Thistlegorm Overhead

[DomaNitrogen]

I am just thinking out loud; Would u consider the Thistlgorm an Overhead Env or not? Cause currently they only require Adv OW. U dont even need the wreck spec from PADI to dive.

I am not DIR yet but when i did my dive there i found divers bumping up down equipment is out of the question sometime silt and strong current.

So i thought i should not have went in. Although it was one of the best dives ever. And i would love to dive it again. But again i am not trained for wreck diving and even the guides who guided us are not trained for that. But most ppl dive it ...

Any Input

 

[mania]

Well it's an overhead environment although the insides of the wreck where AOW divers are taken are so huge and this is why I think no wreck cert is required.

But I have seen a person who panicked there just because he found himself in the overhead for the first itme in his life.....

I did this wreck as a part of wreck specialties during my AOW course...
Mania

 

[Jai Bar]

I am just thinking out loud; Would u consider the Thistlgorm an Overhead Env or not? Cause currently they only require Adv OW. U dont even need the wreck spec from PADI to dive.

I am not DIR yet but when i did my dive there i found divers bumping up down equipment is out of the question sometime silt and strong current.

So i thought i should not have went in. Although it was one of the best dives ever. And i would love to dive it again. But again i am not trained for wreck diving and even the guides who guided us are not trained for that. But most ppl dive it ...

Any Input

Who is "They require"? Why somebody has to require anything concerning your dive? YOU should question yourself whether it is a dive you are comfortable with (as you did, apparently). That is simply because YOU are responsible for your dear life. Nobody else cares about it more than you do- not even the best guide nor your loyal buddy.

Therefore, it is not a shame to abort/skip dives if you feel it's beyond your skill- on the opposite.

One doesn't really need wreck training in order to know if he can afford a dive to Thistlegorm. You may choose not to go inside overhead places and still enjoy a great dive there. I have friends who really don't like the Thistlegorm and in their last safari they managed to convince the whole group to skip it in favor of some other reef dive :shakehead .


And by the way, one doesn't need a wreck spec from PADI for many things but that's another issue for another forum

 

[grazie42]

The Thistlegorm is an overhead enviroment (=no direct ascent to the surface).
I´ve done a total of 9 dives on it and the "what if´s" that can occur, specially on a "guided tour" are numerous and potentially fatal.

To my knowledge noone has died there yet and thousands or hundreds of thousands of nonOE-divers have propably dived it without incident (my first few dives I was only AOW too). I still don´t think its a good idea and the things that I saw on those tours where part of the reason that made med get training to dive wrecks "properly".(note that the PADI wreck-course is not a "penetration course" and you wouldn´t be able to dive Thistlegorm within it´s limits beyond the cargo holds)

The most important thing, IMV, is that you are questioning the decision yourself. That indicates to me that you should change something either about your equipment or your level of education/experience (perhaps all) before you penetrate that wreck again...

YMMV

 

[DomaNitrogen]

I recently dove a place called Bet Goha (Goha's House) in the South at the start u have a small passage and in the end the same but with 5 min overhead passage. The dive was lovely but at the end while passing the small cave i thought what if something went wrong i am not trained for it even for a few min. and i admit i was wrong about that dive; i then also thought about the Thistlgorm i did earlier.

The Thistlgorm is a very smooth dive but "WHAT IF THAT HAPPENS" questions. To make it short i do think it's out of most of the divers limits who dive there including me.
And even if it's within the limits most ppl dive with wrong equipment and mind set.
I will take wreck diving course hopefully with AG when he comes to Egypt.

I would like to hear more about ppl who dove this dive and they are not qualified.

 

[MarkUK]

I agree with Grazie42. Deep inside the holds of the Thistlegorm is certainly an overhead environment, and there isn't a lot of room between the trucks and the roof in certain areas. I know that most centres take AOWs on the wreck, and that there haven't been any major incidents on it, but I have dived this wreck many times, and some of the divers I see being led through by guides don't deserve to be at 30m, never mind inside a bloody wreck. Bicycle kicking, knocking the crap out of the wreck and cargo, breathing like a steam engine, hands paddling away, eyes like saucers. Jeesh... It is a miracle it hasn't all gone pear-shaped already, particularly when it gets very busy and you get divers everywhere.

Mark

 

[mislav]

I did this wreck as a part of wreck specialties during my AOW course...

Me too.

I like Thistlegorm, have to take a better look of that huge propeller the next time. And carry my own flashlight... the one I rented didn't work at all. Bummer!

 

[Red Sea Shadow]

Adham,
Of course the Thistlegorm is an overhead environment. That's why some guides don't just lead the group but they also enter each compartment alone and check everything then they allow the divers to follow.

Concerning the specialties, well, they're not a must except for different gas mixtures.

Bet Goha is a nice dive

 

[bubblemonkey]

when I dived the Thistlegorm I dont remember never being able to see my way out of wherever we were, yes its an overhead enviroment but not much more than some of the swim throughs I have done in asia.

 

[DomaNitrogen]

Again it depands on the level skills. But take for example the truck area if in out of OOA happened it would be very hard for untrained divers to respond within the limitation and not to talk about wrong gear "short hoses".