Decompression Course

[Ste Wart]

Just been reading through this dive centre's descriptions:
Dive Sites Rangiroa, French Polynesia | Tiputa Pass and Avatoru Pass


Tiputta Pass/ Sharks Cavern: 115ft for 10 mins. I don't think that's twinset territory, admittedly in the grey area, but standard fare really.

Enjoy the dives as "rec" dives I'd say.

 

[mathauck0814]

Just been reading through this dive centre's descriptions:
Dive Sites Rangiroa, French Polynesia | Tiputa Pass and Avatoru Pass


Tiputta Pass/ Sharks Cavern: 115ft for 10 mins. I don't think that's twinset territory, admittedly in the grey area, but standard fare really.

Enjoy the dives as "rec" dives I'd say.

Agreed. If 115ft (~35m) and not 40-50 as the OP mentioned then just enjoy a short NDL dive.

 

[DuboisP]

Agreed. If 115ft (~35m) and not 40-50 as the OP mentioned then just enjoy a short NDL dive.

no need for a twin at 35m
36m, 11min, 20L/min, no deco(Bulhmann ZH-L16, some security), you will use around 1200L of gaz, starting with 2400L (12L tank at 200 bar), so you end with 100bar (1450psi)

 

[NL1983]

Dive-site -- Great Hammerheads
Please follow the same link as mentioned above (Dive Sites Rangiroa, French Polynesia | Tiputa Pass and Avatoru Pass), but than look at "the Run":

The run : This is a very deep dive which is done only by the most experienced of divers. It is done at the mouth of the pass and is generally done in January, February and March during our great hammerhead season. The dive can reach depths between 150 and 180 feet. There are also schools of rays which frequent this site. This dive like the others ends after you drift into the interior of the lagoon and decompress.

That is the main reason for going there: Great Hammerheads in season . Sure chances are not great even in season, but you cannot blame us for trying...

Dive-center answers made my decision easier The more comments come in though and the more reading I'm doing one things comes to mind more and more:
- Is it worth (money, effort etc) doing Tec courses for only a couple of dives where the extra certificate will provide extra depth / length?

The answers of the dive-centers (see below for extracts of the answers) decided for me, 3 out of 4 dive-centers mentioned that diving to great depths is not necessary to actually enjoy all that Rangiroa has to offer.

Although there are options if you would like to go deeper. Also without full certification, as you follow the CMAS model and you are under supervision of a CMAS Instructor, which allows you to go deeper than PADI would allow for. Not sure if following a CMAS instructor would allow a limited amount of DECO as well?

Extract from dive-center answers
As promised a couple of the responses from the dive-schools to my simple two questions:

"My girlfriend and I are both PADI Instructor (inc. deep/nitrox specialty instructor) certified. I have two main questions:
- What is depth limit for us when diving with you?
- What is the decompression time that is allowed when diving with you?"

Dive center 1:
Whatever your level is you will have to follow the 45m deep maximum, 55 minutes maximum including the safety stop, and you should have 50 bars in your bottle when the dive ends.

Dive center 2:
In French polynesia, the maximum depth is 60 m

With the experienced divers we dive around 55 m maximum, usually we don't dive under 50 m.

Time of decompression it depends on the diver's experience and ability.

Dive center 3:
PADI instructors at xxxx centers are limited to 49 meters. For the deep diving we use nitrox 27% and a maximum of 15 minutes decompression with computer Suunto ( conservative computer).

We organize 1 deep dive per day, the rest of the dives will be 30mt depth, Nitrox 32% without deco and we stay on the no decompression limit.


Dive center 4:
[FONT=&amp]As a Padi instructor, the max limit is 60m for French Polynesia Regulation, diving under the responsibility of a French instructor.

[FONT=&amp]But usually, we plan “deep dive” around 40m, which is enough to enjoy the special seamarine life and activity at the entry of Tiputa Pass, specially the wall of grey reef sharks. [/FONT]

[FONT=&amp]By this way, no decompression dive. We follow the information of the computer, and could appreciate the dive with comfort and safety. [/FONT]

[FONT=&amp]Sometimes, we plan “deco dive” for French divers (…) but by our experience, it’s not necessary ;-)[/FONT]


[/FONT]

 

[mathauck0814]

Wow. The unsafe has now given way to the illogical.

You're a @#$! instructor - therefore ought to know to dive within the limits of your training, right? The rules don't apply to you, I guess? Do you have a card that says you can decompress or a card that says you can dive to 60m? I'm curious, what sort of dive do you expect to get that fits the confines of

PADI instructors at xxxx centers are limited to 49 meters. For the deep diving we use nitrox 27% and a maximum of 15 minutes decompression with computer Suunto ( conservative computer).

Explain to me how you plan this dive. Does the shop give you a twinset? Would you know what to do with one if they gave it to you? Otherwise, do the math - you've got the training to do gas planning.

