how deep can you dive?

[voop]

One can go very very deep, as long as there's no expectation to get back up again alive. Hoping to get back up alive, the depth-limit sort of goes "from where I can safely egress". I much agree with the typical rec-limits of 18m/30m, since most rec-training does not prepare divers for anything deeper (some would say that 30m is stretching it -- I may be tempted to agree). Ask an AOW-graduate from most instructors what "SAC" or "gas plan" is....

One should never go deeper than one can safely egress from. People have sustained simulated depths of 701m (Comex in France), and deeper is probably possible. But egressing from those depths is not at all trivial

As for insurance: that's one of those things that I have, and that I plan to "waste" money on for as long as I dive. I say "waste", since I also plan on never having to use it...

 

[pt40fathoms]

With the few noticeable exceptions, this thread has some of the worst advice I have ever seen on SB.

Do not listen to, or consider the "advice" given if it says you can go however deep you want if it feels ok.

If you are certified as an OW diver, and have just started your diving adventures, stay within the limits set out by every reputable training agency in the world. That limit is 60 feet or 18 metres. Any advice to the contrary is advice to be avoided! This limit is not an arbitrary number plucked out of thin air. It has been arrived at though years of experience by some of the most respected people in the diving community.

We want you to stick around and be a long time healthy diver, pushing the limits beyond your training is not the way to achieve this.

 

[StSomewhere]

...stay within the limits set out by every reputable training agency in the world. That limit is 60 feet or 18 metres. Any advice to the contrary is advice to be avoided! This limit is not an arbitrary number plucked out of thin air. It has been arrived at though years of experience by some of the most respected people in the diving community.

For the IANTD OW, the depth limit is 70 ft. To be fair, they are the only OW training agency I could find that factors in some sort of rock bottom gas management calculation (1/2 + 200 psi, IIRC) so maybe that's the difference.

 

[molksmith]

I think the question is not How Deep can you Dive...
It's how deep can you dive based on your experience and come back up...
You can dive until you black-out or start hearing lobsters talk to you but that doesn't mean you should...

Reminds of something that is in "Into Thin Air" by J. Krakauer.
"Getting to the Top is Optional, Coming back down is Mandatory"
So just flip that the other way with depth and I think you get an idea.

 

[The Kraken]

With the few noticeable exceptions, this thread has some of the worst advice I have ever seen on SB.

Do not listen to, or consider the "advice" given if it says you can go however deep you want if it feels ok.

If you are certified as an OW diver, and have just started your diving adventures, stay within the limits set out by every reputable training agency in the world. That limit is 60 feet or 18 metres. Any advice to the contrary is advice to be avoided! This limit is not an arbitrary number plucked out of thin air. It has been arrived at though years of experience by some of the most respected people in the diving community.

We want you to stick around and be a long time healthy diver, pushing the limits beyond your training is not the way to achieve this.

PT,
I think, perhaps, you are confusing a direct answer to a direct question with advice.

In my post I answered the question. One is "allowed" to dive as deep as one would like. Would I advise this . . . NO.

Given that the diver posting the interrogatory has been properly trained, s/he should already know the answer to the question. That being the case, I would consider the question, in its form, as a troll.

 

[mccabejc]

I think the 60 ft. limit, especially for newly certified divers is a good one, for the following reason:

Personally, I don't like a lot of task loading when I dive. I like being able to just monitor my air supply, and when it drops to a certain value, we start heading for the surface. It's easy and simple. I don't want to hit the decompression limit and have to do mandatory stops, so I like having a lot of NDL time. If I do get close to the NDL limit, I generally can just ascend and gain more NDL time.

When you dive deep, (ie, significantly past 60 ft.), things can get much more complicated and task loading goes up. You may not be able to gain NDL time by simply ascending. For example, say you're at 100 ft. and your computer is showing your NDL time is down at only 5 minutes left before it becomes a decompression dive. If you ascend to 80 ft., your NDL time may continue dropping, and you may find you are suddenly in a decompression dive.

I realize that 60 ft. is not a magic number, and of course you can run into the NDL limit at 60 ft. But in general, if you want to stay withing NDL limits, I think dive planning becomes much more simple and predictable if you stay above 60 ft.

For new divers who are likely to be loaded with a bunch of other tasks, and may not have done sufficient dive planning, this simplifying limit seems to me to be a very good idea.

 

[Squalus]

After you have gotten you OW how deep are you allowed to dive?

The maximum depth is 60fsw, however in order to go to such depth you need to take your time, dive and gradually go deep. Don't bomb anything deeper thinking your going to be fine, just is not that simple in fact, can have a bad result. Diving deep takes practice and experience and further certification and a good experienced dive buddy.

 

[Snowbear]

The maximum depth is 130fsw, ....

As has been noted before in this thread, most training agencies recommend a max depth of 60' with OW certification. The max recommended depth for "Advanced" OW certification is 130'...

 

[Squalus]

As has been noted before in this thread, most training agencies recommend a max depth of 60' with OW certification. The max recommended depth for "Advanced" OW certification is 130'...

Sorry about that got side tracked, fixed it...

 

[MikeFerrara]

I have to admit that I have found really good advice on SCUBA Board with the exception of this thread. I have to go back to the conservative advice and state dive according to your training, experience and what you are comfortable with.

It is too easy to get your self deep into trouble and don’t know it until it is too late. It is easy to go below your training limit. Most of the time you don’t feel any different if you exceed you limits. Nothing happened. 140 fsw is not much lower than 130 fsw. 100 fsw does not feel hardly any different than 60 fsw. But, your gas runs out faster, your NDL hits you sooner, Narcosis is a bigger player. It is also a longer distance up to free non-compressed air.

My advice, don’t exceed your limits educed by your lack of training, your health (emotional and physical), your experience, dive often. AOW is cheap, it is also easy.

Good points. Recomendations (or questions) based on depth alone don't mean much and wouldn't it be embarassing to drown at 40 ft when every one knows you should be good to 60? Reminds me of a tv show I saw years ago where a guy drowned in a bowl of chicken soup. The moral of course being either that there's more to it than depth or that sticking your face in a bowl of soup without proper training and predive planning can be dangerous.