Help improve diver training — 4-minute anonymous survey (student research)

[Victor Micallef]

In post #2, Cthippo nicely explained the training limit controversy. The simple fact is that many people have a mistaken understanding of those limits. From what I am reading and from taking the survey, I believe you may be one of them.

This is concerning because you seem to be in some way representing Malta, a country that has alarmed the world of scuba several times with judicial decisions that attempted to impose penalties on scuba divers based on the country's faulty understandings of scuba rules and procedures.

Hi BoulderJohn, thanks for your insightful comment.
Just to clarify, I’m not representing Malta officially — this is part of my academic research for ITS. You’re absolutely right about the variability of certification limits across agencies and instructors. That inconsistency is exactly why this study is important: by examining how divers recall and apply their training limits, we can better understand real-world practices and identify areas for improvement.
I really appreciate your perspective. Your input highlights why standardizing and reinforcing diver education matters.

Victor

 

[boulderjohn]

That inconsistency is exactly why this study is important: by examining how divers recall and apply their training limits, we can better understand real-world practices and identify areas for improvement.

You still appear not to understand. You seem to be using the word "limit" as if it were some kind of legal standard rather than a guideline. Whatever those "limits" are, agency to agency, they are only truly limits when they apply to dives being done during certification classes. They do not apply to personal diving except as guidelines. Students are advised to extend those "limits" through experience and training, which means they are not limits as the word is commonly understood.

 

[Espresso Explorer]

Couple of comments about the questions and the answers I submitted:
Have you ever knowingly exceeded any limits of your certification (depth, gas, decompression, etc.)? - yes I have

How often have you knowingly exceeded any limits of you certification - Regularly (6+ times)

Now on your data (based on your criteria) you have an experienced diver who dives often, has high level of certification and regularly breaks the limits.

In reality I was occasionally pushing or slightly exceeding my no-deco limit before. I decided to take further training to improve my knowledge and certification, and have not exceeded the limits at all while having my current certification which covers more than 50% of my dives. Maybe I misinterpreted your question to consider the whole personal diving history, maybe the wording of the question could have been better.

 

[boulderjohn]

I want to illustrate my fear about the potential here by telling the story of a hypothetical diver, Tom.

Tom was certified as an OW diver, with the training dives limited by standards to 60 feet/18 meters. The course materials made it plain that he should use that depth a guideline for maximum depth until he extended those limits through training and experience. Tom then spent a week diving in Roatan, Honduras, where he regularly dived in the 60-75 feet (18-23 meters) range. He felt comfortable at those depths. On a later vacation, he went to Cozumel, Mexico, where the first dive of each day had the divemaster lead his group to maximum depths from 75 feet to 100 feet (23-30 meters). Tom felt comfortable on those dives.

The maximum depth limit of Tom's original training was 60 feet/18 meters, but he had effectively extended his personal depth limits well beyond that.

When divers have personal experience extending the original depth limits of their certification, those original limits are in most cases irrelevant. If Tom were to sign up for a 100-foot dive in some places, a dive operator might require an advanced certification, but that is a rule of the dive operation. It has no meaning outside of that dive operation.

If Malta wants to establish a rule saying that divers must limit dives to the initial training limits of their certification, that is within their rights. Based on their two recent prosecutions, though, I fear they will not make such a rule but will instead prosecute divers based on the mistaken belief that those initial training limits are a limit for all personal dives.