How much bottom time are you going to get at 160 feet on EAN27 if you must return to the boat with 500psi. Simple question (on a profile that honestly if you can't figure out in your head as you read this you have no business diving).

 

[Nasser]

Some of the responses from the dive centers do not specify if the dives in the 45-60m range are conducted as tech dives (with twin sets and deco bottles) or regular single tank sport dives. In any case, it seems that there's plenty of action within the 40m recreational range so if you are not particularly eager to go out and get tech trained... then I'm sure you will still have some great dives within "recreational limits". But be weary of centers that conduct extended deeper dives (50+ meters that require staged decompression ) on a single tank... that is just plane irresponsible and dangerous - whether you are a PADI instructor or not.

Incidentally, I was on a live aboard in May in the Sudanese Deep South of the Red Sea - we frequently dove with hammerheads on several dives and on average they where in the 35m range and sometimes shallower. It may be different in Rangiroa but you don't necessaerally have to go very deep to get some shark action... although several environmental factors (currents, water temp, eco system etc, will ultimately dictate in each region).

 

[mathauck0814]

Some of the responses from the dive centers do not specify if they dives in the 45-60m range are conducted as tech dives (with twin sets and deco bottles) or regular single tank sport dives. In any case, it seems that there's plenty of action within the 40m recreational range so if you are not particularly eager to go out and get tech trained... then I'm sure you will still have some great dives within "recreational limits". But be weary of centers that conduct extended deeper dives (50+ meters ) on a single tank recreational style... that is just plane irresponsible and dangerous - whether you are a PADI instructor or not.

Incidentally, I was on a live aboard in May in the Sudanese Deep South of the Red Sea - we frequently dove with hammerheads on several dives and on average they where in the 35m range and sometimes shallower. It may be different in Rangiroa but you don't necessaerally have to go very deep to get some shark action... although several environmental factors (currents, water temp, eco system etc, will ultimately dictate in each region).

It occurs to me that French Polynesia and CMAS probably are germane to the conversation. The shops are operating in a system that they know that provides divers training on a certain schedule.

The OP is not a CMAS diver but may slip through the cracks of a compromise by being an instructor and the locals being hungry enough for business to make ill advised concessions.

The trouble with this situation is that the OP and his gf will probably go on this trip and dive to 180 feet and come back here to tell all how easily possible it is - and thus the cycle continues.

This all combines to it being harder and harder to get shops to take tech divers when the average PADI instructor goes on a dive they've no business entertaining and gets themselves dead. The rest of us suffer their hubris.

The OP has said that he is hesitant to go to the trouble of learning to dive for "just a few dives". When most people learn to tech dive for relatively few dives (compared to their body of work). Why bother with learning? Let's all go out to the Doria or the Hopewell and let Darwin sort it out.

 

[tomfcrist]

So in all the conversations I never heard anything about NAUI tech..... Technical nitrox no longer exists since it always goes with deco anyway, so right off the bat you have a 40 meter cert with deco. Add helitrox to the mix for the deeper stuff....and to top it off the text and classroom are fairly well structured as far as in concerned.

 

[Nasser]

It occurs to me that French Polynesia and CMAS probably are germane to the conversation. The shops are operating in a system that they know that provides divers training on a certain schedule.

The OP is not a CMAS diver but may slip through the cracks of a compromise by being an instructor and the locals being hungry enough for business to make ill advised concessions.

The trouble with this situation is that the OP and his gf will probably go on this trip and dive to 180 feet and come back here to tell all how easily possible it is - and thus the cycle continues.

This all combines to it being harder and harder to get shops to take tech divers when the average PADI instructor goes on a dive they've no business entertaining and gets themselves dead. The rest of us suffer their hubris.

The OP has said that he is hesitant to go to the trouble of learning to dive for "just a few dives". When most people learn to tech dive for relatively few dives (compared to their body of work). Why bother with learning? Let's all go out to the Doria or the Hopewell and let Darwin sort it out.

Your assumptions regarding the CMAS standards and how relevant this may be to how the centers conduct dives and set limits may very well be on point. I have no knowledge of what CMAS circulim requirements are, but I do find it a little curious that the OP who is a PADI certified instructor with over 500 logged dives is seemingly unable to determine what would be an advisable course of action... even after being given an idea of what the risks are at those depths, what technical training entails and the reasons for it.

 

[mathauck0814]

So in all the conversations I never heard anything about NAUI tech..... Technical nitrox no longer exists since it always goes with deco anyway, so right off the bat you have a 40 meter cert with deco. Add helitrox to the mix for the deeper stuff....and to top it off the text and classroom are fairly well structured as far as in concerned.

We haven't convinced the OP that additional training is a good idea yet - we'll get to the part where we argue about *what* additional training is a good idea.