What is the fundamental reason that prevents scuba diving from becoming popular?

[Blackcrusader]

No one does deep dives on air anymore. It’s dangerous and if you’re going to do them, you’re on CCR which will help with the increasing cost and decreasing availability of helium.

Is 30m - 40m a deep dive by your opinion?

 

[Cthippo]

Go read padi's own blog. They even write a diver with an OW can dive deeper than 60 feet there is nothing stopping them. Instructors also like to sell courses and many have new divers do OW and AOW in 5 days. They sell the AOW so the diver can " go deeper" it's not like they had any extra experience

So what is in the "deep diver" course for the AOW? As I understand it you are still working within NDL and so aren't learning deco planning. Is it just a supervised exposure to narcosis?

 

[Blackcrusader]

So what is in the "deep diver" course for the AOW? As I understand it you are still working within NDL and so aren't learning deco planning. Is it just a supervised exposure to narcosis?

Mainly to show people they use more air at depth and to make sure they monitor their air as some new divers and not good on gas consumption, some are very good. I don't know of anyone who got narced by going to 30m depth. Not saying not possible just none that I know of.

 

[Bigbella]

Don’t quite get that either. My late 1970s OW class at the Y, had us down to 30 meters or so . . .

 

[Bob DBF]

Don’t quite get that either. My late 1970s OW class at the Y, had us down to 30 meters or so . . .

It was a different time, they may have still been teaching old school.

 

[Wibble]

Is 30m - 40m a deep dive by your opinion?

Yes.

30m/100ft and deeper means you won’t be able to panic and bolt to the surface without serious consequences. Bottom times are drastically reduced; gas is consumed much faster; narcosis is real…

It’s not a good place for a novice and especially a nervous one.

 

[El Diablo]

Still nowhere near the consumption of many boats. My boat has a 160 gallon fuel tank for a reason.

There is all sorts of confusion. It's a recommended limit, and wasn't always that way. I did an OW checkout dive deeper than 80' in the late '90s. I know it's been a while, but I don't recall 60' being mentioned as a limit. I do recall 130' being mentioned several times, though.

When my daughter got certified, the shop usually has a get together/ certification ceremony at a local casual restaurant. They play some trivia games for prizes as well. I did not get the right answer to the "recommended limit for OW."

There are many sources for PADI's certified depth limits. Just a snip from their official Blog:

The Difference Between Scuba Diver and Open Water Diver?

When people say they are a scuba diver or have a scuba diving license, what do they mean? Find out more about diving certifications here.

blog.padi.com

– Open Water Divers can plan and execute dives with a certified buddy or dive professional to a maximum depth of 18 meters/60 feet.

I got certified in 2002, back then it was 18m.

 

[El Diablo]

I am not condemning all stores.

It was just that salespeople, at a couple of the shops that we visited, descended upon my niece within what seemed seconds, when she told them that she was taking a college scuba course, and felt a bit bewildered by all the choices.

After the first laughable sales pitch of "a lot of people are now moving to titanium," while displaying a 2500.00 regulator, under glass, my brother actually insisted that they "back the **** off" and let her breathe; but that still didn't stop them from flogging one of my all-time favorite dive store scams -- the all-inclusive "dive package," often described in terms of being "bronze," "silver," and "gold" versions -- typically, a regulator / octopus; a computer / gauge; and a BC, which, in one case, varied in price from about 1 to 3K.

Having worked at shops as a kid, I was told that it was a tried and true method of getting rid of old inventory; and that there was invariably some weak link in those deals -- whether cheap-o gauges; no name regulators; or even some discontinued equipment.

When I asked which component was, heh, “obsolete,“ on the "silver" package, the salesperson sheepishly admitted that the BC was "probably older stock" and no longer manufactured -- strange that that wasn't mentioned on that all-too effusive tag . . .

I believe you got really unlucky. Those practices sound really 'old'... of course, that's your personal experience and maybe I've got lucky all these years but I've always been treated with respect and never advised to buy anything obsolete or discounted without previously been informed.

I guess it depends on the area / city and how much of an 'old school car salesman' style dive stores adopt

 

[Celt]

I originally trained to 50 metres on air. My spiro gauge is to 80 metres. I worked at 73 metres and today's deep air course is to 60.

https://www.megalehellas.net/en/deep-dive-deep-air-course-calabria/

 

[Blackcrusader]

There are many sources for PADI's certified depth limits. Just a snip from their official Blog:

The Difference Between Scuba Diver and Open Water Diver?

When people say they are a scuba diver or have a scuba diving license, what do they mean? Find out more about diving certifications here.

blog.padi.com

– Open Water Divers can plan and execute dives with a certified buddy or dive professional to a maximum depth of 18 meters/60 feet.

I got certified in 2002, back then it was 18m.

This was on PAdi's Blog only a month ago but that page no longer exists

From PADI's own blog site https://blog.padi.com/how-deep-can-you-scuba-dive-maximum-depth/

Recreational Depth Limits​

The maximum depth for recreational diving is 40m/130ft.*


Open Water Divers are trained to dive to a maximum depth of 18m/60ft, while Advanced open water divers can explore deeper, to a maximum of 40m/130ft.

Can Open Water Divers dive deeper than 18m/60tf?​

Frankly, yes. There is no scuba police out there to stop you




Read what Tursiops wrote on this....

Question - Night Diving - requirements, insurance coverage, WRSTC

How does AOW certify you for night dives? Two PADI's ways; 1. It was one of the three core dives in PADI AOW certification many yrs ago. 2. As one of three specialty dives of choice. I have no idea if the card indicates the choices! Other agency might include night dive in their AOW training.

scubaboard.com