How deep do you usually dive?

[padiscubapro]

I do my local diving in Southern California. A typical beach dive here is 25 to 50 feet because that is where most of the sea life is at. I have been on dives to around 100' but there is not much down there in our cold water.

When I dove in teh Western Pacific (Guam and Palau) many of the dives were in excess of 100' My max depth is 130 at Blue Hole Guam. There was considerably more sea life at those depths in Guam and Palau than here in Southern California. There is also considerably more visibility in tropical waters.

My dives that were deeper than 80' were not simply to get to that depth but were walls, wrecks or Blue Hole (Guam) where the window in the wall begins at 115. Even though I was deeper than 100' most of the dive was back at 60' or shallower. We were not specifically utilizing the 1 minute stop at half your maximum depth (this was prior to the release of this standard to the recreational diving community) we were following this profile.

The depth of your dives will depend on your experience and the circumstances. There needs to be a reason to go to 100' not just to dive there. There are plenty of great dives where you get no deeper than 30 or 40 feet.

The Blue Hole in Guam is a nice dive, the time I was there viz was in excess of 200 ft. That site bottoms about 240 if I remember correctly...



To get back on thread when diving locally (ny) most of my dives are between 100-140 with the majority somwhere towards the deeper end of that range. ALl the best sites are offshore and tend to be a bit deeper..

When I travel it depends on the who I am with.. If I'm with recreational divers I'll spend alot of time diving in 40-80 fsw of water, when I'm with technical divers the dives tend to range between 200-300 fsw. With the ocasional dive deeper...

 

[mempilot]

Am I the only one who thinks the general trend of this thread is irresponsible considering the person asking the question isn't even certified? The depths being discussed are totally unrealistic for this type of discussion. I'd hate for this kid to die because he felt it was ok to dive ridiculously deep after reading this thread.

Walter,

Don't be so melodramatic. People are just answering his question. No one is pushing anyone to do anything they aren't trained for. Would a future student pilot be be so inclined to do aerobatic stunt flying just because he asked questions of stunt pilots at an airshow he attended? Please. People dive at different depths for different reasons. I'd like to know why and how you think any comments in this thread are irresponsible. I remember reading about the Andrea Doria several years ago and being inspired to dive her. I haven't gotten there yet, but after my trimix is complete and a lot more deep diving has been logged, I will. I'd hate for this person to stop dreaming and setting goals because you're afraid to talk about anything deeper than 60'. I don't know of too many avenues to a deep dive without the right credentials. At least he's asking, but maybe not the right people.

 

[Padipro]

At what deepth are the morjoity of the wrecks?

Here in South Florida the depth of the wrecks range anywhere from 20 feet to over 300 feet. There is really is something for everyone in this area.

 

[Padipro]

Am I the only one who thinks the general trend of this thread is irresponsible considering the person asking the question isn't even certified? The depths being discussed are totally unrealistic for this type of discussion. I'd hate for this kid to die because he felt it was ok to dive ridiculously deep after reading this thread.

Yes, nuff said.

 

[SDAnderson]

Too much information, like too much training, only rarely kills. The guy asked a question and got a range of answers, including a cautious discussion of deeper diving, which was the point of his original question.

For most of us, the bottom is rarely below 100 feet. For a few, it's rarely above 100 feet. That's what he wanted to know and I think that's a reasonable question for someone considering becoming a diver. I think he deserves an answer that isn't hedged out of concerns that he might not be ready for it. Too many divers end up deeper than they should because of machismo and hubris, the discussion of deeper diving here included explanations about the penalties and risks that accompany each additional fathom which might actually serve to put the brakes on a few who would otherwise find themselves exceeding limits that they aren't prepared for.

To some extent, isn't that the essence of the complaint that many of us have with the training agencies? If the argument is that withholding information that will be important later because it's not important now, or because of concerns that the student isn't fully prepared to deal with the information is a bad thing, then let's change the policy. When somebody asks a question, let's answer them fully and completely. If prudent, answers should include appropriate cautions but we shouldn't obfuscate or prevaricate. In the long run, we end up with divers (and students) with a better understanding of what they're doing and why, and a better grasp of what their personal limits are.

Besides, I suspect that our rookie has disappeared and we're just talking amongst ourselves. Isn't that what typically happens about the tenth post on any thread, anyway?

So, again, let us return to the original question: why would anyone ever dive with a pony bottle. Or was this the wing -v- BCD debate... :grin

 

[MikeFerrara]

Am I the only one who thinks the general trend of this thread is irresponsible considering the person asking the question isn't even certified? The depths being discussed are totally unrealistic for this type of discussion. I'd hate for this kid to die because he felt it was ok to dive ridiculously deep after reading this thread.

