Any scuba divers on here? How deep have you been ?

[nogoodnamesleft]

Also BSAC & PADI.

I am qualified both BSAC and PADI.
I have done basic cave and wreck diving but was never really comfortable with either, I much preferred open water.

My deepest was maybe 40m and done a couple of wrecks but like yourself the most interesting stuff is shallower and with the surface above you.

Never did much in UK (hence the PADI) but had some amazing experiences.

I do remember advice dive shop gave me my 1st ever dive on a large barrier reef as it applies to so many aspects of life. Water was nice and warm and I asked if I should wear a wet suit to protect from the sharp bits, stingy things and bitey things. They said along the lines of You can but if you put up barriers, if you go in worried about sharp, stingy & bitey things you'll be apprehensive and spend your time worrying about things. So I didn't and they were right and I discovered fire coral (and the pain did subside), even got one weird bite that they couldn't identify from the really weird bite marks on my leg, etc. And most of my diving has been around coral and never a wet suit.

And the advice is so true of so many aspects of life. If you want to do something embrace it don't sort of half do it scared and holding back expecting disaster.

nb not done any diving for many years but still get nostalgic when I see my old tank and gear in the garage. I assume (not checked) that 70 is probably a bit old to restart.

 

[nogoodnamesleft]

Divers won't necessarily adhere to that chart. Bit like speed limits and drivers. Everyone knows what they should stick to but in reality it might be different.

Probably particularly so in the modern era of dive computers. I always wore an old fashioned dive watch with rotating bezel but one day in the early days of dive computers I dived moderately deep/long in the morning then after lunch buddied up with a German guy with a dive computer. Before the dive I was working out times and depths for the 2nd dive using tables and he was "we'll just follow my computer". He got a bit upset when I said "No, we did very different dives this morning and your computer relates to you and your five not me and my morning dive".

 

[nogoodnamesleft]

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All the dive centres/shops I've dived with check your qualifications when you arrive and it's OK to dive and no constraints based on qualifications ie it's binary.

When I did BSAC in UK with a local club only once qualified I dived with them once and they were very fussy about every BSAC regulation plus some they invested (eg their pool tests involved stuff BSAC made no mention of). So maybe clubs adhere to limits a bit more.

 

[Binky]

Probably particularly so in the modern era of dive computers. I always wore an old fashioned dive watch with rotating bezel but one day in the early days of dive computers I dived moderately deep/long in the morning then after lunch buddied up with a German guy with a dive computer. Before the dive I was working out times and depths for the 2nd dive using tables and he was "we'll just follow my computer". He got a bit upset when I said "No, we did very different dives this morning and your computer relates to you and your five not me and my morning dive".

Indeed and different dive computers give different deco and dive times etc as well so absolutely right you have to strictly adhere to what you did not anyone else. I grew up diving using tables and migrated to a computer but always kept in mind times if required in my head but also a slate with times so if computer failed I could work out decompression stops. Most of my diving was on deep wrecks so inevitably every dive required stops.

 

[Profpointy]

From memory does BSAC not say 30 metres ?

depends on your training level. BSAC Dive Leader is a 50m certificate and is the level most divers who stay with a club get to. I can't remember the lesser depths for "sport diver" or "ocean diver" (or whatever they are called). BSAC did seem to want to reduce the depth for diving with air to 40m as 50m is a bit questionable as people get "narked" by breathing high pressure nitrogen - basically it's like being a bit drunk and simply tasks become difficult, which is really not what you want if you have to deal with a problem at 50m. But 50 was still their air limit when I was a member

PADI have a first level of around 20m, but pretty much everyone does their (not very) "advanced" which is 30m. This is the basic level for holiday diving. A fair few people do their "deep" which is 40m. It's just a couple of extra dives rather than much substance to it. PADI treat "recreational dives" as all being no-deco (ie you can come straight up, ideally fairly slowly) but you can't get much of a dive at 40m without deco - maybe 10 minutes, so it is a bit of a nonsense.

BSAC cover deco from the start - deco is where you have to wait at a depth (typically 6m) for a set amount to lose all the dissolved nitrogen in your tissue, before heading up. If you miss your deco you get bubbles which cause "the bends", a debilitating condition causing pain, disability, neurological problems or even dreath.

I have a certificate for 55m from yet another organisation TDI - which is also the deepest non training dive I've done. I have also dived to 60m on a Trimix course covering the use of Helium - which solves some depth problems but has other risks. Due to it coinciding with domestic upheaval I never got the ticket from it but did all the dives and training.

Much beyond 50m is very much "technical diving", and really should involved helium, multiple tanks and equipment redundancy
and probably a "reabreather" which is a computerised piece of gear which recycles the gas you're breathing. It gets extremely serious indeed once your doing 60 or 70m and beyond. A "rebreather" diver told me he didn't like diving beyond 70m as it wasn't practical to carry enough backup tanks - you'd have to have them tied off at various depths. I think this illustrates how the seriousness escalates.

Anyhow I don't know whether the sad incident was holiday type divers way beyond their training and equipment or properly trained and equipped cave divers who somehow messed up.

 

[Profpointy]

Pretty meaningless though as that is what the different organisations say is their limit.

Divers won't necessarily adhere to that chart. Bit like speed limits and drivers. Everyone knows what they should stick to but in reality it might be different.

