Is the Deep cert really necessary?

[pauldw]

"Is the Deep cert really necessary?" No, it isn't. Open Water cert isn't necessary either. Nor are getting vis and hydro inspections on your tanks. You can actually do whatever you want in life, and you'll find that if in the process you're violating other people's rules, most of the time nothing happens to stop you. The question isn't whether you can do something, it's whether you should do something. You should get your tanks inspected, even if you can somehow get them filled anyway. You should take OW before diving, even if you can somehow access gear without it. You should probably take Deep before going deep diving, even if there's no SCUBA police monitoring your depth. Wouldn't it make more sense to have someone experienced with you the first time you get narced, since you don't know how narced you'll be? Wouldn't it make more sense to have someone with you who can help you understand how to best respond to what your computer is telling you (which is likely to be something dramatic that you've never seen before)? Yeah, it would. So, nothing is necessary, but that class--or more particularly the safety of having an instructor with you on your first deep dives--seems like a really good idea. Most important, though, in my opinion is how comfortable you are in dealing with problems in the water. I grew up expecting that any problem could be best deal with by blow and go, which was fine because I usually dove at around 20' and could surface easily. But when you learn to control panic and take a beat and figure out how to fix a problem where you are, then you're a much safer diver, and feel much, much more comfortable while you're diving. You cannot blow and go from 130'. You have to be able to stay calm and fix your problems, and the margin for error is narrower. So, my advice wouldn't even be so much about the Deep class, but about assessing your own familiarity and comfort in the water with your gear. Get that right, then take the class, then be a deep diver.

 

[tursiops]

Deep Diver was not worthless, but has never been required for any dive. For Deep Diver #4, my son and I planned and executed a deep north wall dive in Grand Cayman. Our instructor waited for us on the shallower reef near the boat. This was around dive 100, a confidence builder for independent diving.

Interesting. That broke PADI standards for the Deep Diver class, unless you had at least a DM (i.e., PADI Pro) with you on that dive #4.

"Teaching status PADI Deep Diver Specialty Instructor must be present and in​

control of all activities. During deep dives, students must be accompanied by the​

course instructor or certified assistant (PADI Instructor, Assistant Instructor or​

Divemaster). During Open Water Dive One, the instructor must be in the water​

directly supervising student divers at a maximum ratio of 8:1. This ratio can't be​

increased with the use of certified assistants."​

 

[scubadada]

...The AOW Manual from the same period (Vol 1, 1991) has a discussion on p55 on "deep diving," which it says begins at 60 ft, continues to 110 ft as the "optimal maximum recreational depth limit" and then goes to 1230 ft as the "absolute maximum recreational depth limit."...

That's pretty deep

Interesting. That broke PADI standards for the Deep Diver class, unless you had at least a DM (i.e., PADI Pro) with you on that dive #4.

"Teaching status PADI Deep Diver Specialty Instructor must be present and in​

control of all activities. During deep dives, students must be accompanied by the​

course instructor or certified assistant (PADI Instructor, Assistant Instructor or​

Divemaster). During Open Water Dive One, the instructor must be in the water​

directly supervising student divers at a maximum ratio of 8:1. This ratio can't be​

increased with the use of certified assistants."​

He was supervising from above

 

[tursiops]

That's pretty deep

He was supervising from above

Oops...edited. thanks.
"supervising from above"? I wouldn't want to have to defend that if something had gone wrong.

 

[scubadada]

19 of my first 83 dives before getting AOW in 2004 were >100 feet.

 

[happy-diver]

Growing up on a feast of shallow shore diving I was terrified watching the gauge go down first time at 18m
From a big boat in the ocean, with a bottom depth of one hundred metres, I started heading up quite soon

 

[Wibble]

It’s all about the progression of your skills and experience as more challenges await the diver the deeper they go.

• 18m/60ft you should be able to swim to the surface without gas and you’ll have very little chance of a bend/DCS. Most people will have plenty of gas in an ali80 at the end of the dive.
• 30m/100ft is more difficult to swim to the surface without gas. Many people will empty their cylinders before the end of the dive, decompression limits begin to limit the dive time. An uncontrolled ascent may cause DCS.
• 40m/132ft it’s darker, lots of gas used, narcosis is a problem, best to have redundant gas, short bottom times, not a place for novices. Short bottom times as no-deco limits are hit. An uncontrolled ascent will likely result in DCS
• 50m/165ft decompression diving, severe narcosis, most choose helium mixes, redundant gas cylinders such as doubles or sidemount required. An uncontrolled ascent will result in DCS, possibly severe
• 60m/200ft long dive times serious decompression diving with multiple deco gasses, serious planning, helium mixes. Uncontrolled ascent can kill and seriously injure
• 70m/230ft full on technical diving with multiple gasses, probably rebreather, long dive times with extensive decompression. If anything goes wrong it cannot include a trip to the surface for a long time. Death and life changing injuries are a very real risk.
• 80m/265ft hypoxic gas, several decompression gasses, multi hour diving on a rebreather. Death, etc.
• 90m/300ft complex planning balancing physiological limits, lots of bailouts, team bailout, lazy shot with trapeze for safety, drop bottles, etc. etc

The deeper you go, the more you rely upon your training and experience to come out both happy and alive.

Diving has moved on a long way since Cousteau’s day or even the nineties. It’s a lot safer because of the development of equipment, techniques and training. That’s a good thing.

 

[Dave Whitlow]

The deeper you go, the more you rely upon your training and experience to come out alive and happy.

The deeper you go the more you need luck!

It doesn't matter how skilled you think you are, or how much experience you have, if you run out of luck then all bets are off.... I've known some unlucky people.

 

[rx7diver]

... In order to dive below 30m, do I really need to have the Deep certification?
Is this a required certification to dive to deeper depths? ...

You might need the cert, if a dive op requires it. Otherwise, no. How thorough was your OW and AOW training? Do you dive with an experienced diver, or group of experienced divers, who can mentor you?

rx7diver

 

[schuylerclark]

Couples Resorts also require AOW below 60', which limits the number of dives you could do staying there.

You can do SSI or SDI Advanced and make Deep one of the specialties. I felt this path made more sense for me, and it's an unambiguous certification to 130'.