with the 5 minutes spent @ 105 at the location where I didn't feel entirely comfortable. What I found important was to spend only a small part of the dive where I felt uncomfortable, and spend more time where I felt perfectly comfortable (getting the positive reinforcement of having a good dive, rather than the negative reinforcement of feeling anxiety).

Improving your skills also helps. When you feel confident that you and your buddies can deal with any gas issues that occur at depth, that'll reduce the stress level a lot.

 

[scubafanatic]

I didn't "hear" it, 30 years of diving has proven it to me. Keep diving you'll learn.

.....although I've only been diving 8 years ( 500+/ 90% ocean) it appears my experiences may have differed from yours.....on my last Bahamas liveaboard trip, for example, the reef above 60 ft. is essentially dead, no fish, algae covered...but below 60 ' the walls were gorgeous...in lots of places global warming has already killed off the shallow reefs...the only healthy reefs left are the deeper ones.....in other places (Cozumel/Bonaire) storms/hurricanes have wiped out all the shallower reefs too...the only thing left intact are the deeper reefs.....so while is is true the light levels/colors are theoretically 'better', in reality that doesn't really matter in many places if there's no life left anyway in the 'shallows'.

 

[AfterDark]

.....although I've only been diving 8 years ( 500+/ 90% ocean) it appears my experiences may have differed from yours.....on my last Bahamas liveaboard trip, for example, the reef above 60 ft. is essentially dead, no fish, algae covered...but below 60 ' the walls were gorgeous...in lots of places global warming has already killed off the shallow reefs...the only healthy reefs left are the deeper ones.....in other places (Cozumel/Bonaire) storms/hurricanes have wiped out all the shallower reefs too...the only thing left intact are the deeper reefs.....so while is is true the light levels/colors are theoretically 'better', in reality that doesn't really matter in many places if there's no life left anyway in the 'shallows'.

Come north and dive the wonderful waters of New England. You wouldn't find much below 100', this is true of many places around the world. I'm not alone in my opinion as witnessed in this thread. Are there exceptions? Yes, Your experience is different from mine because we dive in different places. This thread is about someone who had what is very close to a bad experience at 100' how wise is it for him to continue to dive deeper? He mentioned wanting to go to 200'. When someone states they want to go to 200' my first reaction is why? It's a lot of trouble, expense and dangerous to do for the sake of doing it which is what it sounded like to me. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe the OP is training to be a world class wreck diver or deep diving researcher and needs this training. I still stand by my statement that generally there's not much below 100' that's not already above 100'. Maybe I should take more trips?

 

[ScoobaDooba]

Maybe the OP is training to be a world class wreck diver or deep diving researcher and needs this training. I still stand by my statement that generally there's not much below 100' that's not already above 100'. Maybe I should take more trips?

lol No, none of those reasons are why. It was just a fascination I guess.

 

[pittyyofool]

To me it sounds like you had a good narc going on, overly concentrated on your breathing, and gauges (way safer than forgetting about them...) combine all this with only a few dives under your belt I can totally see the starving for air feeling. The fact you got blew chunks in your reg is a concern. Was it surgey did you have vertigo ascending? when I get really narced (around 140-160fsw) I have some anxiety and become very mission focused. I feel like I am breathing really heavy and I am going to drain my tank(s) faster than one can say OOA. So I check my gauge every 15seconds and am constantly surprised how much air I really have.
Welcome to being a bit naeced. Just wait till you are really narced it gets crazy.

Welcome to deep diving and the increased knowledge that comes with it. You have learned a bit more about yourself. Hang onto that knowledge. Just one question- Why were you kneeling? On AOW deep dive I have students do a horizontal descent and stop about 2 feet off the bottom. Then we do skills. Where we are it's very dark down there and coming down on one's knees is just not a good idea. Too hard to see what;s underneath you and if the platform is missed then you are landing in 2-3 feet of silt. If that happens vis is zero in a heartbeat. Work on descending in a proper position. Horizontal underwater is more natural and gives a better feeling of control.

In socal most deep dives are in Catalina. there is sand or rock bottoms there, and it is still quite bright at 100fsw. Silt is rarely an issue there. you hae good pointers here and congrats for requiring your students to know their buoyancy . something many instructors fail on.

As a rule there is nothing much to see past 100' anyway. All my best dives have been above 100'.

disagree! there is all types of different/bigger/more abundant life down there. Only 10lb lobsters I have ever seen were at 165fsw and they were out in the day time. wolf eels are awesome i have never seen one above 120fsw. and there are lots of cool deep wrecks. And my favorite dive is 108fsw.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

disagree! there is all types of different/bigger/more abundant life down there. Only 10lb lobsters I have ever seen were at 165fsw and they were out in the day time. wolf eels are awesome i have never seen one above 120fsw.

I think the only reason for that to be the case is because the game that once lived in the shallower water got "harvested". Lobsters go where they can get a decent meal ... and that doesn't have anything to do with depth. And I routinely see wolf eels at less than 50 fsw ... our most popular site for wolf eels here is a wall that bottoms out at about 90 fsw, and the wolfies are usually denning along the top of it.

and there are lots of cool deep wrecks. And my favorite dive is 108fsw.

Same here. Lots of our better wrecks are beyond recreational depths. And there are some very nice deep walls. But depth should be the means to a goal ... rather than the goal itself.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[AfterDark]

pittyyofool: "And my favorite dive is 108fsw". Yeah well that's a hundred feet unless you enjoy splitting hairs and
doing peeing contests. Keep diving stay wet I'll correct myself it's 110fsw

 

[Scott L]

I think the only reason for that to be the case is because the game that once lived in the shallower water got "harvested". Lobsters go where they can get a decent meal ... and that doesn't have anything to do with depth. And I routinely see wolf eels at less than 50 fsw ... our most popular site for wolf eels here is a wall that bottoms out at about 90 fsw, and the wolfies are usually denning along the top of it.


Same here. Lots of our better wrecks are beyond recreational depths. And there are some very nice deep walls. But depth should be the means to a goal ... rather than the goal itself.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Spot on evaluation IMO. It is interesting that most all conventional dive charters will take clients to wall dives deeper than 100' but almost never to reefs beyond that depth. We have spearfishing/lobster hunting specific 6 pack charters for the purpose here but this seems to be the exception rather than the rule in the industry...

 

[ScoobaDooba]

The fact you got blew chunks in your reg is a concern. Was it surgey did you have vertigo ascending? when I get really narced (around 140-160fsw) I have some anxiety and become very mission focused. I feel like I am breathing really heavy and I am going to drain my tank(s) faster than one can say OOA. So I check my gauge every 15seconds and am constantly surprised how much air I really have.
Welcome to being a bit naeced. Just wait till you are really narced it gets crazy.

I just think it was indigestion from eating so close to diving, coupled with the stresses I was going through down there. It literally scared the bleep out of me and I'd rather it come out my reg then into my wetsuit

I didn't like myself noticing how heavy I was breathing than I started to screw with that involuntary action and made things worse. It already felt like another planet already, should I be even more worried for REALLY NARRCED ?