 

[Knauf]

Hi Peter — thanks so much for your thoughtful comment.
That’s exactly the kind of pattern we’re hoping to test in this study. In fact, your observation about procedural confidence degrading after periods of inactivity (and the resulting drift from safety rules unless refreshers are done) aligns almost perfectly with one of our core hypotheses.
We also hypothesized that demographic variables (including gender, experience level, and time since last dive or last training) would correlate with deviations from taught safety limits. Your insight about female recreational divers in the 20–28 age range is particularly interesting, and is the kind of subgroup-level nuance that could emerge in our data.
I really appreciate you sharing those firsthand observations. If you have any anecdotal examples about how quickly the drop-off seems to occur, or whether certain refresher strategies helped, I’d love to hear more (if you’re willing). Either way, thanks again for contributing — this is exactly the kind of community input that strengthens the research.
— Victor

Field Observation on the Decline in Compliance with Diving Safety Rules​

Based on my personal experience as a diving instructor, as well as observations shared by several colleagues in the same field, I have noticed that the level of risk increases significantly among divers who stop diving for extended periods, particularly within the 25–28 age group, who tend to dive only seasonally during the summer months.


This phenomenon raises several questions about its possible causes:
Could it be related to physiological or hormonal factors?
Or does the seasonal nature of their diving practice reduce regular exposure to real underwater situations, thereby weakening their application of safety principles?
Another possible explanation is that some women in this age group tend to approach safety rules with more flexibility and less strictness, perhaps due to a heightened sense of confidence or familiarity with recreational diving environments.


On the other hand, experienced and professional female divers generally demonstrate a higher level of discipline in applying safety protocols. They tend to be more meticulous and cautious, and they regularly update their knowledge through refresher training courses or technical review sessions.


These observations are consistent with those reported by many instructors and experts in the field. Professional divers of both genders tend to maintain a higher level of adherence to fundamental safety rules, viewing them as an integral part of safe diving practice.
It also appears that as experience and self-confidence increase over time, some divers may show an unintended relaxation in strictly following safety guidelines — emphasizing the importance of regular review and reinforcement of fundamental principles.

---

Recommendations​

1. Promote continuous education, through ongoing training programs or refresher courses, particularly for divers who have long interruptions in their diving activity. Such programs can help reduce skill deterioration and minimize the risk of incidents.
2. Provide targeted guidance programs for beginner female divers, focusing on strengthening adherence to safety procedures and improving their ability to manage emergency situations with confidence and precision.

 

[johndiver999]

That’s exactly the kind of pattern we’re hoping to test in this study. In fact, your observation about procedural confidence degrading after periods of inactivity (and the resulting drift from safety rules unless refreshers are done) aligns almost perfectly with one of our core hypotheses.
We also hypothesized that demographic variables (including gender, experience level, and time since last dive or last training) would correlate with deviations from taught safety limits. Your insight about female recreational divers in the 20–28 age range is particularly interesting, and is the kind of subgroup-level nuance that could emerge in our data.
I really appreciate you sharing those firsthand observations. If you have any anecdotal examples about how quickly the drop-off seems to occur, or whether certain refresher strategies helped, I’d love to hear more (if you’re willing). Either way, thanks again for contributing — this is exactly the kind of community input that strengthens the research.
— Victor

LOL singling out young females as being a problem (are we talking driving or diving here?).

I view men as being a greater problem than females (as a very broad generalization).

In my experience, women will voice their concern, make their apprehensions known and often find a way to bail out of a dive they are uncomfortable with, before it even starts. I've more commonly seen, SOME, type A men, try to do the challenging dive, never ask for help, until they are completely overwhelmed and then freak out on a dive and endanger everyone.

In my experience, people get in trouble during a dive because it is outside of their comfort and skill level. This does not necessarily correlate well with simply the depth of the dive nor the training depths that were initially used. Depth is only one factor in the array of challenges and stress inducing factors, particularly in a recreational setting.

Even if there is some detectable variance in gender related risk taking, what possible use is that? Are we going to have different (training) standards based on gender?

 

[Edward3c]

You still appear not to understand. You seem to be using the word "limit" as if it were some kind of legal standard rather than a guideline. Whatever those "limits" are, agency to agency, they are only truly limits when they apply to dives being done during certification classes. They do not apply to personal diving except as guidelines. Students are advised to extend those "limits" through experience and training, which means they are not limits as the word is commonly understood.

In Malta a dive depth limit is considered law under their Recreational Diving Regulations.