Maximum depth for recreational divers

[String]

You can disagree all you want, but the certification agencies do not consider staged deco diving to be recreational diving.

All of them? I can think offhand of at least 5 agencies that do consider it part of diving.

There is a very well defined, very well understood and very commonly accepted line between recreational diving and technical diving, and NDL limits are a huge part of that.

Commonly accepted by whom? A dive to 40m is recreational but sticking your elbow into the mud to log 41m makes that suddenly a technical dive? Riding the 1 minute no stop limit is recreational but staying 30 seconds longer makes it technical?
Is carrying one tank on a 40m dive recreational but carrying twins and a stage for safety margin increase is technical?

The definitions recognised by SOME are lunacy. They assume a nice clear dividing line between types of diving when in the real world there isnt one. All dives are simply a gradual change of relative risk and difficulty. Its not black and white.

To me the definitions are simple. All diving i do for fun, ie for my own recreation in my free time is recreational be that a 6m shallow quarry dive or a 50m staged deco dive.

All diving i do for payment or as part of work is commercial.

The HSE and government think the same too here hence the definitions of the above.

But that doesn't negate or take the place of the standard disctinction between rec and tech diving.

What standard definition? Where is this bible of all knowledge? Why do only some agencies recognise this so called standard? Where did they decide on these limits?

 

[String]

But there -is- a distinction between recreational and technical diving.

What distinction ? 41m instead of 40m? 1 tank instead of 2? 1 minute no stop vs 1 minute of stops?

You may disagree with it, but it -is- there. Clearly plenty of people found a need for that distinction, or it wouldn't exist.

You mean a distinction that is only mentioned by some agencies and some countries and not mentioned at all by many others?

I do not know of any certifying agency that defines staged decompression diving as recreational diving, but you are welcome to point me to a statement from any that does.

BSAC, ScotSAC, SAA to name just 3. Although to be fair they dont use the laughable term "recreational diving" at all. They just have different grades which the higher up the qualification ladder you go allows deeper and more options.

 

[The Logic Theorist]

You guys are absolutely right, my eyes are opened.

The OP was clearly including diving doubles, staged deco diving, and probably even trimix into what he was asking about when he made this thread, which makes none of the answers correct.

I don't know why I couldn't see that on my own, or what I'd do without you to show me the way.

Can I change my answer now?

 

[Blackwood]

But there -is- a distinction between recreational and technical diving. You may disagree with it, but it -is- there. Clearly plenty of people found a need for that distinction, or it wouldn't exist. NDL limits are a big part of where that line is drawn.

I don't believe in NDL, thus I don't buy definitions based on NDL. I have no problem defining Recreational Tech Diving as an umbrella term for sport overhead (hard and soft) dives.

For this thread, I answered based on the commonly used (albeit maybe not unanimous) definition of "recreational gear" which doesn't involve multiple tanks.

 

[F106A]

140' for the scallops.

 

[syntaxerrorsix]

String, would it change your answer if the hypothetical definition of "recreational diving" included no deco?

You have made an excellent point,.

I mistakingly assumed most would consider a deco dive beyond the scope of say a PADI/NAUI/YMCA/SSI rec dive course.

 

[syntaxerrorsix]

140' for the scallops.

we get 'em in 10'

Still worth the trouble though..

 

[BDSC]

What book? It's not much of a reference without at least knowing what it is.

SCUBA DIVING EXPLAINED

Questions and Answers on
Physiology and Medical Aspects of Scuba Diving



Lawrence Martin, M.D. Copyright 1997

 

[String]

String, would it change your answer if the hypothetical definition of "recreational diving" included no deco?

No i wouldn't.

Again there is no black and white here. All diving is just a series of increasing more complicated dives that require a bit more planning and different equipment to another. Its a very gradual increase in complexity and impossible to draw a black and white limit.

I'd argue a diver that blindly follows a computer riding the 1 minute NDL before surfacing is more dangerous than someone that goes 1-2 mins over and does the proper stops or padding.

With deco you have small amounts, 10 mins, 20 mins and so on. You can have accelerated deco with 1,2,3 or more gases. You can also have someone go over the so called "no deco limits" even if they are well inside the times purely by ascending too quickly and so on.

Equipment wise a planned no stop dive to 39m requires much the same kit AND planning as a deliberate deco dive to 40m and so on.

So no i wouldn't support a change in definition like that and i also dont see why a definition of that sort is needed at all. "Dive to within your training and experience" seems adequate to me without inventing arbitrary cutoffs.

BSAC for example train mandatory deco for the 2nd level course and a few others do similar.

 

[syntaxerrorsix]

No i wouldn't.

Again there is no black and white here.

I'd argue a diver that blindly follows a computer riding the 1 minute NDL before surfacing is more dangerous than someone that goes 1-2 mins over and does the proper stops or padding.


Equipment wise a planned no stop dive to 39m requires much the same kit AND planning as a deliberate deco dive to 40m and so on.

"Dive to within your training and experience" seems adequate to me without inventing arbitrary cutoffs.

I agree following a computer blindly is a bad idea and equipment required to complete a deep/deco dive are similar.

Your last statement contains the most truth and most divers trained under NAUI/PADI/YMCA/SSI are "trained" to conduct dives to 60' for OW and ~130' for AOW. Experience not withstanding. These are the agencies that are typically discussed when relating "typical" training. I can understand with the direction and training you took you may not be able to relate to the question the same way.