SSI Deep Diving Speciality Course in Andaman
An SSI Deep Diving Specialty course is a set of specialised skills and practices that allows a trainee to become a confident and comfortable diver between depths of 18 to 40 meters. SSI deep dive is a mixture of academic sessions and open water dives that help to plan smooth and safe deep dive adventures. The use of a compass, dive computer, navigation, perfect buoyancy, and air consumption calculations are key points to get the most from your deep dives.
Recreational divers are allowed to go up to 40 meters and it all depends on your experience, limitations and of course based on your diving level. You need to be at least an adventure diver or advanced diver and log at least 20 long dives then you can sign up for the deep speciality course. A person who is at least 15 years of age is eligible for a deep diving speciality course.
During the course, you will learn more about various deep-diving techniques that will improve your standard dive practices. You will study the effect of diving beyond the advanced level and how this can affect you such as nitrogen narcosis, oxygen toxicity and decompression sickness as risk factors of deep diving. SSI Deep Dive allows you to visit less frequently explored areas and learn new skills to prevent involved deep dive risks by conducting 3 deep dives with an instructor.
Key points of deep diving speciality course
To stay hydrated before dive
Dehydration increases the chance of decompression sickness and causes fatigue later on. You must limit your intake of alcohol and caffeine the day before your actual deep dive. Both of these increase the risk of dehydration for many hours afterwards. Consume sufficient water to stay hydrated, probably two quarts per day.
Plan your dive
It’s time to formulate a proper deep dive plan keeping in mind your gas consumption, breathing rate, pieces of equipment selection, buoyancy control, calculated safety stops, and an emergency exit plan.
Ensure your Buddy Check
The coordination between you and your buddy is an essential part to have a safe diving experience. Keep an eye on each other while diving and make sure both of you are capable enough to use alternate air source, BC inflator, and weight release.
Look your Buoyancy
The air in your BC and the bubbles in your wetsuit compress as soon as you dive deeper and may result in Buoyancy fluctuations. It may accelerate your descent rate too much that you will find it hard to stop at your planned depth. Finally, in search of neutral buoyancy, you can lose considerable air inflating and venting your BC.
Maintain your breathing rate
Slow, steady, and relaxed breathing is always recommended for underwater diving. The breathing air is much denser in deep dives and airflow passes restrictions and turns corners from your tank to your lungs. The friction causes turbulence which restricts airflow and increases your breathing effort. Dense and fast-moving air both are responsible for turbulence. It is important to slow down the speed of airflow to maintain slow breathing.
Ascend slowly and early
Ascend is the greatest danger probably you have in deep dives and improper ascend leads to decompression sickness. The change in pressure may fluctuate your buoyancy resulting in loose control of your ascent and blowing you away from your safety stop. It may further result in rapid air consumption and low air ultimately leads to dangerous rapid ascent.
It is important to make efforts to locate and use the ascent line or anchor line to maintain and control your ascent rate. Start venting your BC quickly, don’t rely on the lift of your BC to ascend. Be neutral, calm, and fin to ascend.
Significant gas source use
It is an essential point for deep diver course students to learn to use redundant gas sources. This is a useful training technique because it addresses the risk of gas depletion. The method is beneficial in providing adequate gas supply in case a gas depletion emergency occurs away from the dive boat and divers effectively have no gas source to rely upon.
Additionally, gas depletion is crucial when occurs on the bottom of the sea. In such a situation, the diver has to rely upon a buddy diver to support the air supply to ascend to the safety stop. The buddy diver has to have sufficient gas and be proficient enough to donate additional air supply.
The use of pony cylinders is the best possible solution to provide a redundant gas supply. Ponies are small cylinders and have a sufficient amount of gas calculated for a safe ascent and safety stops. Divers should carry pony cylinders with them and it is immediately available to them throughout their dive. It makes divers confident, self-reliant, and their survival doesn’t depend on the competency of their dive buddy.
Inclusions of SSI deep diving speciality Course
A person who completed an open water diver course is eligible for an SSI deep diving speciality course to dive up to 40 meters. The course includes 3 open-water dives, a dive time of 45 minutes each and takes 2 days to complete. The participant must be at least 15 years old and physically and mentally fit enough to dive. Dickson’s, Pinnacles, and Johnny’s Gorge will be the probable dive sites. The program will cost INR 18000 excluding an additional 18% tax. After completing the deep diving speciality course, a diver can explore the reefs down 40 meters.
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Possible Risks of Deep Diving
Deep diving speciality does include some risk events between the depth of 18 to 40 meters. However, proper training and preparation are helpful to sideline the below-mentioned deep-dive dangers.
Decompression sickness
Decompression sickness is a sort of injury that usually happens with the exposure of the body to sudden pressure decrease. The injury is caused by the formation of bubbles of gas in the blood and tissues of the body by a change in underwater pressure while scuba diving. The bubbles can be formed in any body part such as the lungs, heart, skin, joints, and brain. The problem of DCS occurs to scuba divers who ascend to the surface too quickly. The risk of decompression sickness is vulnerable to deep sea divers up to 40 meters and commercial divers beyond. Immediate medical attention is mandatory to prevent its fatal effects.
Nitrogen narcosis
Nitrogen narcosis is a reversible alteration inter conscious that occurs while diving at depth and this is because nitrogen has an aesthetic effect on us while diving at higher partial pressures or at a higher atmospheric pressure. Nitrogen narcosis can affect a diver between the depths of 80 feet and 120 feet and is based on your tolerance to it.
Nitrogen in general in the air that we breathe it makes up about 79% of the gas that we breathe and under normal atmospheric pressure it’s fine and does not really affect us because it’s an inert gas. But in increased atmospheric pressure, the partial pressure of nitrogen acts kind of drunk-like state or poor mental judgement, altered mental state, and even cause hallucinations while underwater.
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Gas density
The risk of Gas density increases as you dive deeper and at one point your respiratory efficiency starts to decrease. Underwater higher gas density causes to increase in airway resistance and work of breathing and is responsible for reducing maximum breathing capacity.
Other deep dive risks involve:
- Gas depletion
- Increased gas consumption
- CO2 narcosis
Conclusion: Deep diving is a specialized diving program that develops a set of skills, training, and experience to dive maximum allowable depths. Deep diving is useful to find out about different marine animals, and rare coral reefs, and to explore shipwrecks. However, some inherent deep-diving risks can be minimized or vanished by excellent training and skillset.