phree337
Guest
I'm still new to diving (cert OW in July '03), so I'm gonna ask this question. Hopefully it doesn't come out sounding like a troll....
At what point does a dive become a "technical" dive from a "recreational" one? Is it when a decompression obligation occurs, or perhaps a specific depth? Something else?
I ask this because I am considering which direction to steer my diving education. Oh sure, I'd love to get cave certified--but that may not be for me; I'm still thinking about how I would handle an emergency underwater in a cave. I would definately like to experience deeper depths with longer times than my current experience would dictate (~20 dives total to date, ~80fsw max depth). So what's the next step? Since I already have the EANx taken care of, I wonder what the value of AOW would be. Since the max recreational diving depth is ~100 feet, why not just go ahead and learn ALL the aspects involved in a dive of that depth, instead of just getting a card that says I can be at 100 feet for 5 minutes?
OK, the real question should be why get AOW certified? Is there something important in the class that needs to be understood before making the step into the "technical" world? Or would it be better to just spend the money on diving and gaining proficiency and experinece, work on getting into/maintaining physical and mental fitness, and then take a staged decompression course?
Does any of this make sense? :lol: I'm open to your input.... Please don't think I'm rushing things--I'm not looking to jump into anything soon. I know there is no substitue for experience. I just don't want to waste time or money getting something I really don't need or will be covered better in a later course.
Thanks!!
At what point does a dive become a "technical" dive from a "recreational" one? Is it when a decompression obligation occurs, or perhaps a specific depth? Something else?
I ask this because I am considering which direction to steer my diving education. Oh sure, I'd love to get cave certified--but that may not be for me; I'm still thinking about how I would handle an emergency underwater in a cave. I would definately like to experience deeper depths with longer times than my current experience would dictate (~20 dives total to date, ~80fsw max depth). So what's the next step? Since I already have the EANx taken care of, I wonder what the value of AOW would be. Since the max recreational diving depth is ~100 feet, why not just go ahead and learn ALL the aspects involved in a dive of that depth, instead of just getting a card that says I can be at 100 feet for 5 minutes?
OK, the real question should be why get AOW certified? Is there something important in the class that needs to be understood before making the step into the "technical" world? Or would it be better to just spend the money on diving and gaining proficiency and experinece, work on getting into/maintaining physical and mental fitness, and then take a staged decompression course?
Does any of this make sense? :lol: I'm open to your input.... Please don't think I'm rushing things--I'm not looking to jump into anything soon. I know there is no substitue for experience. I just don't want to waste time or money getting something I really don't need or will be covered better in a later course.
Thanks!!
ScubaRon