I don't think it's irresponsible. A diver certification isn't required to talk about a subject or read a book on it or whatever. The poster asked how deep people dive. Of course some of us didn't really say but why shouldn't we?

 

[miketsp]

While there were some references to recreational limits, I didn't see anywhere in this discussion a mention of the 2 main problems, nitrogen narcosis (common past 100ft) and oxygen toxicity (worry beyond 180ft). Not all of us can dive regularly (weekly) so narcosis tends to be the biggest problem. After 6 weeks without diving I don't expect to do a first dive to 40m (130ft) without getting narced while after a few days of shallower dives I would have no problems. I have seen plenty of AOW deep checkouts (at 30-35m / 100ft+) go haywire because the instructor was just as narced as the student.
My rule has always been to try to do any deep dive in the company of somebody who has dived regularly and recently to that depth - then you establish your own personal limits. Everybody's are different.

 

[SDAnderson]

While there were some references to recreational limits, I didn't see anywhere in this discussion a mention of the 2 main problems, nitrogen narcosis (common past 100ft) and oxygen toxicity (worry beyond 180ft).

True enough, a lot of the details about deeper diving were omitted. The list of dangers in diving beyond recreational limits extends far beyond narcosis and O2tox. Nonetheless, there were a number of cautions about the increasing risks of deeper diving.

Not all of us can dive regularly (weekly) so narcosis tends to be the biggest problem. After 6 weeks without diving I don't expect to do a first dive to 40m (130ft) without getting narced while after a few days of shallower dives I would have no problems.

All of the information I have, including many years of experience, leads me to believe that you're mistaken. There is no way to acclimate to narcosis and nitrogen doesn't have a consistent effect. One day a dive to 130 may be problem free, the next day it could lead to all kinds of trouble. The biggest problem with narcosis may be that it's impossible to be truly aware of it. One of the big changes from the diving I did years ago is that these days I adjust my gases to make sure that I NEVER get narced.

I have seen plenty of AOW deep checkouts (at 30-35m / 100ft+) go haywire because the instructor was just as narced as the student.

I can't say that I have a lot of experience with AOW classes but I've never seen an AOW check-out dive go "haywire." The whole idea is to demonstrate the effect without risking loss of control and I've never seen anyone suffer a dangerous loss of control in 100 ft of water.

My rule has always been to try to do any deep dive in the company of somebody who has dived regularly and recently to that depth - then you establish your own personal limits. Everybody's are different.

I'll agree that everybody has different limits, but you seem to be coming close to pushing "trust me" dives, which scare the beejeepers out of me. Diving beyond your capacity with someone who has more (or more recent) experience doesn't mean that you're stupid, it means that you and your buddy are stupid.

Just my .02. :11:

 

[MikeFerrara]

While there were some references to recreational limits, I didn't see anywhere in this discussion a mention of the 2 main problems, nitrogen narcosis (common past 100ft) and oxygen toxicity (worry beyond 180ft).

There are many aspects of deep diving that haven't been mentioned in this thread but narcosis and O2 exposure can be easily managed by the choice of gasses and decompression strategy.

Not all of us can dive regularly (weekly) so narcosis tends to be the biggest problem. After 6 weeks without diving I don't expect to do a first dive to 40m (130ft) without getting narced while after a few days of shallower dives I would have no problems.

Narcosis studies don't prove this out. Just because you're used to being narced and maybe don't feel narced doesn't mean that you're not.

I have seen plenty of AOW deep checkouts (at 30-35m / 100ft+) go haywire because the instructor was just as narced as the student.

I've seen AOW deep dives go haywire because the instructor was no good and the student wasn't ready to be doing a deep dive but I don't know that I'd blame narcosis.

My rule has always been to try to do any deep dive in the company of somebody who has dived regularly and recently to that depth - then you establish your own personal limits. Everybody's are different.

For a buddy team to be functional, both need to be capable and confident during the dive.

 

[Taucher]

As a primarily open water reef diver I tend towards the following:
1st dive 80-100 feet for 20 minutes or so, then rise to about 50-60 feet for another 30 minutes or so.
2nd dive of the day is ussually 40-60 feet for about an hour. always, of course, keeping an eye on my computer to avoid exceeding deco limits. Some of my favorite dives have been on shallower reefs where at 40 feet or so you can closely study the reef for an hour or so. On those occasionsal dives close to home, which must be made in a cold, extremely low vis quarry, depth and time become irrellevant. Eventually you get tired of seeing nothing after 30 minutes or so at 40 feet.