Questions..

[N1Hawk]

Hey everyone..

I have a quick question and maybe most of you have different opinons about this question so all of you please respond..

Question: When I get trained in March 2002 and then O/W Certified in April 2002 and receive my C-card, What's the Depth that most beginners start with and can you work your way down to lower depths when you have a couple of dives under your belt??

 

[large_diver]

Hawk,

You'll get many opinions on this. Most folks will say that the courses you will take don't really qualify you to do deeper diving...they just introduce you to it. The key is to get experience, becoming comfortable in the water, refining your technique and being very familiar with your gear before moving on to more advanced forms of diving.

I was in your shoes last spring when I first became certified and I "rushed" into an advanced course fairly quickly after my basic open water course. I also began to do some relatively deep dives (~100 feet) on wrecks in limited visibility, cold water after only about 10 dives. After I stopped diving for the winter last year, I re-evaluated my diving "goals" and decided there was no reason for me to be aggressively pursuing deeper dives without more experience. I also began to re-evaluate my gear and the need for a redundant gas supply on these deeper dives.

Anyway, long story short....I think the key is to be patient and to take things slowly. The more dives you get under your belt, the better diver you will be, and the more ready you'll be to start trying deeper dives.

Hope this is somewhat helpful.

 

[DivingGal]

Originally posted by large_diver
You'll get many opinions on this. Most folks will say that the courses you will take don't really qualify you to do deeper diving...they just introduce you to it. The key is to get experience, becoming comfortable in the water, refining your technique and being very familiar with your gear before moving on to more advanced forms of diving. ... I think the key is to be patient and to take things slowly. The more dives you get under your belt, the better diver you will be, and the more ready you'll be to start tryng deeper dives.

couldn't have said it better. Your certification will "limit" you to the level as prescribed by your agency, but this will not prevent you from going deeper on your own. In Ontario, a number of charter operator are now ensuring that you have the appropriate level of certification (deep / AOW) before the allow you on board. As LDiver said.. take your time going deeper is not necessarily better. There are a lot of great wrecks and dive sites in your neck of the woods that are less than 60ft.

 

[syruss32]

To answer your question by PADI standards, your open water is certified to 60 feet. Then when you get your Advanced open water it is 130 feet.

I was pushing 60 feet in 58 degree water in total darkness at the bottom of clear springs scuba park with only an OW certification. Per PADI I should have counted them 10 feet deeper due to conditions (cold/dark) so technically I was over. Last week I got my AOW and now am certified to 130.

Now the next question is how deep did I go when I got my cert? According to my dive computer the deepest I got was 76 feet, and on my deep dive certification dive I only went to 68 as that was the deepest point where they had the boat.

I can say I didn't really learn much from the bookwork for the deep dive but I think it is good to gain skills and proficiency before you push limits.

I have 31 dives in my log book since August so have gotten a pretty good start on some experience and I learn new skills with every dive which is something I doubt I will ever stop, I am constantly learning as I go.

Hope that helps a little!

MOST IMPORTANT: When diving BE SAFE! No one on here wants to read a pst about a diver who died because theye weren't safe, and moreso we never want to hear about someone dying that we know!

 

[Butch103]

what has already been said.................dive to your cert limits until you are comfortable going deeper..................Get your AOW asap to have a bit more training.................deeper is a rush but not neccessarily better diving...shorter dive times etc............

 

[scuba_adventurer]

PADI Recommended Standards say that OW divers should dive no deeper than 60 feet and AOW should dive no deeper than 100, not 130. PADI does not like to see anybody playing around that 100 ft. limit. I am waiting for my TecRec outline to come so that I can see the recommended limit for it, but I would imagine it is somewhat shallower than the 150 ft absolute limit.

For a deep dive to be counted, you only have to go to 60 feet. I know many instructors who only take students to 50 or 55 in cold water lakes and still count it, but I am of the thinking that you should go a little deeper than that so that divers can experience some narcosis while under supervision so they have an idea of what it can do to them before they go out on their own (I saw some strange stuff while DMing for other instructors on deep dives this summer). I do not see any need to take students beyond 100'.

 

[Jonathan]

scuba_adventurer beat me too it - the PADI deep course takes you to 130 feet (I guess as I work in metres and it is 40m) and not AOW.

From memory I think TecRec goes to 50m (or 150 feet)

Having said that depth limits seem to be somewhat like speed limits - they get broken all the time. The only problem with diving is if you get caught it is probably when you need assistence and then find your insurance won't cover it because you were beyond your training limits......

I have also heard of some charters checking computers to check that you have not exceeded limits - in some places the charter will tell you the "local law" is so much but whther that is true or not I do not know - for example in Egypt they tell you the law is 30m.

Jonathan

 

[Jonathan]

just checked the PADI web site:

What is the Tec Deep Diver Course?
The course is designed to train divers to conduct:
* gas switch extended no-decompression dives
* decompression and accelerated decompression dives
* air and enriched air dives (21% - 100%) to a maximum depth of 50 metres/165 feet

So there you have it....

Jonathan

 

[Heads Up]

Most beginners and advanced divers alike start with a depth of 0 metres (it is usually called falling off the back of a boat, jetty etc).

Sorry - couldn't resist and am surprised that Syruss didn't pick up on this first!

 

[herman]

Hi N1Hawk,

Let me take this question in a little different direction. It's really not that important how deep you dive (within the tables of course) but how safely you dive. To dive safely you need to be comfortable with your equipment and skills. Training is important but the only real way to get comfortable and skilled underwater is to spend time diving and practicing what you learned in class. The best place to get the practice is in shallow water, 15 to 30 ft. This depth of water is a pain to control buoyancy in due to the compression and expansion of your gear. If you learn to dive well in this range, diving deeper is no problem. Instead of concentrating on going deeper, find a place where you can do a lot of shallow, easy and long dives. Practice your buoyancy skills until they are second nature and you feel completely at home underwater. At this point, diving deeper is no big deal, again within the tables.
Dive safe.