Diving beyond cert?
- Thread starter Wheeler925
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KatieMac
Contributor
Good reason not to … insurance may not cover you if something happens and you dove beyond your cert level
Boarderguy
Chief Narctopus Wrangler
@Wheeler925,
Ten "autonomous" dives (i.e., just you and a dive buddy and no dive master) in the environment/conditions you were trained in, in the two intervening months since you were certified, is a solid start, I think! Excellent!
Depending on how thorough your cert training, I recommend that you complete another dozen dives (or couple dozen dives) within your training limits before you begin slowly venturing beyond them. I recommend waiting until things (e.g., planning your dives and repetitive dives, assembling your gear, diving, etc.) become automatic, more or less, before venturing outside of your training limits.
I'm in CoMO, working for the UM System, so I visit S&T several times a year. My cert training was at MU when I was a doctoral student in the 1980's.
rx7diver
You would not be diving beyond your certification; that is to 130 ft. You would, however, be diving beyond your training and experience as an OW diver. The AOW extends that to 100 ft. No issue. Be VERY aware your gas will go away a LOT faster at those depths.
AdivingBel
Diver
^^^This^^^
That said, dive ops can have their own rules (their boat, their rules) and different countries have different rules. Be informed and have fun. IMHO, diving is about the journey...take your time and enjoy. Take advantage of your experienced dive buddies. Welcome to the underwater world.
tough to give advise on something like this as we dont know all your details.
if these dives you are considering are in the same type of environment you trained in....the answer might be.....maybe
if you trained in roatan and want to do these deeper dives in lake superior.....the answer might be a hard no.
my advise to students has always been to take things sloooowww. that goes for planning, and executing a dive, along with how quickly you begin to push your limits.
if you have someone with good experience that doesnt cut corners, then by all means dive with them and learn as much as you can. just be careful not to push things too quickly. if for example all your training dives along with the next 10 were all in 40 feet or less, i would not be diving to 100 feet for dive 11.
if these dives you are considering are in the same type of environment you trained in....the answer might be.....maybe
if you trained in roatan and want to do these deeper dives in lake superior.....the answer might be a hard no.
my advise to students has always been to take things sloooowww. that goes for planning, and executing a dive, along with how quickly you begin to push your limits.
if you have someone with good experience that doesnt cut corners, then by all means dive with them and learn as much as you can. just be careful not to push things too quickly. if for example all your training dives along with the next 10 were all in 40 feet or less, i would not be diving to 100 feet for dive 11.
LI-er
Contributor
Boarderguy
Chief Narctopus Wrangler
In broad strokes, I agree with the sentiments in this thread: you should incrementally gain experience with deeper depths, a little bit at a time, as you are ready for it. Deeper depths have much more serious concerns with respect to gas consumption and deco limits. And different people define limits differently -- make sure you are complying with local laws, and don't lie to your dive operator.
One thing I have not seen mentioned in this thread yet is cold water exposure. @Wheeler925, are you diving in a wetsuit or a drysuit? If you are diving in a wetsuit, please understand that deeper depths will feel much colder than shallower depths. In some locations there will be a temperature gradient, where the ambient temp is colder at depth. And in all cases, neoprene wetsuits compress as you go deep, and as they compress they keep you warm less effectively. So you may find yourself feeling much colder at, say, 80 feet than at 50 feet.
If you are using a drysuit, then you don't have this problem, because you can compensate for the increased pressure by squirting more air into your suit. For me, I find that 55F is OK for an 8mm wetsuit with a hood, if I stay relatively shallow (say under 60 feet). But deeper than 60 feet, or 50F and below is drysuit territory for me. YMMV on the exact temperate range, but my point is that deeper divers are colder, plan accordingly.
Cheers
One thing I have not seen mentioned in this thread yet is cold water exposure. @Wheeler925, are you diving in a wetsuit or a drysuit? If you are diving in a wetsuit, please understand that deeper depths will feel much colder than shallower depths. In some locations there will be a temperature gradient, where the ambient temp is colder at depth. And in all cases, neoprene wetsuits compress as you go deep, and as they compress they keep you warm less effectively. So you may find yourself feeling much colder at, say, 80 feet than at 50 feet.
If you are using a drysuit, then you don't have this problem, because you can compensate for the increased pressure by squirting more air into your suit. For me, I find that 55F is OK for an 8mm wetsuit with a hood, if I stay relatively shallow (say under 60 feet). But deeper than 60 feet, or 50F and below is drysuit territory for me. YMMV on the exact temperate range, but my point is that deeper divers are colder, plan accordingly.
Cheers
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