Tigerman
Contributor
When it comes to "They need to get some experience in the shallower depths and work on improving their buoyancy before they think about going deeper" I cant help but wonder why youre of that opinion.. Improving bouyancy is easier at bigger depths in my experience. I found it much easier to control my bouyancy at shallower depths after doing a few 60+ feet dives. Why? I cant say for sure, but possibly because its easier when you have experienced being completely neutral, something that is easier to do deeper down? Not as big punishment at bigger depth when you fool around a little with your bouyancy as in shallow water.Dive-aholic:PADI doesn't require the dives anymore. I wish they didn't require them for Altitude either. It's all theory, no skills necessary underwater.
Anyway, I don't know that I necessarily agree that new divers should jump right into Nitrox. They need to get some experience in the shallower depths and work on improving their buoyancy before they think about going deeper. And Nitrox doesn't really have any benefits for most recreational dives above 60'. The ideal use of Nitrox comes in the 60'-110' range. True, new divers are diving those depths, but they really shouldn't be without some experience first. And what's the point of taking the course if you're not going to use the information for a year or so. BTW, I charge less for the Nitrox course I offer. The book and slates is a little more though, but I don't have control over those prices.
I did 4 or 5 dives at 60+ feet playing around with my bouyancy and the next shallow dive (5-10 meters) I had MUCH better bouyancy control than before. The improvement after 5 shallow dives I had nowhere NEAR the same improvement.. Ok, the extra ammount of dives probably contributed as well, but the deeper, "easier to control" dives gave me the opportunity to fiddle around more without just keep going up and down all the time..