Deep AOW

[DandyDon]

Ity's an act to take seriously and respect, but not fear.

'Course, I did 100 feet / 30 meters on a Resort dive, before I knew better, much less OW certified. This was a challenge for in training, when I was told to stay above 60 feet after OW.

Padi requires 70 feet / 21.3 meters for Deep AOW, I think? Think of it as only 0.02 Kilometers, follow your training, and maybe your Inst will do some egg tricks for you.

 

[Dave in PA]

It's been said, but dress warmly. Wear a hood. I found myself scrunching mine down on my forehead closer to my mask. It gets cold!

 

[Buoyant1]

AOW is something in my future...but what sort of skills do you have to do at the deep depth? (well besides things like tying a knot, doing puzzles and other funny things to see if you're getting narked)

 

[DiveExtreme22]

Hey -

I'm due to do my AOW Deep dive at the weekend. I've done the navigation one, but this one is making me a little nervous. Excited too though! :jump013:

Does anyone have any tips/advice that they'd like to pass on to the newbie?

Cheers

NauticalbutNice :fruit:

if you get narked, have fun with that....its a pretty awesome feeling

 

[JimHar99]

Equalize early and often. Wear a hood and gloves. Relax and enjoy the dive.
When I did my Deep dive for AOW, the instructor timed us as we each opened a combination lock at the surface, then when we descended, and we were timed again. The instructor also had brought a small plastic bottle down, to demonstrate the pressure. He also shined a light on a red surface, so you could see the loss of color at depth. After that we had a nice dive along the wall of the quary.
Out of all the AOW dives I found the deep dive to be the most enjoyable. So have fun..

 

[verona]

if you get narked, have fun with that....its a pretty awesome feeling

Word of caution - narcosis isn't always a nice feeling. In cold, dark, low vis water it can be anything but nice. It can be terrifying and panic inducing.

However, don't worry too much about narcosis. If you are shore diving, your dive will be a gradual descent down to whatever depth. If you are going from a boat and down a line, your instuctor will take it slow. And s/he will be keeping a good eye on you. The outfit I work with does one on one ratio for any deep dive.

 

[SquattingRadishDM]

f you get narked, have fun with that....its a pretty awesome feeling

Just do a quick search on this board about narcosis, the effects can vary from elation to severe anxiety and fear. I personally have only ever got the giggles from narcosis, but narcosis should be treated with the respect it deserves

 

[DeepSeaDan]

Hey there,

Your profile lists "0 - 15 dives". How many dives, exactly have you done &, more importantly, what were the depths? What kind of dives were they? Finally, what is the planned depth of your "Deep dive?"

Scuba, like many other pursuits, is an endeavour where individuals progress at differing rates, depending on their personality, physical ability & a host of other factors. Some can venture deeper relatively quickly, while others should take more time. It is wise, in any case, for divers to "build up" to deeper depths. Slow n' easy is an attitude that a novice diver would be wise to adapt.

Regards,
D.S.D.

 

[NauticalbutNice]

Thank you all for great advice!

Right now I'm mainly feeling "Woo...this is going to be great!", but there is a little bit of "Argh...this is going to be scary!". :yl2jump:

I spoke to the DM and Instructor today though (They'll both be there) and they pretty much told me that predive stress is normal, especially when it's something new, but if on the day I don't feel ready it'll be fine. Likewise if I get to a certain depth and it's all too much I've not to hesitate to say "I'm outta here!". uttahere

So that reassured me a bit. I'm absolutely loving diving though - it's the best thing ever!

I'll let you know how I get on.

NauticalbutNice :fruit:

 

[Randy43068]

Hi,

As the others have said, relax as much as you can. It's normal and a good thing to be a little anxious. When I did my deep dive, I was anxious for lots of reasons through the entire dive. I worried about my reg freezing, running out of air, losing buoyancy , and for some dumb reason I had this fear that my fingers would get too cold to operate any of the diving controls... why? I have no idea. Now I'm not worried about any of that at all.

Only when the dive was done did I relax realize that it was a pretty good dive. I kept expecting for bad things to happen, but nothing bad happened at all.

Actually I couldn't wait to get out of there because I was anxious about 'deep' dive. IT was to about 70 feet in cold but pretty clear water. Viz was probably 30-50 feet or so.

Just remember, stay close to your DM or instructor and keep in mind that if you run out of air, or something goes wrong, they're right there to help you.


Regards,

Randy