OK to Bounce Dive to 220 Fsw as...

[CompuDude]

Just some of the dead there:

Dahab Blue Hole remembrance plaques on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Just coming back this thread and noticed this.

For the record, while hopefully this is already been made clear: I clearly specified the Blue Hole in Belize, while your link refers to the Blue Hole in Dahab (Egypt). (The top of the arch there that claims so many lives is ~170' down, but there are other factors)

Blue Hole (Red Sea) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Great Blue Hole - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

VERY different conditions at those two sites. Not a paragon of safe diving practices in either place, of course, as a single-tank bounce dive, but I believe the Belize Blue Hole has a considerably better safety record than the one in Dahab.

There, I feel better now. LOL

 

[scubafanatic]

I hear the typical dive there is ~130ft to get to the stalactite structures on the underside of the ledge. That's precious little bottom time at NDL, not to mention rock bottom reserves. Don't think I'd do that dive.

Funny, the left sidebar banner is screaming "BELIZE - BLUE HOLE BARGAIN -SAVE $700" to me as I type.

...there are some good YouTube videos of divers diving the Blue Hole (BELIZE) stalactites, including screen captures of depth guages/computers showing the depths being reached by some divers...as well as seeing other divers substantially deeper than that...the video I saw had entire families with young kids (I'd say early teens) going to 155' (the tops of the stalactites are at 130'...the bottoms are at about 155' - 160')...moreover, in the same video, in the background, there are more divers at the tail end of the group well below the level of the bottom of the stalactites....easily at 180' or so. ...and of course, everyone is using single AL 80's with no tech gear/redundant gas supply.

 

[lamont]

I was sitting at a table of beginner and newly acquired advanced level divers (they were rewarded their advanced cards at dinner) the instructor told one of the divers it would be fine to drop down to 220 and come right back up…

What are the issues here especially if the diver is pretty overweight and out of shape…

Local divesite up here has a bodycount of at least 2 from this practice (2003 incident and 2006 incident):

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/pacific-northwest-orca-bait/36251-diver-death-tacoma.html

Missing Diver? - Northwest Diver Forum

 

[gcbryan]

Local divesite up here has a bodycount of at least 2 from this practice (2003 incident and 2006 incident):

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/pacific-northwest-orca-bait/36251-diver-death-tacoma.html

Missing Diver? - Northwest Diver Forum

Every dive site everywhere has diver deaths from every possible cause...just to be fair and accurate.

People have died at most every site up here for pretty much the whole spectrum of reasons possible for diving deaths.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Missing Diver? - Northwest Diver Forum

For anyone who might think such a dive is OK, I heartily recommend you read the thread that Lamont linked to in the second URL above ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[lamont]

Every dive site everywhere has diver deaths from every possible cause...just to be fair and accurate.

People have died at most every site up here for pretty much the whole spectrum of reasons possible for diving deaths.

Uhm, and nearly every single one of those deaths has a lesson to be learned from it...

- stay fit
- manage your gas
- manage your buoyancy and don't hold your breath
- practice OOG air shares
- don't start a dive with your valves turned off to conserve air
- don't do 200 foot bounce dives on air with no technical training

And given the number of 200+ foot bounce dives done here and the number of 100 foot cove 2 dives done here, the 200+ foot bounce dives are clearly more dangerous.

 

[peterbj7]

the Belize Blue Hole has a considerably better safety record than the one in Dahab

Yes. Probably largely because there is virtually a direct ascent route to the surface wherever you are in the Belize Blue Hole (this isn't strictly accurate, but for all practical purposes it is) whereas at Dahab there is the arch which is much longer than many people anticipate. There are other factors as well - at Dahab the sides are vertical so there is a considerable risk of touching rough rock at the side and ripping your BC, whereas the Belize BH is slightly conical, widening as you go down, so on the descent at any rate that's unlikely to happen. And in Belize all divers are accompanied and monitored from the surface (access is only by boat) whereas at Dahab, unless it's changed since I was last there, it's effectively unregulated and uncontrolled.

Nonetheless, there are known to be 6 bodies at the bottom of the BH in Belize so it still has its safety issues.

 

[gcbryan]

Uhm, and nearly every single one of those deaths has a lesson to be learned from it...

- stay fit
- manage your gas
- manage your buoyancy and don't hold your breath
- practice OOG air shares
- don't start a dive with your valves turned off to conserve air
- don't do 200 foot bounce dives on air with no technical training

And given the number of 200+ foot bounce dives done here and the number of 100 foot cove 2 dives done here, the 200+ foot bounce dives are clearly more dangerous.

Of course. What's new?

Don't have a heart attack, don't dive solo to get over diving anxiety, don't slip and drown in 6 feet of water.

Has anyone learned anything new today? Is anyone reading the above list and going Hum...I didn't know that...I won't do that again?

Who exactly are we talking to?

 

[Gombessa]

OHas anyone learned anything new today?

One thing to keep in mind is that these forums are not just a running conversation among current participants. Other board members will run across it later, as will divers using internet searches. And while this topic may be obvious to some of the more experienced divers here, apparently there are people who have allegedly been told by instructors that doing deep bounce dives without adequate training or equipment is safe. Hopefully upon reading the discussion here, they'll gain a bit of perspective on whether that's really the case.

 

[scubadada]

Local divesite up here has a bodycount of at least 2 from this practice (2003 incident and 2006 incident):

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/pacific-northwest-orca-bait/36251-diver-death-tacoma.html

Missing Diver? - Northwest Diver Forum

For anyone who might think such a dive is OK, I heartily recommend you read the thread that Lamont linked to in the second URL above ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

That is indeed, a frightening story for a whole load of reasons including training, experience, planning, and equipment. Clearly, environmental factors may also play a roll. A night dive in very cold water with current and poor visibilty may have a different outcome than a day dive in warm water with no current and good visibility.

Craig