What happened to Cozumel?

[ggunn]

Forgive my ignorance, but what is the maximum O2 concentration you could get from a membrane enrichment nitrox system?

40% according to this: Nitrox Membran Systems | L&W Compressors

 

[StreetDoctor]

I don't dive deep any more, I don't get into or even close to deco, and mostly I dive only a couple of tanks in the morning. I may do an afternoon or evening very shallow shore dive or a boat night dive at a shallower site. I am reading all the replies but so far I have not seen anything that tells me that I am being unsafe in diving nitrox as if it were air within the boundaries I have set for myself.

Not knowing exactly what you are breathing is never acceptable and you sound like a liability to everyone on the boat with you.

 

[nanches]

I'll tell you what, just so we can put this to bed and put it away on a nice note.
My dive shop runs trips to all over, but they go to Cozumel quite often. I may sign up for one of those trips just because then I can go with people I know, we can have a good time, and it will all be payed for. I don't like surprises. If it's great then maybe I'll sign for another trip, if it sucks then I won't go back.

It's kind of like a SF vacation forum. You get people talking about how wonderful fisherman's Wharf is pier 39, and they loved walking the GG bridge, and how beautiful the bay is at night with the lights on the bay bridge, and on and on. What they didn't tell you was about getting your rental car window smashed and a bunch of stuff stolen or the sideshow going on a 2 am out your hotel window, or the human poop on the sidewalks, or the passed out drug addicts laying everywhere strung out on fentanyl and neary a cop anywhere.
So there's two sides to everything.

When I read the OP's original post I thought finally, an opposing view from the regulars gushing about how great everything is in Cozumel. Almost like something that's too sweet, after a while it makes you nauseous.
To me it seemed real and straight up, an unvarnished view.
So I'm going to take your word for it and give it a shot, OK?

While it might be easier to just go with a group who arranges everything for you, it might not lead to the best experiences or dive sites. Sometimes groups end up going with bigger ops that can accommodate them, but they may not offer the best dive experiences. I understand being busy (single mom/public school educator, here) but it might be worth it to do a little research and go with a smaller op that can provide an experience more tailored to your experience and desires. Every dive may not be spectacular, but I haven’t had a bad one yet in Cozumel. I have had 1 meh dive but mostly because the current kept changing and made it hard to get to the better areas of the site (Paradise Reef).

 

[StreetDoctor]

I believe without being able to confirm that the tanks are labeled. At least the ones I’ve used as I recall. Granted, that’s tape that could come off. Although personally I’ve never been on a boat where someone asked for 36 there that I can recall. Always 32. And in fact usually it’s only the second tank that is EANx.

Last trip in November we were with another couple, probably 5,000 dives between us, and they were ok with not analysing in that situation. I went along with it. Normalisation of deviance is a discussion for another thread

The old op we used always had an analyser.
Blue Angel did not

FWIW we didn’t have the option to choose our mix, just air or nitrox. I was surprised to see it wasn’t all 32% until pushing the analyzer issue

 

[ggunn]

Not knowing exactly what you are breathing is never acceptable and you sound like a liability to everyone on the boat with you.

We'll just have to agree to disagree on that; no one has yet shown me anything unsafe about diving nitrox as if it were air the way I do it.

 

[StreetDoctor]

We'll just have to agree to disagree on that; no one has yet shown me anything unsafe about diving nitrox as if it were air the way I do it.

You are not diving in the scope of your certification. Even PADI requires you to analyze your gas. I suggest you take a nitrox class again from a reputable instructor. My cert is from TDI if you want to bash them a little bit instead of just GUE…

 

[ggunn]

... the current kept changing and made it hard to get to the better areas of the site (Paradise Reef).

I went on a dive to Paradise Reef one night where that happened. The second time we passed the same coral head with the same moray under it, it could just have been another very similar one, but the third time...

 

[ggunn]

You are not diving in the scope of your certification. Even PADI requires you to analyze your gas.

I speak of safety and risk, and you speak of rules; it's not the same thing. PADI rules say (or used to, anyway) that an OW certed diver cannot dive deeper than 60 feet. If there were jail sentences handed out for violating a certifying agency's rules most of us would have served time.

 

[BRT]

You are not diving in the scope of your certification. Even PADI requires you to analyze your gas. I suggest you take a nitrox class again from a reputable instructor. My cert is from TDI if you want to bash them a little bit instead of just GUE…

Can you explain to us how he could be in danger breathing nitrox from a membrane as air while staying above 96 feet?

 

[ChrisM]

We'll just have to agree to disagree on that; no one has yet shown me anything unsafe about diving nitrox as if it were air the way I do it.

If you are diving air tables it doesn’t really matter if the N percentage is 32 or 36