Diving Deep – Is it everyone’s cup of tea?
The answer to this question is relative; if you are an open water diver then technically 19m is deep. So yes, it most probably is your cup of tea which is why you then want to do your advanced course as that will allow you to dive to 30m.
The next relative issue you need to understand is that deep diving has really little to do with depth and a lot more about your buoyancy, air consumption, the environment and then without a doubt your comfort levels.
You can do an absolutely perfect 30m dive (advanced course standard dive) with clear waters, no current on an easy sun shiny day. Take that dive to a low visibility environment, add some big swells or current and make it cold – all of a sudden this can be a potential nightmare.
So it terms of the tea…yes (in my humble opinion) it can be – if and only if you have done the proper training with people who know what they are doing. And if, ONLY if you feel comfortable, confident and competent enough to do this dive knowing the conditions, circumstances and how it fits in with your personal limits. WOW a lot of if’s hey!
So how do you get there…?
Training – oh people – training.
You owe it to yourself, and your family, and your fellow divers to understand that although, if you choose not to do the training you are on a very slippery slope – and you might be taking some people with you...
As an instructor I find it very frustrating when I hear people (yes I am generalising but have been in the industry for 20 years so pfft J) tell other divers that the advanced course is a waste of time.
Now this phrase will usually come from a diver who is generally competent and skilled in the water by his/her nature. I am talking about the water babies – the born instructors. I am not being facetious now; there genuinely are divers who do their open water courses that can make certain instructors feel like they need to retrainJ. These guys were obviously bored with their course and to a certain degree they might not have had the best instructor. So I can sometimes understand their viewpoint.
However! They are talking to the open water that just completed his/her course who maybe/definitely does not share the same confidence and comfort levels. These guys will never speak up or say “nope that is beyond my training; I don’t feel comfortable doing that”. These girls/guys will keep quiet and on that casual boat go along for the ride because “we are only going to 25 meters” how bad can it be?
When I or any instructor, go on a deep dive with a student, our eyes do not leave that student for a moment! We are constantly aware of that diver, where he/she is, what he/she is doing, how much air he/she has, what her/his comfort levels are, we are ready to at a moment’s notice to intervene to ensure that diver’s safety/
Our one and only objective and mandate on that dive are to ensure the safe return of our diver. When your buddy takes you on the deeper dive do they have that same interest?
I know the intention is good and that you only have the best interested of your friend at heart, however just for a moment think through the consequence of your actions. Other than the harsh reality that you might just lose your life, they might lose theirs and their family might be without any financial aid as they dived deeper than what they were trained..
Why do you want deep dive training with an instructor?
They are there to guide you, lead you, inform you of all the possible hazards you can expect during this dive.
They are there to watch over you every minute of the dive, correcting any wrong decisions, reminding you immediately of what you might be doing wrong.
They are there to prevent any problem that might occur.
They are there to point out to refine your skills, and point out what you did wrong after the dive.
In summary I think you just need to answer this one question, if you decided you want to dive deeper - why would you want to take a short cut that has a life of death consequence?