Mandatory Dive Time per Dive ?

[Thalassamania]

That's the Republican definition of tea bagging.

In diving it is repeated short dives, often without even changing tanks, conducted for the purpose of raising one's dive count.

 

[fnfalman]

Training dives have certain amounts of times & depths to adhere to. Personal, fun dives are up to the divers. The only "mandatory" time is when a diver goes into decompression, then you must have your deco time. Even then it's not "mandatory". If you have a hyperbaric chamber nearby, just pop up and make the run for the chamber.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

So what would you call a dive that was less than 20 feet in depth ... "power snorkeling"?

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Seaduced]

So what would you call a dive that was less than 20 feet in depth ... "power snorkeling"?

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

The term I use is, "Glorified Snorkeling!"

My 5th dive was to 11 fsw, and it only reached that depth because I stuck my wrist/computer into a depression in the sand. But, I learned a lot about my gear on that dive and you bet I logged it. SAC rate was pretty good, too!

Darell

 

[Thorndowyn]

Yes,... the above is true. Why only do those minimums? I personally much prefer quality over quantity. I know of 1 diver, just to get his dive count up, would drop down 15 ft for 20 min., come up for 10 min. & then repeat. Sure,.... he was getting at least 6- 7 dives/ day. But with doing that, he didn't really do anything. Just dropped down did his minimum time & came back up. No training or practice. Pretty useless if you ask me. When I dive, I try to make the most of every dive, whether for fun, practice or training. I will be the first to admit that some of my best & most memorable dives have been in water less than 10 ft deep.

Well, doing this gives you as much experience as just faking those dives in your log...

Regarding the 10 ft. dives: I prefer to do those without equipment, just with snorkel, mask and fins.

Basically, if it is a nice dive you want to remember, log it honestly.
I know some people who even log their training pool dives.

My log is for me, to remember the dives, interesting things, experiences, stuff seen, etc.
So, your log, your rules. But be honest if asked about your experience.

 

[koozemani]

As a new diver, I log my pool sessions and mark them as such. Listing whatever skills were practiced, etc...

When an dive operator asks to check your log, it should be clear to them what dives were merely training or legitimate. If someone wants to teabag or falsify their log then it's on the diver when something goes wrong and they don't have the proper skill set to handle it. As mentioned in this and several other threads, the diver should be responsable for his own dive. Falsly logging dives doesn't hurt anyone but themselves.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Regarding the 10 ft. dives: I prefer to do those without equipment, just with snorkel, mask and fins.

Last December I discovered a patch of eel grass in the shallows of one of my local sites that was harboring a local treasure ... pacific spiny lumpsuckers. My avatar is one of them. Over the course of the next month or so I did over 20 dives in that eel grass bed. The dives never went deeper than 20 feet, and often never even came close to that depth. Much of my time would be in less than 10 feet of water. My average dive time was between 60 and 70 minutes. Since my subjects were rather small and difficult to see, snorkeling wasn't a real practical approach ... particularly for photography.

I guess the point is that the depth of your dive is determined by where the stuff is that you want to see ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[sabbath999]

I often dive in the extreme shallows... 3-5 feet of water... when I am taking pictures.

Here are some shots that were all taken in 6 feet of water or less.

4 feet down

3 feet down

4 feet down

5 feet down, night

If I spend an hour in the top 10 feet of the water taking pictures, should I not log it?

I do log it. Generally, I don't stay the whole time at that depth, I usually drop down the wall if I am shooting in this particular spot, it's about 30 at the bottom... but I would feel no qualms about logging a dive I only went down 5-10 feet for if it were of a decent length.

I love diving shallow to take pictures.

 

[blue-tonic]

I log every dive I do regardless of depth or time. I feel that with every dive it is a learning experience. I don't do dives just for the sake of doing dives and upping my number but do it for the adventure and love of diving. My shortest dive was at 3 mins as it was my first time doing a search and recovery and lucked out that I came right down on the item. Finding it in the first minute, I then spent 2 trying to clean as much silt off of it as possible. My depth was 37' but even at 3 mins, it was still something new so I logged it.

 

[CamG]

Greetings SilverNu I roll with the 20/20 rule for normal diving conditions.
I agree with Bob (Grateful Diver) and Peter Guy I have logged some shorter dives that were emergency situations and or incidents that I would want to remember the details of.
For shallow dives under 20' if they are over 20 min. they get logged as well.
As others have mentioned I have had some very extraordinary shallow dives pertaining to aquatic life.
I also enjoy admiring the different types of plants and what lives in them.
Here in IN one of the most memorable dives was on Lake James when the water levels were so high they shut the lake off to boaters. Only paddle / sail were allowed.
This is one the the busiest lakes in our area which with dive flag in our hands we went for it. It was unbelievable!
The weed beds were full of many fish species and the beds them selves resembled huge dread locks. If I were not in IN I could have been at a reef somewhere with 30 ft vis!

Some of those dives never broke 20' but were way longer than 20 min. and I logged them for sure!
It is up to you what you enter into your log book just do not get ruffled if an instructor will not allow a certain dive to count toward a cert.
It is not a big deal I welcome anyone to look over my log book and say what they want. It is mine and if they do it different that is great! That is why we are stronger as a team!

CamG Keep diving....Keep training....Keep learning!