I'm doing my AOW in Cozumel in January and I'm going to do a wreck dive on the C53 as one of the dives.
From what I've been reading it's been prepped for divers with big exits cut into it but I wanted to get some general tips for wreck divers...
There will be no penetration inside the wreck as part of the (PADI) AOW course. If they do, they are grossly violating agency standard; endangering you and setting a very poor example. At best, it is a 'trust me' dive. It's best not to trust people who are happy to breach safety standards.
Wreck penetration diving requires confirmed competency in a number of key skill areas; including gas management, communications, specific team/buddy protocols, contingency drills and the safe use of guidelines. Those are necessary regardless of the wreck - if you go into an overhead environment (you cannot ascend immediately directly upwards to the surface).
I'm in Ontario and would like to try diving in Tobermory next year... lots of nice wrecks but I often hear stories of dives gone wrong on wrecks...
tips?
Here's a bunch of resources, that I put together:
Wreck Diving Course Notes (Advanced):
Advanced Wreck Diving | Techniques | Course Notes
Wreck Danger (Silt Out) Video:
Silt Out - Wreck Danger! A Video Demonstration of Wreck Hazards
Anatomy of an Effective Wreck Diving Course:
The Anatomy of an Effective Wreck Diving Course
Defining Wreck Diving Restrictions:
Defining Wreck Diving Restrictions
Line Laying for Wreck Penetration Tutorials:
Line Laying for Wreck Diving Penetrations - Video Tutorials
Other wreck diving resources:
Wreck Diving - Scuba Tech Philippines Blog
what would be the kinds of things that might go wrong and the best ways to fix them?
See the course notes and video (above links). Silt-out is the major danger, but it is easy to become disorientated in a large, complex and dark wreck. There can be collapse of structure, currents moving through the wreck, or the chance to get entangled in wires/lines etc. You can lose your guideline, or it can snap. You can also get entangled in your own guideline. You can get delayed, or mis-plan your gas requirements; leading one or both divers to run out of gas whilst unable to ascend to the surface.
All of these issues have killed divers.
The best way to 'fix' these is to be properly trained with ingrained drills to mitigate each reasonable risk. That training is complex and requires an instructor with credible expertise.
The other way is to limit the scope of the penetration. The AOW Wreck 'Adventure Dive' permits zero penetration into the overhead environment - it is about diving
on, not
in, wrecks.
Complete recreational-level wreck training (
i.e. PADI Wreck Diver course) allows only
very limited penetration. In truth, it is only a very introductory-level course... and that's if it is taught by a true expert (
many instructors aren't.. they only have to log 25 wreck dives, not including penetrations, to get that instructor 'ticket'). Divers do not pass through restrictions (
confined areas where two divers cannot pass through at the same time side-by-side), beyond the light zone (
not directly illuminated by ambient light shining through the exit point), more than 40m/130ft total linear distance (
down and in) from the surface... and beyond 1/3 of gas consumed (
allowing 1/3rd for exit and 1/3rd reserve).
Higher level 'Technical' or 'Advanced' Wreck Diving courses permit considerably more scope of penetration; beyond the limitations placed on recreational wreck divers. These courses require extensive experience and training (including double-tanks and decompression diving) as prerequisites.
if i was in a wreck with my buddy with me and something went wrong with my air, I think Id be ok to stay calm, breathe off their octopus and fix the problem but i guess it depends on the situation.
There's a lot that can go wrong - even with something so simple as sharing air to exit a wreck. When I train basic-level wreck divers, I see that the process of air-sharing is where they typically get overwhelmed and lose control of other basic skills (too high task loading against under-ingrained core skills). Silt gets kicked up which kills all visibility, people get tangled in guidelines etc etc. Even the seemingly simple issue of swimming out of a wreck whilst sharing air is much, much harder than might be imagined - pipes and obstructions snag on the deployed octopus hose, regulators get pulled out of mouths, increased stress causes rapidly accelerated breathing rates.
I see this day-in, day-out with novice wreck divers in training. All of whom have good open water diving skills - but still need to adapt to the wreck penetration environment and the demands it brings. It is not a place to be complacent or make untested assumptions about what you would, or would not, cope with...
i dont think its something id do without a private DM.
A DM should never be seen as a replacement, or supplement, for your own competency. That is what we call a 'trust me' dive; any dive where the individual does not
personally have the skills needed to survive/end the dive by themselves and, thus, abdicates responsibility for their safety to another. It's fine until they lose that other person, or that person lets them down. Plenty enough dive 'professionals' grossly over-exaggerate their expertise in given activities (the 'dive god' syndrome) - as a novice diver in that activity, it can be hard to distinguish between the expert and the dreamer.
Browse through the 'Accidents and Incidents' forum for a multitude of examples of wreck diving accidents and trust me dives that went wrong.
i also dont think ill ever go so far inside a wreck that i dont have a clear path out. i know enough to avoid stirring up silt
Even expert wreck divers sometimes disturb silt. Sometimes it simply can't be avoided (for instance, by your bubbles). Assume on silt and reduced visibility - train and prepare for it. Don't gamble with your life based upon unsubstantiated assumptions.
I hope that helps.
