Going into Deco as Rec Diver

[Jafo19D]

I'm diving in Providencia, Colombia and today I went into Deco. Don't know how because I was watching my no deco time and it was fine then all of a sudden I saw that I was in Deco. I'm guessing that it was a mixture of all the sharks (there were 5-6 of them swimming all around us - spectacular) and maybe getting narced. Wondering how common is it to hit deco as a rec diver. I've come close within a few minutes but have always paid close attention, including the first day when we followed a 43.3m dive with another deep dive of about 25m.

The ggod news is that I now know what deco looks like on my Mares Nemo Wide.

 

[NothingClever]

Wondering how common is it to hit deco as a rec diver.

It shouldn’t be common at all.

Just get on with your tech training.

You won’t regret it.

 

[mcohen1021]

I've never gone into Deco in 36 years and thousands of dives

 

[gordonscuba]

I'm diving in Providencia, Colombia and today I went into Deco. Don't know how because I was watching my no deco time and it was fine then all of a sudden I saw that I was in Deco. I'm guessing that it was a mixture of all the sharks (there were 5-6 of them swimming all around us - spectacular) and maybe getting narced. Wondering how common is it to hit deco as a rec diver. I've come close within a few minutes but have always paid close attention, including the first day when we followed a 43.3m dive with another deep dive of about 25m.

The ggod news is that I now know what deco looks like on my Mares Nemo Wide.

It strongly depends on the algorithm being used by your computer. Even assuming it's the standard (Buhlmann ZHL-16C) algorithm which is used on all shearwater and garmin computers, whether or not a given recreational profile involves mandatory deco can depend pretty sensitively on the gradient factor(s) a.k.a. "conservatism" settings.

Since I've had technical training, when I dive recreationally, I typically set GFs quite conservatively, and I typically have "required" stops on every deep dive (still withing recreational limits). This is the computer telling me what we are all told in every open water course -- the safety stop (and slow ascents thereafter) is actually quite useful for maintaining your health and eliminating post-dive fatigue.

 

[Edward3c]

I'm diving in Providencia, Colombia and today I went into Deco. Don't know how because I was watching my no deco time and it was fine then all of a sudden I saw that I was in Deco. I'm guessing that it was a mixture of all the sharks (there were 5-6 of them swimming all around us - spectacular) and maybe getting narced. Wondering how common is it to hit deco as a rec diver. I've come close within a few minutes but have always paid close attention, including the first day when we followed a 43.3m dive with another deep dive of about 25m.

The ggod news is that I now know what deco looks like on my Mares Nemo Wide.

On a recent 36m dive my computer twice indicated a 4 min mandatory stop. Once at 22m which cleared by the time we got up to 15m, then again at 12m but cleared before we got to 9m - then a normal 3 min safety at 6m, total dive time 70 min.

The important aspect is calculating the gas requirement for the dive you plan doing.

 

[jtreed]

I'm diving in Providencia, Colombia and today I went into Deco. Don't know how because I was watching my no deco time and it was fine then all of a sudden I saw that I was in Deco. I'm guessing that it was a mixture of all the sharks (there were 5-6 of them swimming all around us - spectacular) and maybe getting narced. Wondering how common is it to hit deco as a rec diver. I've come close within a few minutes but have always paid close attention, including the first day when we followed a 43.3m dive with another deep dive of about 25m.

The ggod news is that I now know what deco looks like on my Mares Nemo Wide.

As a new diver, I see this as a gap in training programs. I haven’t had it happen yet, but I would really like to take a class on deco, just in case. I’ll probably suck it up and take a tech DP course, but I’m not looking to go deeper than 120, and I don’t have any interest in diving doubles or side mount right now. So, it’s really overkill for my needs/interests.

 

[Blackcrusader]

I've never gone into Deco in 36 years and thousands of dives

I started with PADI OW then went and did BSAC sports diving which is deco trained diving in the 1980's. Deco diving is still recreational diving for a lot of agencies. I don't do a lot of deco dives but recently in Maldives the guides were leading people and they would go into deco on dives. First time I've really seen a PADI dive shop where the guides will exceed NDL on a regular basis.

Also they are using SUUNTO so they go into deco before my Perdix AI.

 

[Centrals]

I started with PADI OW then went and did BSAC sports diving which is deco trained diving in the 1980's. Deco diving is still recreational diving for a lot of agencies. I don't do a lot of deco dives but recently in Maldives the guides were leading people and they would go into deco on dives. First time I've really seen a PADI dive shop where the guides will exceed NDL on a regular basis.

Also they are using SUUNTO so they go into deco before my Perdix AI.

LOL.
You ain't see nothing yet.
You do not know what you do not know.

 

[stepfen]

I think it is a quite common mistake "new" active divers eventually do at least once.
See here my case for example : Past NDL. And then this???

It is not the end of the world, but it is a mistake. Even diving (repeatedly) close to NDL (NDL riding is called) is a mistake and shouldn't happen.

If you wish to do such dives you should get trained to plan and prepare accordingly.

 

[Centrals]

I'm diving in Providencia, Colombia and today I went into Deco. Don't know how because I was watching my no deco time and it was fine then all of a sudden I saw that I was in Deco. I'm guessing that it was a mixture of all the sharks (there were 5-6 of them swimming all around us - spectacular) and maybe getting narced. Wondering how common is it to hit deco as a rec diver. I've come close within a few minutes but have always paid close attention, including the first day when we followed a 43.3m dive with another deep dive of about 25m.

The ggod news is that I now know what deco looks like on my Mares Nemo Wide.

It is quite common if ones does not paying close attention to the computer.

Mares Nemo Wide uses RGBM algorithm which is quite conservative.
You better start reading the various algorithms use in dive computer.
If you had gone into deco, you will notice the ndl of the following dive will be greatly reduced. There are other diving practices that RGBM will penalize eg. quick ascend, reverse profile etc.