I did read an account of two renowned British cave divers being invited to join a fairly serious exploration in Florida. The American organisers were quite strict about the various qualification levels for how far and deep their own members could go. Almost as an afterthought the Brits were asked for their qualifications and it turned out one had the basic level PADI ticket ... and the other did not ! They were already amongst the elite of the the sport so the organisers had to let it go

 

[nogoodnamesleft]

I lived in NL for a year and got NOB and CMAS cards. Not sure about "level" and "depth" wasn't really much of a consideration inland diving in NL. Never did any test or anything to get the NOB and CMAS cards, just the dive club I joined organised them on some paperwork basis.

Interesting taking part in NL local club pool training as fantastic massive and good deep pool yet most of the "training" was fitness, swimming lengths as a sort of race. ¾ of club pool time was swimming on the surface.

 

[fossyant]

Shoot happens, it's a bit like 'any cyclists on here' - we all get splatted at some point. Same with what's happened in Brighton - my wife was swimming in there a couple of weeks ago. The tides were really strong so she was careful, and the beach drops off very quickly, unlike some other areas. It's deep within feet !

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

There is an old quarry in Snowdonia which is popular for diving

There was a tradition of people taking plaster Gnomes and leaving them on a specific shelf a certain depth down

Then some numpty decided that this is littering and has to stop
and as he was connected to - or even in - the Police
The Police divers were instructed to go down and clear them all up

Gnomes from many years of divers celebrating reaching that depth


anyway - they did are they were told

Then more gnomes started appearing on another shelf on a metre or so further down

which - funnily enough turned out to be just SLIGHTLY below the maximum depth that Police diver are allowed to operate from


now - it was not confirmed - but it was suggested that some of the Police divers were actually local divers that often used that quarry
and - as Police divers - had access to the regulations and protocols for Police divers


so the new gnomes stayed

 

[Dave7]

There is an old quarry in Snowdonia which is popular for diving

There was a tradition of people taking plaster Gnomes and leaving them on a specific shelf a certain depth down

Then some numpty decided that this is littering and has to stop
and as he was connected to - or even in - the Police
The Police divers were instructed to go down and clear them all up

Gnomes from many years of divers celebrating reaching that depth


anyway - they did are they were told

Then more gnomes started appearing on another shelf on a metre or so further down

which - funnily enough turned out to be just SLIGHTLY below the maximum depth that Police diver are allowed to operate from


now - it was not confirmed - but it was suggested that some of the Police divers were actually local divers that often used that quarry
and - as Police divers - had access to the regulations and protocols for Police divers


so the new gnomes stayed

If you mean Dorathea I've done numerous dives there.....it is very cold and very deep.

 

[MadMalx]

Very long time since I’ve dived, but mid 40s (m) was my limit, many times. No way would I be heading into a tight space at that sort of depth.
The best diving is usually 30m or less - more time, light and life, and possible to do another good dive in the same day.

. It will depend on classification of whether 3rd 2rd or 1st class diver for BSAC.
It's also a very long time since I qualified 😂

BSAC dropped the 1st/2nd/3rd class in the 1980s (when I was last diving)

 

[Binky]

Very long time since I’ve dived, but mid 40s (m) was my limit, many times. No way would I be heading into a tight space at that sort of depth.
The best diving is usually 30m or less - more time, light and life, and possible to do another good dive in the same day.



BSAC dropped the 1st/2nd/3rd class in the 1980s (when I was last diving)

Goes to show how long I've dived as I qualified as 2nd class.

 

[MadMalx]

Goes to show how long I've dived as I qualified as 2nd class.

Snap

 

[Fergs]

There is an old quarry in Snowdonia which is popular for diving

There was a tradition of people taking plaster Gnomes and leaving them on a specific shelf a certain depth down

Then some numpty decided that this is littering and has to stop
and as he was connected to - or even in - the Police
The Police divers were instructed to go down and clear them all up

Gnomes from many years of divers celebrating reaching that depth


anyway - they did are they were told

Then more gnomes started appearing on another shelf on a metre or so further down

which - funnily enough turned out to be just SLIGHTLY below the maximum depth that Police diver are allowed to operate from


now - it was not confirmed - but it was suggested that some of the Police divers were actually local divers that often used that quarry
and - as Police divers - had access to the regulations and protocols for Police divers


so the new gnomes stayed

Ah yes, the Wastwater gnome garden. Bonkers all round.
IIRC, a couple of divers got into trouble trying to find it, apparently Wastwater is very cold and steep-sided (so you can lose your bearings and get deep quicker than you realise), hence the attempts to clear it up.

 

[lazybloke]

Did my PADI open water dive course in the Maldives on 1999; horrible to read about the Italian cave divers.
I do remember slightly lax safety standards, our mixed group experienced some strong currents on one dive, it swept us along the reef and into a down draft over a drop off; we went below our planned depth and slightly below our maximum limit on our qualification before we got back to safety.
Not that it felt dangerous... But i suppose that's the red flag, right there!
As for cave diving at sea?.. No; it's bad enough on land going down Swildon's Hole.


Best diving trip was to Sharm: the reefs near Tiran island, and Ras Mohamed marine park. Awesome experiences... But then had children so holidays have been a bit tamer ever since. Maybe will go back soon!