How deep is too deep for Ow diver?

[Big-t-2538]

MikeFerrara once bubbled...
Good answer Big-t-2538! That must be something you learned in your AOW class right? Or did you pick it up somewhere else?

he he he...no that actual method for planning got a little more defined this summer somewhere else...however, I will say that b/c of my background and simple "I need to know why" curiosity we had a similar planning technique (I essentially taught myself SAC before it was ever officially taught to me in AOW or Master diver...I can't remember which one it was) that involved a much faster ascent...essentially a 3 minute stop at 15' was all we used to plan for.

 

[ElectricZombie]

I don't beleive in arbitray depth restrictions. If the diver is skilled, it's up to them.

 

[MikeFerrara]

ElectricZombie once bubbled...
I don't beleive in arbitray depth restrictions. If the diver is skilled, it's up to them.

I don't believe in arbitrary anything but if is a big word.

 

[Big-t-2538]

MikeFerrara once bubbled...


I don't believe in arbitrary anything but if is a big word.

actually mike...it's a fairly small word...only 2 letters I believe, but it sure means a whole hell of a lot

 

[Jerryg]

My wife and I both dive, usually on vacation, and almost always with a DM. Even though both of us were AOW at the time they wouldn't take us below 60 ft until they dove with us and observed our skills.

 

[cantlogon]

faster at depth, so you need to be very aware of that. But unless the dive is a "square profile" dive, you can still do very long dives by spending a SHORT time at depth, and the rest of the dive shallow...even if you're not (as you shouldn't be, as an OW diver) doing deco dives, taking plenty of time at shallower depths & slowly working your way up will be safer than, for example, 20 minutes at 100', then ascend 60f/minute to 15 feet, then 3 minutes there before getting out. I've done a dive of 1 hr 45 minutes on an AL80, down to 130 feet...and dives of about an hour, way deeper than that.....but a lot of the time will be spent at 30~40' in those situations.

Sometimes I see divers treating the "safety stop" as if they're in the starting blocks for a 100-meter sprint......ie, watch that timer/watch, when it hits 3 minutes, shoot for the surface. I usually like to hang out until I can be the last one on the boat (not delaying anybody, just getting on right after the 2nd last person ) which might mean 20 minutes or more at about safety stop depth.

A lot of other good points from other people already....diving deeper (to recreational depths) isn't really more difficult, just more things to be aware of, especially air, NDLs, narcosis effects....and the consequences of NOT being aware of these are worse than if you are shallow.

Chris
www.letsdiveguam.com

 

[IndigoBlue]

nemo06489 once bubbled...
I know padi says an Ow diver should only dive 60' deep. Id like to know what depth other Ow divers go to. Im a new diver with only ten dives . My max depth so far was 45' and i felt very comfortable that deep. Im not shure if it is the same for every one but after 15 ' i didnt feel much diference with the pressure. Id allso like to know if thier is a big change in diving deeper than 60'. I do plan on taking an Aow class but im trying to get a few dozen dive in first.

Here is my list:

20 to 50 ft for a new diver;

then after AOW and nitrox 50 to 100 ft.

You need to be good at using your tables when you venture into the area of 100 ft diving, especially for the repetitive dives. So if you plan to start diving deeper than 50 ft, you should ask your AOW instructor to teach you about the limits on deep repetitive dives. This is also where nitrox comes into play.

 

[treehugger]

My first open water dive was at 70 feet off Delray beach, my wife and I had private lessons and gave us the luxury of each having a divemaster.

I agree 15 feet feels like 60 feels like 145', but things happen very quickly deep. Make sure you understand deco, and have a plan that you stick with. If you have the luxury, do a simulation with your computer down deep, review how the machine alerts you to deco and what it tells you to do, make sure you figure in additional stops even though the computer tells you where the deco stops are. I

I have been stopping at halfs recently, spending a minute until I hit 20 then the three minutes if possible.

Two final things, practice a skill a dive, flood mask, change second stages, reach around and touch your tank valve (going after lobster under a ledge, my valve bumped a few times and closed, needless to say I was able to reach around and turn it back on, however, now I practice it fairly often). Always make sure you know how much air your buddy has, try to predict prior to them answering you.

Every once in a while get in the pool and remove all your gear and put it on underwater, do it in reverse.

Good luck and be a little paranoid, it is safer.

 

[2 Bar]

In short, I would say it depends on your skill and comfort. I am newly OW (21 Sept). I just returned from Cozumel. While there, I did The Devil's Throat with no problems whatsoever. At the end of that dive I was at 130'. My buoyancy was perfect through the tunnels, my air was great, no narcing, etc.

I'm not saying newbies should do that. I'm saying I was comfortable. I was also diving with the same Divemaster for 2 days previous. So my skills and abilities were considered beforehand.

I saw some of the cooler stuff at 60 feet than I did deeper.

 

[SubMariner]

4th dive (yep - OW class) was to 70', H2O temp - 39F
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Now that I'm a DM, I won't take OW divers deeper than 60' or their comfort level - whichever is shallower

And now that you're a DM you realize that the aforementioned 4th dive was a violation of PADI training standards, right? Actually, even if it was another agency, I can't believe any Instructor in their right mind would take an uncertified student diver to that depth. Esp since at 39F that dive was effectively to 80'.

People, just because you aren't singing to the mermaids or doing loopy things underwater at 90' that doesn't mean that the N2 isn't getting to you. It's a proven fact that thinking & reaction time take a nose dive at depth. So even though you "don't feel narced" that doesn't mean that you are unaffected by by the N2.