what is the deepest dive you ever did?

[carolineUK]

Just out of curiosity and wondering how deep your deepest dive was.?
Normal divers like me go no deeper than 30m (on average) i would gather,

and

I guess tech divers go REALLY deep down. that must be really scarey!

[Polly]

I dropped down to 37m once at the Blue Hole, Dahab. Air was escaping from my inflator hose and I got distracted trying to fix it. I check my depth every few seconds on the deep dives, just in case, so shows how quickly you can drop if you have no reference point!

And the Blue Hole goes way way down.... always scares the crap out of me to lose a buddy and eventually find them laughing at you a few metres above.

I'd like to get my deep spec this summer though, just in case there's ever stuff I want to see any deeper but can't really be bothered with the tec stuff just yet.

[Ian]

I've been to 40m on PADI rec quals.

My DL qualification theoretically takes me to 55m on air once I have built up experience, but especially in UK waters I don't see air as being sensible for me much deeper than 40m... I haven't had a specific narcotic episode, but I just get very edgy deeper than 30m in the dark and crap vis, and I don't want to push it.

That said, many of my favourite moments underwater have taken place at 5-10m, there really is no need to go deeper than 25m for most dives. Only specific underwater features, creatures or wrecks would take me deeper!

[Sakara Drinker]

Ha, this should be fun.

The deepest I like to do on a single 12 is 40m although, like Ian, my BSAC qual takes me to 55m.

I have dived to 90m on trimix.

I am happy to dive the arch in Dahab on twins with a stage to 60m on air (whoops, the lid just came off a can of worms )
I only do this if I have the correct equipment including my dual bladdered OMS bungied wing of death. (2nd can away )
The last time I did this was last month.

[Polly]

So techinically you're okay to do the arch on air with your qualification 'cos that's only at 52m??

[horses45]

i have only done 30 meters but hopefully gonna do my specialty deep diver so i can go a bit deeper

[Sakara Drinker]

Polly Wrote:So techinically you're okay to do the arch on air with your qualification 'cos that's only at 52m??

With my BSAC qual then yes I suppose but I wouldn't have ever thought of doing it until I did at least TDI Extended Range. The arch is between 52 and 55m depending on the tide. You have seen all the plaques at the Blue Hole. Too many people have tried doing it on a single without training and never returned.

[Polly]

Totally agree but didn't realise there was a BSAC qualification that covered you that deep on air. Quite possibly the biggest can of worms we've had on here yet!

[carolineUK]

Sakara Drinker Wrote:Ha, this should be fun.

The deepest I like to do on a single 12 is 40m although, like Ian, my BSAC qual takes me to 55m.

I have dived to 90m on trimix.

I am happy to dive the arch in Dahab on twins with a stage to 60m on air (whoops, the lid just came off a can of worms )
I only do this if I have the correct equipment including my dual bladdered OMS bungied wing of death. (2nd can away )
The last time I did this was last month.

90m wow!!
When you dive with twins, is that 2 12l cylinders?
and how do you go from breathing on one then breathing on the second cylinder without taking big risks like changing over to the other cyclinder.?
I saw an instructor in Egypt getting kitted up on twin cylinders and I was amazed that someone so tiny could carry it all (and i also wondered how breathing from 2 works)

[Ian]

Polly Wrote:Totally agree but didn't realise there was a BSAC qualification that covered you that deep on air. Quite possibly the biggest can of worms we've had on here yet!

Why? Air doesn't exceed the standard PO2 limits until deeper than 55m. Everyone suffers narcosis to a different degree, and many experience (although there is no scientific theory to support it) that with frequent exposures to elevated PN2 they either become less susceptible or learn to cope better with narcosis.

Be very clear, just because it's on air doesn't mean that it's single cylinder no-planning kind of diving, nor can you go to that depth without doing depth progression with a nationally qualified instructor supervising as you discover how narcosis affects you. BSAC DL training includes a lot of stuff on gas management, including reserves, and on planning that was never in the PADI deep spec I did, let alone in AoW. It also encourages the use of pony cylinders and twinsets, and enriched air for decompression (even if at DL level you can't do accelerated deco).

Also consider that BSAC qualifications are much more experience based that PADI ones - with PADI you can qualify to 30m without ever going much deeper than 18m, and you can qualify to 40m without going much deeper than 30m. With BSAC once qualified as DL you are still limited to 35m until you do the depth progression.

I'm not saying one system is better than the other because I don't believe it is, but if after qualifying as DL you have tried diving to 40m with an instructor and you narked totally, they are NOT going to sign you off to that depth, let alone to 55m - you can be a DL but still limited to 35m....

In fact our club diving officer narks at 25m, and uses trimix for 30m dives!!!! She's about as well qualified as a BSAC diver can be as well as having various tehie quals (and being an ex regional coach), but BSAC would have never signed her off for diving deeper than 30m on air!

Not bashing/promoting either agency, just observing that the different training approaches, in my opinion, explain the different approach to depth limits, and hence this really shouldn't be a can of worms at all...

Ian