To Blue Hole or not Blue Hole...

[gsk3]

I agree that the "recreational" BH dive is on the edge. I would hardly say bolting to the surface or running out of air are commonplace - in a large number of dives there I have seen each happen just once. In fact the first never happened when I was there, as long before the "victim" was even up as far as the shoulder (she was still below 100ft) a DM had caught up with her and controlled her ascent from there on.

Nonetheless my personal view is that many divers who do it, and emerge unscathed from their experience, should not have tackled it. But that's unrealistic - people DO do it, so what we have to do is minimise the risk of a incident having serious consequences.

They are still incidents, near-misses, whatever you want to call them. And each time is a chance for the safety net to develop a tiny tear that means the net fails. This was also a thread by an individual diver asking for advice--exactly the kind of person whom you claim should be exercising their individual discretion not to go on the dive because they are not ready.

At any rate, V-planner at +2 gives NDL at 150' on air as 6 minutes. PADI RDP gives NDL for 150' on air as...oh, wait, it doesn't go to 150, because PADI doesn't condone recreationally-trained divers going to that depth intentionally.

V-Planner to Tech1 limits (30 mins deco on 50%) using 21/35 shows a bottom time of 30 minutes. That sounds like much more fun, even if I have to wait a few years before I'm ready for that, and even if it costs another $100 in gas.

 

[peterbj7]

But that's not the dive you'll be able to make. In any case I see no need to use trimix for a dive to 150ft and I wouldn't want to here on grounds of cost - reckon on several hundred dollars, not $100.

 

[peterbj7]

This was also a thread by an individual diver asking for advice--exactly the kind of person whom you claim should be exercising their individual discretion not to go on the dive because they are not ready

If you look back over the thread you'll find that I recommended the diver not do the BH dive. In fact, pretty well anyone who asks whether they should do the dive and is clearly thinking of their own ability rather than the physical characteristics of the dive should not do it. As they say - if you need to ask you're not ready. But nonetheless, whether I like it or not many people with minimal training/experience do do the dive.

 

[sevenmeadowsdiver]

I just got back and did the BH on weds.I really liked the dive but I did hate the 2.5 hour trip.Its a very long day.Got picked up at 530 am and was back at 6:45 that night.Nobody uses trimex on the this dive no real reason.If your concerned then just get a bigger tank.

 

[Hank49]

Yeah, it's been pretty windy the last couple weeks. It's a lot nicer when it's only blowing 5-10 kt trades....or not at all.

 

[CaveGuru]

are there any boats that are faster?

 

[sevenmeadowsdiver]

if there are they would be a small boat and you wouldnt want any part of that.On a positive note if you want you can probably sleep on the way home I did.

 

[CaveGuru]

oh and by the way.......if you think that diving to 150ft with a single tank if fine you should take a tec course and see what you think afterwards.

 

[peterbj7]

Whether purists like it or not, thousands of people have done it without problem. Even those who have run out of air have survived the dive.

 

[ibj40]

Post deleted.