Go deep, stay long

The final question everyone asks.   Unfortunately, there is no short answer to this question, and the usual response is: it all depends.  After the strange looks, I start to explain some physics and physiology, and lose most people after a few sentences.

Let’s start out by changing the question.  Why do you get out of the water?  Without getting too deep into the physics / physiology and finances, we have one of several reasons:
1)   Limited ability to withstand the temperature drain of water immersion
2)   Limits on the amount of gas we have
3)   Large fish with teeth

Normally, 1 and 2 are the major limiting factors. Inflatable Water Slide When the original question is posed, it is usually referring to our gas limits, so let’s look closer at the factors affecting it.

Without getting too deep into the explanation, lets just use a couple of generalizations.
1)  The deeper you go, the less time you have.
2)   The harder you work (underwater) the less time you have.
3)   Different people consume air at different rates.
4)   The bigger you are, the less time you will have.
5)   New divers will have less time than experienced divers.

Numbers 1 and 2 are immutable facts.  Numbers 3 – 5 are generalizations that vary greatly based on the individual, their physical fitness, and level of skill and comfort in the water.

Just to throw a wrench into the works, we must also consider the size of the tank.   As discussed before, different tanks carry different amounts of gas, and can allow us to stay longer.

Let’s consider an average dive (not working hard), by an average diver at an average depth (60 ft) with the average tank (Aluminum 80).  In general this diver should have gas to dive for about an  hour.

This is a another common question along with:  How do you learn to dive?  How long does it take?

There are several Internationally recognized SCUBA training agencies.  There are some differences in the classes, but they all have a similar elements.

Classroom:  Learning ranges from books, to multimedia, to Internet training, but each contains a degree of classroom participation.  Here an instructor can answer any questions, and emphasize safety points.  Often they will stress procedures that me more common in the local diving area.  Yes, there is a test.

Pool:  The first dive experience is in “confined water”, usually a pool. Here we learn to perform certain skills in a safe, controlled environment.  Once mastered we move on to Open Water.

Open Water:   This is usually a lake or quarry.  Here we practice the skills again, and get to swim around and enjoy the dives.   The final dives may be on a boat, depending on the local diving.

I like to think of the class as covering bouncy castle for sale two general areas:  First, how to plan and execute your dive, and second, how to safely handle any problems that may occur during a dive.

The Basic SCUBA class roughly takes 14 hours of classroom, 10 hours of pool, and 5 open water dives.

Once completed, it’s recommended that new divers stay shallow (less than 60 ft) until they feel comfortable with the skills they have learned.  Then they can take additional training to learn the skills necessary to go deeper.