avpoh8
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After you have gotten you OW how deep are you allowed to dive?
how deep can you dive?
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Most agencies recommend that you shouldnt exceed 60ft, they also suggest you dive within the same kind of environment that you trained in. In my case that was only 35ft for checkout dives. So beyond that i slowly started increasing that after training towards 60ft rather than going straight to it. Some charters will not allow you on dives over 60ft (even 70/80ft) with only an OW card. You might as well do any AOW 10-30 dives after your OW cert to get a few more skills and experiences that will help get more from your dives - BUT i still recommend going up in small steps, going no deeper than 10ft or less greater than your last max in a day of diving - narcosis is an effect that can rush up on you if you do larger jumps and you might not get atuned to realising you are narc'd - one of the things about AOW they usually show you.
The Kraken
He Who Glows in the Dark Waters (ADVISOR)
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Scuba Instructor
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As deep as you would like.
There are published "recommendations" from each certifying agency as to what depths divers of different levels of experience and expertise should not exceed.
There are no diver police that will pull you over at depth, ask for your c-card and write you a ticket for diving beyond your certification.
There is, however, the grim reaper . . . :reaper:
There are published "recommendations" from each certifying agency as to what depths divers of different levels of experience and expertise should not exceed.
There are no diver police that will pull you over at depth, ask for your c-card and write you a ticket for diving beyond your certification.
There is, however, the grim reaper . . . :reaper:
matt_unique
Guest
avpoh8:
Clear to the bottom!
You should only dive to depths which you are comfortable with and equipped for.
--Matt
Greg D.
Contributor
Dive as deep as you like and are comfortable, use the rule of thirds, stay within your tables and have fun! No reason to limit yourself just because an agency says so thats just their way of getting back into your pocket 
Realistically you can go as deep as you want...........but practically and sensibly stay within your skills and experience reach.
In the beginning you will have a lot of challenges with bouyancy, excertion, breathing rate etc. We have all been there at one time or another. But if you exceed you skills and experience levels, these 'areas of improvement' can kill you.
bouncing from 30ft up to the surface is far less of an issue than bouncing 30ft up from a depth of 100 ft. (and mind you, if this happens, you will probably keep rising, and rising faster and faster all the way to the surface). If you are at 100ft and breathe heavily, overshoot BT, you run out of air, if then you also rush to the surface.......you are in trouble. What about your buddy, can he/she handle these scenarios? Will he/she need your help, can you handle that?
All things you do and experinece under water have an effect on your profile. These effects become less and less over time and with experience.
I am not trying to scare you, but make educated decisions based on your own knowledge and experience. I always ask myself:' Can we handle an emergency situation here?'
In the beginning you will have a lot of challenges with bouyancy, excertion, breathing rate etc. We have all been there at one time or another. But if you exceed you skills and experience levels, these 'areas of improvement' can kill you.
bouncing from 30ft up to the surface is far less of an issue than bouncing 30ft up from a depth of 100 ft. (and mind you, if this happens, you will probably keep rising, and rising faster and faster all the way to the surface). If you are at 100ft and breathe heavily, overshoot BT, you run out of air, if then you also rush to the surface.......you are in trouble. What about your buddy, can he/she handle these scenarios? Will he/she need your help, can you handle that?
All things you do and experinece under water have an effect on your profile. These effects become less and less over time and with experience.
I am not trying to scare you, but make educated decisions based on your own knowledge and experience. I always ask myself:' Can we handle an emergency situation here?'
StSomewhere
Contributor
Exactly what The Kracken said. Don't be in a hurry to go deep, much of the interesting marine life is at less than 60' anyway. Get comfortable with those limits first, then stretch your horizons.
ShakaZulu
Contributor
A new diver is not always aware of the associated risks of going deeper. Depending on your experience, you can go as deep as the submarines......... Always strive to educate yourself, it's your life afterall.
H2Andy
Contributor
avpoh8:
many dive ops will stick to the 60-70 feet depth limit for OW, and won't let you go
deeper without an Advanced OW. other dive ops don't care.
realistically speaking, after your OW you have all the knowledge needed to
dive to the recreational dive limits (130 feet, within NDL's). what you don't
have is the experience.
i would suggest a few dives between 60-80 feet at first, to familiarize yourself
with the process and work out any kinks with your training, gear, practices.
then, you should have relatively little trouble going deeper.
one thing to keep an eye out for deeper is nitrogen narcosis. i am particulalry
bad with it, and at around 110 feet it really affects me. as you go deeper
than say, 100 feet, be on the lookout for increased symptoms.
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