Is 16 dives in 3 days too aggressive?

[Jackie Treehorn]

Just Curious, does one consider just the number of times your face hits the water for a log entry? To me that sounds pretty silly. The length of dive and the quality of the dive ought to be much more important as that is where you really learn the skills to be a competent diver. Count the hours diving and where, makes much more sense than log book entries.

I know, I did that back in the eighties and now feel embarrassed to have been a bragging "Master Scuba Diver"!

Dave Dillehay
Aldora Divers

Yeah, we get it. You guys run extended bottom times. That's cool.

The setup, pre-dive check, entry, descent, ascent, dsmb, safety stop with possible different tank buoyancy characteristics, etc. are more important skills to the new diver versus a longer drift at depth. No offense, but I'm a bit suprised i'm saying this to a dive op....

 

[Mike Klieb]

Dressel does night dives I believe on M, W, F. So you could get 14 boat dives in three days no problem. They do 60 minute dives in morning and 50 minutes in afternoon.

Use nitrox, follow your computer and your training.... you will be fine. Don't let the chamber, DAN, and other comments in here scare you.

I just finished doing 27 dives over a 5 1/2 day period on a liveaboard. Dives over 60 minutes in length, deeper than 100 feet, etc. It can safely be done.

Go dive your ass off and have fun!

I fully plan on Nitrox and I am going to follow the computer and training I will dive until I am tired and get some sleep and do it again. My only issue is that I have never dove in Coz before and don't fully know what to expect I am sure by the end of the first day I will get a much better idea of what's going on.

 

[Mike Klieb]

Just Curious, does one consider just the number of times your face hits the water for a log entry? To me that sounds pretty silly. The length of dive and the quality of the dive ought to be much more important as that is where you really learn the skills to be a competent diver. Count the hours diving and where, makes much more sense than log book entries.

I know, I did that back in the eighties and now feel embarrassed to have been a bragging "Master Scuba Diver"!

Dave Dillehay
Aldora Divers

As far as I am concerned a dive for me is something enjoyable but I don't splash down without killing a tank, sometimes that's 30 mins sometimes its 60+ just depends on what I'm trying to do.

 

[deepsea21]

Use nitrox, follow your computer and your training.... you will be fine. Don't let the chamber, DAN, and other comments in here scare you.

I just finished doing 27 dives over a 5 1/2 day period on a liveaboard. Dives over 60 minutes in length, deeper than 100 feet, etc. It can safely be done.

Go dive your ass off and have fun!

You do realize the majority of people who take hits and end up in the chamber were diving within safe limits per their dive computers. There are far more factors at play that result in taking an "undeserved" hit than just time & depth under water and type of gas consumed. As I stated before, dive tables were developed through trial and error with YOUNG NAVY divers in top physical condition. Are you 18 years old and in the physical condition of a NAVY diver? Perhaps but I doubt it. Then factor in potential dehydration, fatigue setting in whether felt or not, decreasing core body temperature whether felt or not and perhaps greater than usual alcohol consumption while on vacation and I think you can see why the majority of hits taken are "undeserved" hits. Really, "Undeserved"? I beg to differ.

I've seen divers who actually believe they have a higher tolerance for diving and pressure because they repeatedly exceed their NDL limits and surface anyway. Can you believe that? Yeah, they're immune to DCS alright until they take their first hit.

It's a free world... Cram as many dives into a vacation as you want. Just don't screw up my and everyone else on the boat's day with your DCS and trip back to the dock to get you rushed to a chamber. Check your life insurance policy because many limit coverage for dive accidents if a diver exceeds a certain depth or exceeds the NDL. Take a serious hit and the call is yours... Do you share the data on the dive computer with the DR's at the chamber or are you in bad enough shape that you should toss it overboard and get rid of the evidence that would void your policy.

 

[Lorenzoid]

. . . Then factor in potential dehydration, fatigue setting in whether felt or not, decreasing core body temperature whether felt or not and perhaps greater than usual alcohol consumption while on vacation . . . .

