Should I log swimming pool dives?

[Javik]

I am now a certified PAID (er, PADI) OWD, but I live in the northern USA in the middle of nowhere in northwest Wisconsin near Eau Claire. It's damn cold for over 6 months of the year up here, so diving regularly is going to be a problem.

Also apparently there are no dive clubs around here unless I drive 150 miles to Minneapolis / St. Paul, and as a certified computer nerd chair-sitter, I don't have very many athletic friends.

So I am trying to see if I can talk various public swimming pool directors into letting me dive in their pool with the regular swimmers, and making them feel as comfortable as possible with it. (Will carry Spare Air 3.0, for example, which sounds silly but is extra assurance that I won't be a problem for them.)

I'm not sure this pool SCUBA time will qualify as a "real" dive, since I will just be farting around at a max depth of anywhere from 8 ft to 12 ft, depending on the pool. Should I log these dives?


Probably will use computer only since the tables don't go this shallow, and the max dive time is approximately "as many bottles as you can drag along in the car at one time, until your entire body is shriveled up like a prune".

 

[Lorenzoid]

Believe it or not, you are not the first to raise this question. Start reading:

To log pool "dives" or not to log...

To log or not to log... pool dives (noob Q)

Do pool dives count?

logging pool dives....

What dive types justify filling out a dive log?

Logging Pool Dives

 

[pconsidine]

according to Padi standards a open water dive is a dive consisting of at least 20 mins. and to a depth of 20 ft. min.

 

[Lorenzoid]

according to Padi standards a open water dive is a dive consisting of at least 20 mins. and to a depth of 20 ft. min.

As mentioned in several of those threads.

 

[USdiver1]

Don't log a pool dive, but by all means make a pool dive if that is your preferred way to "stay wet" during the long winters in Wisconsin. I DM, so I am in the pool on a regular basis for class work, even so, friends and I sometimes meet to try out some recently rebuilt piece of vintage equipment at a local college's diving pool before trying it in an OW dive. Just remember that chlorine is harder on your equipment than sea water, so rinse/soak accordingly.

 

[boulderjohn]

according to Padi standards a open water dive is a dive consisting of at least 20 mins. and to a depth of 20 ft. min.

Actually, it is not.

That is the rule for an instructor to conduct a training dive. PADI has no rules about logging dives outside of training. PADI has no authority to govern anything outside of training.

 

[Doby45]

A pool dive would not be classified as "open water" so log it if you want, but do not log it as an open water dive.

 

[boulderjohn]

Ask yourself this question: what the purpose of logging your dives? Does a pool experience qualify for meeting that purpose? If so, well, it's your log book.

The problem I have with logging pool dives is that it can be used to communicate information, and because it conflicts with normal practice, it can be deceptive. When you tell someone you have a certain number of dives, I am quite sure at least 99% of all people will assume you are not including pool sessions in that total. If you are including pool dives to increase your count for qualifying or courses or for increasing your credibility in discussion or for getting placed in the more advanced dive group at a resort, then your total is deceptive, because it communicates a false impression. The technical courses I teach require a minimum number of logged dives for entry, and I would not accept pool dives in that count. I probably would not ask about it, though, because I would assume you were not including pool dives, and I would be surprised to hear you did.

 

[2airishuman]

I am now a certified PAID (er, PADI) OWD, but I live in the northern USA in the middle of nowhere in northwest Wisconsin near Eau Claire.[...]

Also apparently there are no dive clubs around here unless I drive 150 miles to Minneapolis / St. Paul, and as a certified computer nerd chair-sitter, I don't have very many athletic friends.

Well, you're within a 45 minute drive of Lake Wazee, which has fantastic diving.

I'm in a similar situation but just south of Minneapolis. I dive solo. I don't recommend that. Actually, no one ever recommends that someone besides themselves dive solo. Nonetheless, I am a more experienced diver, and (I believe) a safer diver, as a result of my many solo dives. I like shore diving. I like freshwater lakes. There's all kinds of diving around here if you look for it and are willing to accept a dive that isn't picture perfect.

But yes, I feel your pain. The buddy dive approach requires you to find cool people who you like, and who like you, and who share your diving interests. That's hard to do when you're in an area where few people dive and those who do tend to dive while traveling, because then they tend to travel with established social groups.

It's damn cold for over 6 months of the year up here, so diving regularly is going to be a problem.

If you're going to be a diver in Wisconsin then you've got to be tough. The diving season is 10 months of the year, basically, everything except those parts of December and March where there's enough ice to get in the way but not enough to walk on without falling through so many times that it's irritating even in a drysuit.

I was out in Minnesota on March 20th this year. I would guess I'll keep diving until the lakes start to ice over. Then I'm going to find some people to ice dive with in January if I can. Add a trip to the tropics and it makes for a year full of diving.

So I am trying to see if I can talk various public swimming pool directors into letting me dive in their pool with the regular swimmers, and making them feel as comfortable as possible with it. (Will carry Spare Air 3.0, for example, which sounds silly but is extra assurance that I won't be a problem for them.)

While every organization is different, it is my experience that pool operators will not allow scuba divers to share the pool with other swimmers unless the area for scuba divers is roped off. This has much to do with making it feasible for lifeguards to determine whether someone who does not surface is on scuba as anything else. Typically there is a substantial hourly fee. Matters are complicated by the fact that you need a deeper pool (12') to do any meaningful skills work, which rules out almost everything except pools run by a school. Some dive shops have an in-house pool although I think the closest one to you is probably Scuba Center in Eagan, quite a distance.

I'm not sure this pool SCUBA time will qualify as a "real" dive, since I will just be farting around at a max depth of anywhere from 8 ft to 12 ft, depending on the pool. Should I log these dives?

I log every dive where I enter the water with the intention of scuba diving.

Some of the shortest and shallowest dives are the ones where I learned the most.

Probably will use computer only since the tables don't go this shallow, and the max dive time is approximately "as many bottles as you can drag along in the car at one time, until your entire body is shriveled up like a prune".

The PADI tables show a 205 minute NDL for a dive to 35' or less. I don't know why you would want a computer, unless you want to practice with it.

The question, really, is what you're going to get out of these dives. The pool is OK for weight checks, working on many of the skills, and getting to know a new piece of gear. I get bored quickly in them because they don't speak to the reasons why I dive.

 

[Stoo]

I would assume you were not including pool dives, and I would be surprised to hear you did.

This discussion reminds me of some comedian I heard once, probably Woody Allen, when he was asked, "How often do you make love?". His answer was another question: "Including the times I was with another person?" or words to that effect.

Pool dives are pool dives. They aren't "diving". If you want to keep track of them, keep a separate sheet in your logbook and make a notation about them, but otherwise, it's a waste of paper...