I think a distinction needs to be made between danger and risk ... they are not the same thing. Diving isn't a dangerous activity ... but it is a risky activity.The reason we emphasize proper training and experience is to learn what those risks are, and how to plan and conduct our dives in such a way as to reduce them (or avoid them altogether) and how to deal with them should they occur. In that respect there are a series of "rules" in place which, if followed, reduces the risks to almost negligible levels. This is especially true at the levels that most casual divers participate. But even in the more challenging environments that attract a lot of more experienced divers (e.g. deep dives, wrecks, caves, etc) if one gets the training and follows the rules, the risks are less than we face every time we get on a freeway ... because unlike the freeway, we are each in complete control of our own safety.
For these reasons, I really don't like the "you're gonna die" type commentary when we read about someone doing a dive we wouldn't, personally, choose to do ... because in order to understand whether that person is truly exposing themselves to danger we need to understand the nature of the risks imposed by the dive, and how prepared the diver really is to deal with them.
Unlike mountaineering, scuba diving isn't a particularly physically challenging activity ... I don't, personally, view it as a sport but that's a discussion for another thread. The most physical part of diving occurs out of the water, when you don and have to conduct yourself while wearing all that heavy gear. Once in the water, if properly weighted, there is little physical activity required. And what physical activity IS required underwater can be mitigated with technique. As an analogy, many years ago I was a competitive weightlifter. There were a lot of people working out in our gym who couldn't lift nearly as much as I could, despite the fact that they were bigger and stronger than me. What they lacked was proper technique. Just so in diving. A diver can make up for a lot of lack of physical fitness by learning the proper technique ... which involves good trim, an efficient equipment configuration, and reasonable propulsion techniques.
There are, in fact, many fitness threads on ScubaBoard. They usually degenerate into arguments over the viewpoints held by some that fat people aren't fit to dive. My perspective on that (as a fat person) is that (a) diving requires a moderate level of fitness, but by no means does one have to be a gym rat, (b) conditioning matters more than body shape or weight, and (c) good technique matters more than either (a) or (b). It also helps, before doing more challenging dives, to acquire adequate skills and knowledge to know how to reduce the potential for getting into a situation that's going to require a lot of physical exertion. Most resort divers, for example, are on "tourist" dives that don't, and won't, require a high level of physical fitness. It's the inexperienced or out-of-shape diver who attempts a dive they're not adequately trained, experienced, or prepared for who will find themselves in a bad way ... and perhaps in need of assistance because they tried "writing a check that their body couldn't cash". What got those people in trouble wasn't their lack of fitness so much as it was not recognizing and staying within their limitations.
For the new diver, there's a saying ... you don't know what you don't know. What it means is that most of us, at some level, consider ourselves more skilled than we actually are. We choose a dive because someone else said it was OK ... without really evaluating whether or not we've got the tools to accept the risks that come with that dive. Most times it turns out OK ... but the good diver, at any level, doesn't plan for everything going right. The proper way to plan a dive is to ask yourself "what can go wrong" and then formulate a dive plan based on "what am I prepared to deal with if something should go wrong at the worst possible time".
With regard to Devil's Throat ... when I was in Cozumel I opted not to do it. At the time I had over 1,700 dives, and was diving steel 120's. I opted not to do it because the only available breathing gas was air ... and my personal threshold for narcosis, based on my experience, finds that depth unacceptable. So I chose to dive elsewhere.
Your mileage may vary ... we're all individuals, and ultimately responsible for our own safety. The key thing is to be honest with yourself about the risks of the dive and your ability ... physically and otherwise ... to keep yourself within a risk limit that you find acceptable.
... Bob (Grateful Diver)
