What counts as a dive?

[ItsBruce]

We all talk about the number of dives we have done. Thus, the question: What counts as a dive? Is it going into the water from a boat or on shore? Is there some minimum surface interval that makes it a distinct dive? Is there some required time in the water for it to be a distinct dive? Does using the same tank without having it refilled mean it is not a distinct dive?

I ask the foregoing because in my neighborhood there are a bunch of guys who earn their livelihoods by cleaning boat bottoms. Some do 15 boats a day,. Does that count as 15 dives? (Even if it takes only one tank of air?)

 

[MaxBottomtime]

Most agencies have minimum standards as far as bottom time and surface interval. I would never even consider counting training dives, boat cleaning, golf ball retrieval, swimming pool dives or baths. All of my logged dives have at least ten minutes bottom time if the conditions are bad, otherwise I don't count them. I try to allow at least an hour between dives

 

[KidK9]

Hmm, I count training dives in my log book as long as they are more than 15 minutes (so this will count out most of a rescue course). Other than that, no golf ball diving, no pools, no baths...that pretty much sums it up. Any dive more than 15 minutes I suppose.

 

[KidK9]

Oh, and those boat cleanings do not count as a dive. Neither does aquarium cleanings (like the ones in the city....not the ones in your apartment)

 

[MoonWrasse]

Most agencies have minimum standards as far as bottom time and surface interval. I would never even consider counting training dives, boat cleaning, golf ball retrieval, swimming pool dives or baths.

LOL

What about visiting dive bars? Does that count?

 

[Gary D.]

Most agencies have minimum standards as far as bottom time and surface interval. I would never even consider counting training dives, boat cleaning, golf ball retrieval, swimming pool dives or baths. All of my logged dives have at least ten minutes bottom time if the conditions are bad, otherwise I don't count them. I try to allow at least an hour between dives

We do a minimum of 24 training dives a year with some in the 130' range. I have cleaned boats that were 40' deep and took several underwater periods over several days to finish. We have collected golf balls from the on water driving range in over 100' depths and we just closed up a 30' deep training pool. So why shouldn't these be counted?

Gary D.

 

[Nemrod]

"We do a minimum of 24 training dives a year with some in the 130' range. I have cleaned boats that were 40' deep and took several underwater periods over several days to finish. We have collected golf balls from the on water driving range in over 100' depths and we just closed up a 30' deep training pool. So why shouldn't these be counted?"

I don't log dves and this is exactly one of the reasons. Your dives described above certainly sound like a "dive" to me. I could imagine using tools to scrub a large boat could be as challenging as a snoozer reef dive behind a resort hotel. There could be currents, poor viz, cold water, who knows. However, I draw the line at the pool. If it is in a swimming pool it is not a actual dive.

Does breath holding and diving to 60 to 80 feet for a couple of minutes count as a dive?

Just curious though, what kinda boat has a keel forty feet deep?

"What ever you do in life do it well and do it safe."

That sounds good but if I wanted to be safe I could just hang in the bed, I much prefer to take it to the edge. N

 

[Brandon]

Just curious though, what kinda boat has a keel forty feet deep?

Haha, I'm curious too... Nimitz class aircraft carriers have a draft of 38.4 feet...

Now, I could see dropping a tool and having to go down to 40 feet to retrieve it. That'd make sense. Course... we're being nitpicky, but it's fun!

Personally, I hate dive logs. The only information I've been keeping recently is starting and ending pressures, depth, time, date and location. If I used different gear, I try to write that down.

Don't come close to logging everything, but almost all of my dives below 60 feet are logged. I do a lot of shallow stuff in Oregon, and I don't log most of that.

-Brandon.

 

[pieohpah]

I don't think there is a general definition. I only count dives that are deeper than 5 m (15 ft) and longer than 5 min, and I'm considering expanding that to a 10-15 min minimum. The point of logging, besides help for the memory or better planning if your not using a computer, is to backtrack causes in case of harm. Keep that in mind and log whatever you like.

/Peter

 

[Kagh't]

Just curious though, what kinda boat has a keel forty feet deep?

Supertanker? Though that would probably take a bit of time to clean, you'd have to order in one of those especially big brillo pads.