Is the Deep cert really necessary?

[Centrals]

That depends on what policy you have, and from what country.

It is so obvious but not everyone is aware of that.


Back to the topic:
Some operators do insist on certification level to determine the max depth.
30m for AOW
40m for Deep speciality.
Of course there are some who do not give a toss.

 

[Endler's]

That is not true in either case.

I stand corrected. Thank you.

 

[divezonescuba]

Depth versus certification also seems to be heavily determined by the local regulations and legal liability.

Highly regulated areas, like the Caymans with CITA and Egypt with CDWS, will not let divers exceed their certification limits. The dive guide / operators in those areas could well lose their operating license for doing something outside of the established guidelines.

On the other hand, in places like Mexico where there is no legal liability, we have seen OW certified divers go to 170 fsw on guided shop dives.

Bonaire, the capital of diving freedom is just that. If you are on your own, do whatever you would like. No doubt one of the reasons for that location's popularity.

So, its not just the individual shop / operator, but also the location.

 

[boulderjohn]

Highly regulated areas, like the Caymans with CITA and Egypt with CDWS, will not let divers exceed their certification limits.

I was just in the Caymans, and I did not see this. Our dive operator on Grand Cayman asked to see a nitrox card, and they very pointedly did not want to see any other certification card. They did not know our certification levels, and we all did dives to about 100 feet on most days. On little Cayman, the first dives were usually to around 100 feet, and everyone did those dives. The second dives had to be above 60 feet, and they were very strict about that, but it had nothing to do with certification levels.

 

[divezonescuba]

In the Caymans CITA guidelines actually call for diveshops to report "rogue" divers who attempt to violate the CITA / certification guidelines to other diveshops.

CITA also calls for every diver to have their own dive computer. So the question has now become not whether you have a computer, but whether you know how to use it, because they will give you one, if you don't have one.

The last common one is that shore divers are generally not allowed more than one tank at a time. You have to get approval from the manager to get more than one tank and then only if you have some justification such as sidemounting or independent backmount doubles diving.

 

[BabyLitigator]

Just for clarification, the PADI Tec 40 class does not allow the diver to go beyond recreational limits for depth; it instead allows the diver to stay at that depth beyond recreational limits and accelerate decompression using EANx 50 as a decompression gas. For the life of me, I don't understand why a certification like that isn't more popular. Where I spend the winter in Florida, there are a number of wrecks that are not visited by dive operators because although they are within recreational depth limits, they are deep enough that most divers don't think the short NDLs make the dive worth it. A lot of people would love to have more time diving between the 100-130 foot range.

That program was recently revised, just after I retired. Scuba journalist Michael Menduno, who invented the phrase "technical diving," reviewed it here.

I'm in the middle of the Tec40 class (1 ocean dive to go), and it's great. With a large twinset on your back and training, it gives the option of creeping past your NDL (if planned!!). Fun stuff.

 

[divezonescuba]

We have encountered many divers who want or need the extra gas of a twinset, but are not interested in the decompression aspects of technical diving.

For those individuals, there is now a PADI course called recreational backmount doubles. So recreational divers now have another option besides going into all that sidemount involves. If you use independent backmount doubles, you can dive backmounted doubles anywhere in the world that has regular aluminum tanks. No need to have access to a manifolded twinset to get access to the additional gas.

 

[TrimixToo]

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.

It is possible to run out of luck in a big way (underwater cave or wreck collapse, collision with a submarine, marine life hazard, etc.) but in general I do not agree. The deeper you go, the more you need to have thought through the contingencies and brought the right stuff with you. Training is important so you can plan for the contingencies and know what to bring. If you don't plan for a contingency that happens and it kills you, very rarely is that bad luck. It's nearly always poor planning.

 

[Wibble]

The harder I practice, the luckier I get -- said someone.

The issue with diving is that the harder the dive the more difficult it is to get out alive should something go badly wrong. In other words the consequences are more grave the more difficult it gets.

I like the caving quote -- think it was a Speaking Sidemount podcast with Steve Bogarts -- where a top-level cave diver was talking about how he's always learning and he'd do wriggly stuff which he would never have been able to cope with a few years before even though he was an diving expert then. Also read something similar from Rick Stanton's Aquanaut book (an amazing read/listen).

Again, it's that progression. Don't push too hard and ensure your skills are top notch before moving deeper/harder, then refine those skills before moving even deeper/harder.

But luck definitely comes into it!

 

[scubadada]

We have encountered many divers who want or need the extra gas of a twinset, but are not interested in the decompression aspects of technical diving.

For those individuals, there is now a PADI course called recreational backmount doubles. So recreational divers now have another option besides going into all that sidemount involves. If you use independent backmount doubles, you can dive backmounted doubles anywhere in the world that has regular aluminum tanks. No need to have access to a manifolded twinset to get access to the additional gas.

Who would need something like this for recreational diving? Couldn't they use a steel 100. 117, 120 or 133 rather than going to doubles? Sorry, I don't get it. What kind of rec dive are you going to do? What is your gas consumption?