Easy Penetration Dives

[Texas Tek-diver]

I know I'm opening up a can of worms, but I've been seeing some discussions about doing penetration diving in Scuba parks from novice divers. Whether it's wreck diving or cave diving, whether it's in 20' of water or 180' of water...people can still get into trouble if they're not properly trained to do this.

I may be over-reacting, but I'm more concerned about the message coming out...if it's an easy penetration it's O.K. to do did it without the training.

Did I miss something here?

I'll just sit back in my little corner and wait until someone can enlighten me on this.

 

[rustyscubatool]

I guess you could say the same for anything that has to do with scuba, or a lot of other things in this life for that matter. As soon as you're underwater, your out of your natural element and have to grow gills real quick.
All that said and done, if a person is confident and capable about doing a dive, why shouldn't they go for it? Whether it's deep, night, cave, or whatever, it's all underwater, right?

 

[tombiowami]

why shouldn't they go for it? Whether it's deep, night, cave, or whatever, it's all underwater, right?

There's a few hundred dead divers that thought that way down in Florida...


I wonder if, in those last fleeting moments as they tried to suck each last molecule of oxygen out of their tanks, they thought about the lack of training in the same way...



Tommy

 

[Steel95s]

It's doesn't matter whether you're diving at 20' or 180', underwater nobody will hear you scream.:waydead:

 

[trymixdiver]

well said tom

Chilling but effective.

even more so comming from a guy whose name is tomb

Andy

 

[Ontario Diver]

If you are a new diver, there's enough on the outside of the ship to keep you happy, and little that will kill you- when you want to go inside, take the course(s).

My concern with any "well it is easy enough, so..." is that it tends to give a false level of security. That leads to some folks doing the "Well, I guess since I did the sunken canoe, I think I'll do the Doria next" - OK maybe not that bad, but hopefully you get my point.

 

[solodiver]

there are tons of statistics out there about certified O/W divers who thought they were qualified to dive what ever they wanted to. And as a result some of them found out the hard way, that they were in way over their heads ( no pun intended ) to do penitration takes training, and equipment. I personally know someone who almost bought the farm because he went somewhere he had no buisiness being. all because he let someone talk him into doing an easy penitration.

It wasn't an easy penitration. it was inside a wreck. lots of silt. and of course being a fairly new diver silted himself out. got seperated . His friend managed to find him just before he was about to become a statistic.

Do yourself a big favor.. get the training for the kind of diving you want to do. anything else is just thinning the gene pool

 

[Lost Yooper]

Just use everyday common sense. There's a lot of shipwrecks up here that are upright and intact, and even a novice can poke in and out with no danger at all. You just have to use your head. Significant penetrations shouldn't be done without proper grear, experience, and training.

Mike

 

[Wendy]

I don't think anybody without the proper trianing should go into a cavern, cave, wreck, or any sort of overhead environment no matter how confident they feel or how expereinced they may be. A swim thru on a wreck I think is alittle different if you can see both the entrance and the exit unobstrcuted at the same time and at all times during the swim thru.

 

[sumguy]

I would never think of doing a cave dive or serious wreck penetration without the proper training.
But...on my last vacation to Mexico, our group did some cenote dives, with most of us having only 30 or so dives under our belts. Guided dives where the guide is in full cave gear, and a 4 to 1 ratio. We stayed in the light zone, and they were nice easy dives. Wouldn't have wanted to miss them due to not having been a certified cavern diver.
Echoing what has already been said, I think it has to depend on the individual's confidence and ability. What might be right for one diver, might not be for another.

P.S. When does an underwater boat become a wreck? We dived on a "wreck" while we were down there, and entered the wheel house, etc., but could always see several ways out. Is this considered wreck diving? (I don't think so.)