Too deep or not?

Hi Sarcelle,

You and your friend are trained to go to 60feet. If you want to go deeper without any further training, at the end of the day, that's up to you. However, my strong advice is to get additional training for going deeper, with the PADI Advanced Open Water course or similar courses by other training agencies. Possibly even get the PADI Deep diver training specialty course or similar courses by other training agencies.

Going to 100 feet without further training can be stressful for a diver who's not used to these kinds of depth. It's almost doubling the depth for what you're been trained for.

Since PADI courses are not offered in Cuba, I would suggest PADI training before you get on the plane. Possibly there's training by other agencies available in Cuba but to be honest with you, I wouldn't trust that too much. In my diving career as an instructor, I heard too many stories where even Introductory divers where taking to 100 feet on their first ever dives. Their may be exceptions out there in Cuba but I'd be very careful.

Good luck though with the diving and enjoy the dives, the diving supposedly is very good.

Sarcelle, your Open Water Diver certification to dive to 60 feet during the daytime is meant to keep you within the limits of your training when you dive with a buddy, regardless of whether there is a dive professional leading the dive. You are certified divers, and ultimately it is up to you to make your own decisions about your dive profiles based on your training and experience. You cannot simply defer that responsibility to a divemaster in Cuba, Mexico, Honduras or anywhere else (this is not a North-South issue). There simply are no scuba police, but one thing to consider is that often insurance companies will not pay claims for dive injuries if they have occurred during a dive for which the diver is not certified. With the Advanced Open Water course, during the deep dive training, you will get an idea of how deep water affects your perception, how gas laws play out in your body, what happens to your air consumption at depth, and how to plan your own deep dives. At that point you will be certified to dive to 100 feet and will no longer be deferring your responsibility for your own well-being to your dive leader.

I agree with Camille. Get the training. It will make your buddy more confident, and it will make you a more self-sufficient diver.

Agree with the posts above.

BTW, I did my first dives in Cuba, obviously loved it, but without any certification or training (2 rounds in the pool the previous day) we went to 30 meters. One on one, but still.

First; thank you for taking the time...
I will try and find diving centers who offer shallower dives in the region we're going to in Cuba, altought from what i read on the net it could be a bit hard.
What i decide to do when i'm alone(i mean travelling alone, not diving) is one thing, but i surely won't impose on my friend what he's not comfortable doing. And i'm with you guys with your advices on taking the Advanced; i'm not trying to discredit the course, by no means.
But i'm still puzzled at why the masters down south don't seem to consider the depht issue that important...Surely they can't ALL need the money that bad! After all; accidents are not the best publicity.
Even in Cozumel was my degree of certification never considered. All they wanted to see was my Padi card and the number.
Thanks!

Sarcelle,

Maybe that's an indication of their safety consciousness or awareness, or rather the lack of.

Doing the advanced course doesn't really teach you very much more than you already know about how to not kill yourself during a dive, it's just 5 jolly dives. Staggering the depth limits of 18m and 30m like this just serves to force most people to pay take an extra course. That's what PADI is about I suppose.

On the flipside though, your insurance may not cover you if you are not diving within the limits. If you only have the authorisation to go to 18m by virtue of your OW course and then you get bent whilst on a 30m dive you may be in a sticky situation. Read the policy carefully.

To set the record straight, DAN will NOT cover you if you exceed your training depth. Other insurance companies you would have to check into.

One of the very practical reasons for limiting OW divers to 30 feet is that the deeper you go, the more you compound any problem you may run into. For example, breathe your cylinder dry, and most people can make it to the surface safely on one lung full of air from 30 ft -- deeper is tougher. You also are not going to get narcked at 30 feet, whereas most people get narcked at 100 (and some even before then). And what about down currents? In many places, the deeper you go the more likely you are to run into one, and if you are not expecting one it can be harrowing.

Why do DMs let people dive deeper than their quals? Good question. I guess they figure we all know that diving in a danger sport, and we can make our own decisions. And frankly, most dives DON'T go wrong, even if people do go deeper than they are trained for. But I for one won't take anyone deeper than they are qualified for. And I always ask unknown buddies. To hell with what the DM tells them.

"To set the record straight, DAN will NOT cover you if you exceed your training depth"

Are you sure about that? Because everybody I speak to, claims DAN does.

"One of the very practical reasons for limiting OW divers to 30 feet "
Typo I presume? Should be 60.