These factors are especially relevant to a place like Cozumel. A diver might arrive in the evening, having connected through one or more cities, tired, and dehydrated from the dry air on the plane. I read somewhere that there is an unexplained bump in the rate of DCS on the first day of multi-day dive vacations, and that sort of thing may help explain it. In Cozumel, I take it easy on the first day. And then I slow down for the rest of the trip.

 

[deepsea21]

I read somewhere that there is an unexplained bump in the rate of DCS on the first day

That is a fact and it came from the Dr. (can't remember his name) who is the leading Dr. at Cozumel's chamber. There aren't many (if any) Dr's out there who have treated more cases of DCS than him. You cited all the reasons he believes there is such a high incidence of "undeserved" hits taken by dive travelers on their first day of diving. One would think the 1st day would be the safest... not the case at all based on his experience.

 

[Jackie Treehorn]

You do realize the majority of people who take hits and end up in the chamber were diving within safe limits per their dive computers. There are far more factors at play that result in taking an "undeserved" hit than just time & depth under water and type of gas consumed. As I stated before, dive tables were developed through trial and error with YOUNG NAVY divers in top physical condition. Are you 18 years old and in the physical condition of a NAVY diver? Perhaps but I doubt it. Then factor in potential dehydration, fatigue setting in whether felt or not, decreasing core body temperature whether felt or not and perhaps greater than usual alcohol consumption while on vacation and I think you can see why the majority of hits taken are "undeserved" hits. Really, "Undeserved"? I beg to differ.

I've seen divers who actually believe they have a higher tolerance for diving and pressure because they repeatedly exceed their NDL limits and surface anyway. Can you believe that? Yeah, they're immune to DCS alright until they take their first hit.

It's a free world... Cram as many dives into a vacation as you want. Just don't screw up my and everyone else on the boat's day with your DCS and trip back to the dock to get you rushed to a chamber. Check your life insurance policy because many limit coverage for dive accidents if a diver exceeds a certain depth or exceeds the NDL. Take a serious hit and the call is yours... Do you share the data on the dive computer with the DR's at the chamber or are you in bad enough shape that you should toss it overboard and get rid of the evidence that would void your policy.

Dude. It's risk. Everyone's line of risk they choose to accept is different. I'll choose training agency guidelines, a well respected dive computer, and how I feel that day over an internet forum jockey's ramblings 10 out of 10 times.

 

[Jackie Treehorn]

Oh there is an ignore feature on this forum... sweet.

 

[outofofficebrb]

When I was in Cozumel (just once), I did 4 dives a day for almost a week. 2 AM dives, 2 PM dives, no night dives. That pretty much meant breakfast, straight to the boat that was on-site, dive, come back for lunch, back to the boat for PM dives, back to the room for shower, dinner, then zonk out for the night until the next day. I was a beast and also worked some evenings. To be honest, there wasn't that much time to "enjoy Cozumel" even with that.

I've done 5 dives a day before but only because it was practically like being on a liveaboard and I am the liveaboard queen. It was in Puerto Galera where the boat rides are only 5-10 minutes away and they come back in between dives. I was full board at the resort and the dive shop is about a 100 yard walk from the restaurant if that, so it made it really easy. My room was less than another 100 yards away as well. Average dive time was 59 minutes with the longest day having a bottom time of 5 hours and 2 minutes so pretty consistent, I would say. Longest dive was 69 minutes. Average depth was only 48 feet, average max depth was 71 feet so I suppose not that deep. With that said..........I can't get enough of diving when I'm on vacation, even after 80-something tanks in one trip so if I was offered a 6th, I would have done it. Granted, in Puerto Galera and Mexico, I was diving nitrox and wasn't pushing NDL either. I'm also crazy and would say I'm the exception.

 

[ggunn]

I have done 4 dives in a day in Cozumel a bunch of times (Just turned 40). It makes for a long day with boat rides and SI, but it is doable and can be fun when the water is a bit warmer. I have done it in Feb and I was freezing by the end of the 4th dives, especially after multiple diving days in a row. I did Nitrox on all dives besides the 1st one of the day and I do not like to go below 90 feet unless there is really something cool to go down for. 5 dives wouldn't be a big deal to get in, 6 would be a challenge.

It helps if you go there during the summer months when there are more hours of daylight.