Are Deep Dive and/or Wreck Dive specialties necessary?

[Blackcrusader]

I just spent 3 weeks in Australia and I can tell you from personal experience and speaking with numerous dive operators that Australia has very restrictive laws about scuba diving.

I don't know about that particular law, but if what that member wrote is correct then just because you "can" get your own boat and/or shore dive, and go as deep as you want on an OW certification, and break the law because no one is looking, it doesn't make it legal.

Exactly. Laws that apply to commercial diving operators and the boats do not apply to private divers.

I'm from Australia and started diving there in the 1980's. PADI OW depth limit when I did mine there was 40m and max 42m for emergency.

https://www.worksafe.qld.gov.au/your-industry/diving-and-snorkelling/diving-laws

 

[LI-er]

Exactly. Laws that apply to commercial diving operators and the boats do not apply to private divers.

You taught me something new today. I wasn't aware of that.

 

[Blackcrusader]

You taught me something new today. I wasn't aware of that.

But you dived in Australia and never checked the laws? lol You just depend on others to tell you. IT's not like you cannot look them up online. So many people will claim you cannot do this or that by law when no such law exists.

LIke a certain member here who claimed it was BS that an OW certification is certified to the recreational depth of 40m. Or people who claim insurance companies don't insure OW divers to 40m depth.

 

[Blackcrusader]

Oh boy, you really got me there. It was only a matter of time. Let's see if I can get myself out of this quandary.

Yes.. I reluctantly admit that I *gasp* dived off of Australian charter boats for a week and a half including a liveaboard and several day trips and I must admit that I.. never... ever.. studied the local Australian laws as they pertain to scuba diving.

Should I hand over my PADI certifications for revocation or voluntarily ban myself from diving for a period of time, would that be sufficient punishment for my grave transgressions in this matter?

Find a pirate ship and voluntarily offer to walk the plank?

Perhaps a statement will suffice:

I hereby promise to abide by the standards invested in me as a certified scuba diver and going forward whenever I travel to a new state, country or province, I will do my due diligence and research and be well versed in the local laws as they pertain to my underwater activities.

Will that be sufficient, sir?

Nah being ignorant of the laws is OK when you have a commercial operator telling you what you can and cannot do. They do this as too often they have left divers out at sea and come back and docked and not counted how many divers they brought back.

Just get your own boat and dive how you like. lol

 

[lermontov]

the onus is on the diver to find out what controls /limitations are on you before you book - no point in whining about it when you rock up and want to do your own thing and are told no -

seriously, either accept your a recreational diver who are dependant on the god status of the DM ( have you seen how little traing you need to be an instructor) -or get some technical training and start believing in yourself -The whole diving business structure breeds self doubt and reliance on paying someone to look after you, its pathetic

get a bunch of friends that have the same ambition/goals and get on with it -there needs to be more self reliance/motivation- pay a bit more money and charter a boat for a few days

just one maxim - Know thyself

 

[LI-er]

the onus is on the diver to find out what controls /limitations are on you before you book - no point in whining about it when you rock up and want to do your own thing and are told no -

Exactly. I've got a few "prephrased" lines of text that I shoot off to prospective dive charters including but not limited to relating my extensive skills and experience and then requesting permission to solo dive, going so far as to offer to demonstrate my skills on a pre-dive or first dive checkout and accept the decision of the "supervising diver" as final. Do they have Nitrox? If no solo diving will I be paired with a guide who doesn't dive Nitrox? (It's happened, what a waste). Will I be forced to dive with an instabuddy and accept liability and a good possibility of a ruined or "less fun" dive as a result? Do they have minimums to run, if so what's the magic number so I can check their schedule and see how often they fill their boats?

The pre-booking questions can eliminate a lot of grief and point me in the direction of dive operators that are better suited for my needs but of course there are times when there isn't much of a choice other than "go with an overly restrictive dive operator or don't dive at all".

As I stated on a thread I started earlier in the week, after a lot of back and forth with a very restrictive dive op I decided to cancel, it just wasn't worth the money and the effort.

 

[Centrals]

Of course no one is forced to dive with a restrictive operator. Why do you feel the need to explain this? Do you remind people they need to breathe?

LOL.
The operators can also decide what kind of customer they want to deal with as well.
This is a FREE WORLD.

 

[LI-er]

LOL.
The operators can also decide what kind of customer they want to deal with as well.
This is a FREE WORLD.

Say something we don't already know.

Edited to add. Here's something YOU don't know.

The world isn't all free. Spend some time in Russia or North Korea or China and you'll get my drift.

Edited to add. Here's something else you don't know.

When it comes to scuba diving it's a buyers market. We customers are the ones with the money that keeps your boat running, your rent paid and your staff coming back to work. The ones that can't figure that out are the ones with empty schedules wondering how they're going to pay the bills. There's only so many you can chase away with the whole "My boat my rules" attitude before you're the only one ON the boat.

 

[tursiops]

You get that experience in the PADI AOW Deep Diver subspecialty. At least if the instructor is legit. You may recall you do a math problem at depth and then again at the surface to see that it's much easier when your brain isn't fogged by narcosis.

This used to be true (pre 2009) but is not true any more. Now for AOW you look at changes in colors at depth. The narcosis experience is done on Dive 3 of the full Deep Specialty; the reason is that Dive 3 of Deep is likely to the full 130 feet, so narcosis is more likely. This change to AOW is reason enough to take Deep for some people, as @Bert van den Berg pointed out.

 

[LI-er]

This used to be true (pre 2009) but is not true any more.

They don't do the "solve the equation at depth" anymore? That should be a punishable crime.