You are conflating maximum depth with recommended depth.
Do not ever say you are a rescue diver
- Thread starter Dody
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
Isn't the differentiation of "Recreational" and "Technical" diving considered as "no overheads, soft nor hard".
A dive over 40m/130ft is so short that it becomes a decompression dive and thus is technical.
Cave penetration requires redundancy and line laying, thus is technical.
Yes, it's blurred around the edges, but it's a nice simple guideline rule.
A dive over 40m/130ft is so short that it becomes a decompression dive and thus is technical.
Cave penetration requires redundancy and line laying, thus is technical.
Yes, it's blurred around the edges, but it's a nice simple guideline rule.
1965. That was when PADI was created.
There is often confusion about this. PADI recommends that dives stay within the limits of their training and experience, and since the OW training limit is 60 feet, they recommend that depth as a starting point. You can gradually extend those limits through a combination of training and experience. Experience is done by gradually increasing your depth. For example, in South Florida where I spend the winter, some of the most popular dives are wrecks in the 70-75 foot range for maximum depth. A new diver can start on a dive like that to extend experience. You can also take AOW and do an even deeper dive with an instructor.
Eventually you will feel comfortable diving to depths like 130 feet, which is listed as the maximum depth for recreational diving. 140 feet is a contingency depth. For PADI tables, you are off the tables and into required decompression deeper than that.
Ayisha
Contributor
Yes, on all counts.
The above might be worthy of a poll.
How many divers were even taught buddy/team formation, passive signalling, and how to not drive your buddy nuts looking for you in a different position/place throughout a dive?
It seems like some lip service is paid to being a good buddy, but without a solid plan and actions to achieve that efficiently and painlessly.
Mike1967
Contributor
They contradict themselves, they say 40m is the max then say there's no scuba police so you can dive to whatever you want haha
Anyway, Padi recommends 18m for OW, 30m for AOW and 40m with Deep.
Anyway, Padi recommends 18m for OW, 30m for AOW and 40m with Deep.
Mike1967
Contributor
Yes and on FB he's saying it's fine to go to 40m on the fourth dive of your OW course!
It's unfortunate that there are operators who think anyone with Rescue Diver or any level professional certification is fair game to be asked to pitch in.There has been a lot of threads about how a diver should introduce herself or himself to a new DS. I have a DM C- Card but I never claim I am a DM as I have never worked as such. I always say I am a Rescue Diver. 90% of the time, I dive with my wife as a buddy. I jump first, tell her I am ok and watch her jumping. I am more experienced than her and I want to be there if she has a problem (overweighted, valve problem,…).
Last week, diving in the Philippines, the DS decided that we would be three in a group. Two groups of 2 including the guide or DM and our group at the back. To make a long story short, the third « buddy » jumped without inflating his BCD and was probably overweighted. He immediately sunk. He was AOW, and should have been able to correct that rapidly but he was not. I saw it, went down in a rush but I could not equalize fast enough so had to slow down.
Eventually, the diver managed to to inflate his BCD and get back to the surface. A bit too fast though so we aborted the dive. Then, one Dive Director blamed me for not helping him and said I thought you were a rescue diver. I think he will never say that again after the sh*** I gave him but the point is:
1- If it was my wife, I would have risked rupturing my inner ear. I won’t do it for an insta-buddy.
2- I was a customer and not a guardian. Of course, you care for your buddy (even in a 3 guys team) but there are limits.
3- I should never have said that I am a rescue diver. Those folks believe that I would help them protecting their customers. From now on, I am just AOW with a 40 meters clearance.
Perhaps the agencies issuing the certification can add a disclaimer that unless the holder begins a dive with the intent of exercising the privilege of that level of certification they have no obligation to do so.
It's ridiculous that a non professional who may have done rescue ten years ago is expected to swoop in and perform at the drop of a hat.
Unless you need the card, taking the training and falling short of the requirement for certification may be the best option.
Similar threads
