PADI Depth Restrictions

[garyfotodiver]

Also NAUI does not require AOW for Rescue or Advanced Rescue.

Neither does SSI require AOW prior to Stress/Rescue. This makes sense, in my opinion. The skills taught in Stress/Rescue are useable even if a diver never goes below 40fsw, never dives at night or in cold water, always has unlimited vis, etc., etc., etc.

Also, SSI requires classroom work (4 speciality courses) plus evidence of 24 dives completed before AOW is given.

 

[K9trnr]

PADI's depth limits are for training dives. A PADI instructor has to follow the standards set during training dives. I tell my students they are trained to dive similar conditions to similar depths. If they want to dive deeper, take it in steps. That means if the max depth of the OW dives was 20', then they are trained to 20'. If they want to dive to 30', that's fine, but take it slow and take that step before going to 40', etc. I also tell them that OW certification is to 60', but that doesn't mean they can't go beyond that with the proper experience. I encourage con ed or diving with more experienced divers, preferably a DM or instructor, before taking those steps. I also tell them that some places (resorts) won't let them dive beyond 60' without AOW. IOW, do what you feel comfortable with and take it one step at a time.

I totally agree. If you are an open water diver that's been certified for awhile and has made 100+ dives (or even 20-40) with many of them between 60-100 feet, I sincerely doubt any dive operator will restrict you from diving over 60 feet. Experience is what counts. Instruction is a way to attain that experience, but you are not limited to formal education. The key is to be cautious to expand limits slowly and with someone more experienced.

 

[OzzieCadenza]

During our May 08 trip to the Keys, I ran into this 60 foot parameter as a limit for the first time in ~100 dives. After 3 days of pretty crummy dives in <30 feet, I asked to go to a site with more depth. The operator informed me that since we had only OW certification, Iwe would be restricted to (what amounted to) snorkeling sites. There was some discussion, leading to our going to another dive operation. I called NAUI and PADI, and neither would admit to anything official and enforceable about the 60 foot limit. True enough, they did admit that it was policy for TRAINING but they would not admit to any enforceable rule beyond the scope of their training protocols. The other dive operation asked about "deep" dives within past 6 months, and that was all.

I chalk this up to a lesson learned: make sure you know what your dive operator has for a policy on the 60'/OW/AOW thing. And if you go to the Keys, check to make sure your operator does not mix snorkelers and scuba, and whether or not students are going to be on the boat; chances are if either of these is the case, you will be going to a shallow dive site.

Note that the Keys is the ONLY place we ran into this. The Keys are different; it is the only place we have been where dive sites themselves are stratified by depth; most of the Caribbean sites start you out at 20-30 ft and you can go deeper if you want, right up to the limit. Most common is to do the 1st dive to 80', and the second to 50' or less. Most also provide guided dives at no extra cost; not so in the Keys.

BTW, every dive is a training dive.

 

[H2odiving]

Hey Lava,

There has been a ton of crap in this thread about the virtue of experience over training. Dive training is a much better way to be introduced to the joys and hazards of more challenging dive environments and the use of varied dive tools than is finding yourself well beyond your comfort zone with out a paddle.

Its strong training that saves lives.

We teach what we know and we do what we have learned.

I think I am agreeing with you.
I have only done 7 dives and my instructor has been talking to me about getting AOW certified. He believes that this training will make me a better diver instead of waiting for experience. Also, since I think it is good for every diver to take the rescue class, I am leaning towards thinking my instructor is correct about the AOW class. I didn't go scuba diving first prior to taking the OW class so I think the same logic would apply for AOW. I want to be trained to go 100 feet not just gradually get there on my own.

 

[DevonDiver]

It is easy to become over-confident about deeper diving. I've seen many inexperienced divers pushing their limits, without supervision or training, to depths far in excess of their certification. I've seen more experienced divers pushing their luck down to depths that are far in excess of recreational diving limits (40-50m+). All I can say is that it is idiot behaviour...caused by over-confidence, ego and a complete ignorance of the realities of deeper diving.

When you haven't done the formal training (AOW, Deep Course, Tech training etc), then it is easy to convince yourself that you are able to do those dives...especially when you've done a few and nothing has gone wrong for you....you can think that the depths are now 'within your limits'. However, training for deeper depths is more about your capacity to deal with those situations when something does go wrong...or to prevent those things going wrong in the first place.

The trouble with being an inexperienced diver is that you 'don't know what you are ignorant of'....

 

[Jim Lapenta]

The other thing is the AOW card itself in many instances is not. Five extra dives with an instructor does not make you an advanced diver by any means. Unfortunately too often it is a license for people to get themselves into trouble and lessen liability for the dive ops. I have seen a number of people who got AOW right out of OW because the instructor said it would be best for them. Turns out it was a load of crap. What would have been better would have been to get some experience on shop outings where a pro was on hand or some very experienced divers to mentor them and then take AOW 20 or 30 dives down the road. AOW is a money maker most times and does not give anything other than a false sense of security to new divers. We do not allow new divers in most cases to take AOW at the shop I teach thru primarily until they've gone on some shallow dives with us and demonstrated they are ready for our AOW course. Which by the way is usually 8-10 dives in different environments. We do deep, uw nav, search and recovery, night, and when possible wreck. We may substitute low vis or drysuit for wreck and use reels for nav if the wreck dives do not work out due to schedules. We also shoot bags, and work on buoyancy and basic skills. Things like fish ID, boat, and the like are not things that are advanced diver stuff. Boat should be covered in OW at least entries and such, the other stuff you pick up from the mate and divemaster on board. Fish ID is a book from Borders or some of those little cards.