My husband and I will run into NDL easily when on a dive trip, especially on a live aboard or where we are shore diving if we dive air, which we sometimes are forced to do because of the lack of availability of nitrox in places like Catalina during the off season. ( or Channel Islands on our favorite charter)
I hate being limited by NDL. We don't mind doing 5-10 minutes of deco and we have the computers/experience and air capacity available to do this but I would much prefer just diving nitrox and not making this an issue. Plus, we're not getting any younger and we do like to dive in that 80-110 foot range at times, where some nitrox is just perfect for extending our bottom times, if you have the right mix. I have never regretted learning nitrox. If nothing else, you will gain practice with tables, partial pressures, and more information about how nitrogen and oxygen effects the system, assuming you actually have somebody that teaches you and not a one hour resort class.
Hopefully, most SB members see the value of education and won't do the 60 minute resort class just to get the card.
---------- Post added July 23rd, 2013 at 05:29 PM ----------
Christi- Nitrox is readily available but may not aways be available in the mix desired. However, if more people insist in a certain blend, it will eventually be available. If people refuse to come back and let the operators know that they aren't coming back because of lack of nitrox, I bet nitrox will become readily available in a hurry in all sorts of blends. No reason it can't be.
Just like if more people let the dive OP for the Channel Islands know that we won't be diving with them anymore because they don't provide nitrox ( and yes, I'm seriously considering this), they will eventually need to provide for their customers. It's just such a great place to dive that's its hard not to go to, even with the lack of nitrox.
It's simple-if I don't go to Cozumel because nitrox isn't cheap,free or readily available and its included in the package at a competitor, and this becomes important to enough people that they choose not to dive Cozumel, Cozumel will either need to provide nitrox in their dive packages or lose money.
Cozumel doesn't compete with Bonaire, its simply not the same type of diving. Its different and that's fine. I cut my teeth on Puget Sound so I'm spoiled on shore diving and cold water diving.
For me, nitrox is important, because I hate being limited by the amount if bottom time I can have. For other people it simply doesn't matter. They will dive a couple of one hour dives, have some drinks and be happy. Different strokes for different folks. This is also why my husband and I love shore diving and or live aboards.
Cozumel was one of my favorite places, when I lived in Southern OK and it was really convienant to get to. But, I really don't like to pay for the two tank boat dives. Now, in Phoenix, its not that easy to get to and it just gets dropped down the list. There are so many other great places in my list I want to see before I go. I still have the whole South Pacific, Red Sea, Australia, Truk,Palau,Indonesia, not to mention I haven't even begun to cave dive which is way up there number one on my bucket list!
Plus, that's not even beginning to list the cold water areas and I do love cold water diving, too.
---------- Post added July 23rd, 2013 at 06:12 PM ----------
That's too bad that an instructor says something like that.The longer I'm in diving, the more I've been around people who've experience DCS. Maybe its just because I'm meeting more serious divers but, I'm beginning to think that my earlier thinking was far too cavalier. Because, I thought like your instructor-DCS is really rare so it will never happen to me. Guess what, DCS has happened to lots of my friends and I think it may have happened to myself and I don't even know it.
yes, it's rare, per dive. But, dive a lot and its not so rare.
For me, any margin of extra safety has become more important. So,longer safety stops, richer mixes, different GFs.
