some clarification about open water please

[carolineUK]

im open water certified and, have been for 11 years.
A neighbour of mine has JUST completed his OW abroad and the latest I heard from his parents was he dived to 28 metres!!!
he hasnt even done the AOW. just the open water.

now, correct me if im WRONG but doesnt PADI state that OW is cert to 18 m give or take a metre or two!

28 metres! surely thats an exaggeration on the parents part or maybe they heard wrong OR maybe the guy DID dive to 28 metres. And hes only just qualified as a new OW diver.


this doesnt make ANY sense.
surely we would all be diving at our own chosen depth if this was the case! It surely has to be WRONG and this shouldnt in my opinion be allowed on an OW cert.


any views very welcomed.

and yes im sure his parents exaggerated. But so im not going MAD......since WHEN does an open water diver go 10 metres deeper than they are allowed!!!



Carolineuk

[jb2cool]

PADI OW will qualify you to 18m. Me might have gone to 28m but that's outside of the training and not recommended. They probably heard wrong.

[bottlefish]

We tend to simplify the depth limits of the PADI courses, however the official line is as follows:

"Plan, conduct and log open water no stop (no decompression) dives when properly equipped and when accompanied by a buddy in conditions with which they have training and/or experience."

The maximum depth of the training dives within the Open Water course is 18 metres, therefore an Open Water diver would (or atleast should) not have received training to go below that depth, that would therefore be the maximum depth rating of an OW diver. However, strictly speaking, if for example you didn't go below 11 metres on your open water course, then this is all you are qualified to dive to.

As for Open Water divers diving deeper then 18 metres; I certainly wouldn't recommend or condone it, I certainly wouldn't guide/buddy someone to that depth unless they were signed with me on a course, however it certainly does happen, I wouldn't be at all surprised if your neighbours parents got it right (although equally he may have said 28 feet and they transposed that to metres by mistake...)

[Smudge]

The one thing that I have noticed since passing my OW is that any diving that is undertaken is done on good faith. If you end up with two idiots that want to go much deeper than they have been trained to do there is nothing to stop them.
As bottlefish has already said "I certainly wouldn't recommend or condone it" and you would be a fool if you just ignored all the training you have received.

[lapom]

Mmmmmmm,i dived on a wreck at 35m on my 15ish dive,only OW cert,but i felt and still feel(iAOW now)v confident underwater,i don,t get scared,except at clowns.
I will prob get bollocked of someone,but im thick skinned.

[EllieCee]

You naughty boy...

Diving clowns are a meance, their makeup runs into their eyes and they crash into reefs, and those wide at the top trousers make their streamlining somewhat off....

At least theirs an endless supply of ammunition for the water squirting trick flower tho...

Ellie

[Steppenwolf]

I have seen the local instructors on liveaboards stretch the rule a little several times. In OZ, I was allowed upto 21m even though I was just plain OW at the time; in Phuket, there was a woman who was only OW but had more than 50 logged dives. She was buddying her husband and although I don't know her deepest dive, I am sure she was in the 25m range at least a few times.

I think this is something that happens a lot, but if there is an incident, not only would there be insurance implications but the staff in charge might have a thing or two to answer.

[Baz]

Steppenwolf Wrote:I have seen the local instructors on liveaboards stretch the rule a little several times. In OZ, I was allowed upto 21m even though I was just plain OW at the time;.

21m was my 2nd dive in the Maldives on OW, with a Bellarussian instructor/guide. (Come down look at this turtle, moray, coral, lobster.etc )

Best dive i have ever done, not for the depth just for the amazing array of aquatic life and a very fast current.

Insurance would have been void but still a great dive.

[bottlefish]

Just for the record, DAN (or atleast DAN Europe) Insurance does not limit your insurance cover to your diving qualfication, their limits (and exclusions) are based purely on accepted best practice of diving (e.g max PO2 of 1.4, Trimix below a certain depth etc)

[Carlylove]

I am OW and regularly got to 22M at Stoney.

I wouldn't do it if I did not feel I was capable though.