6 ms·

I'm surprised such pools don't already exist. 40m is the limit you can dive without extra training and probably special gas. I guess it must just be really exp

I'm surprised such pools don't already exist. 40m is the limit you can dive without extra training and probably special gas. I guess it must just be really expensive to build and maintain a pool this big.

lifthrasiir 8y ago
> I'm surprised such pools don't already exist. As noted in the article, there is already a pool (Y-40) that is 40m deep.
guiomie 8y ago
I thought it was 18m (60ft) for PADI open water.
- zackbloom 8y ago
  That is generally more of a recommendation. The recreational diving limit is generally considered to be 130ft, as that's the depth you can't spend more than a few minutes at without incurring mandatory decompression (breathing air). You can take a deep diving course if you like, but not everyone bothers. Going below 130 though becomes a technical and very complex endeavour quickly.
  - danilocesar 8y ago
    This is almost correct. People imagine that diving training agencies has police power to allow or forbid you to do something. That's not true. When you get a certification, the agency certifies that you have been trained to go to 18m. That's all it does. After the training you can do whatever you want. But if you're not stupid and don't want a quick death or a painful life (wheelchaired due to bends), you will stay within the limits of your training. So it's not only a recommendation, but at the end it works like one.
- acjohnson55 8y ago
  Looking it up, you're right, and the Advanced Open Water says 30m max. I don't know if it changed or if I just misremembered. I'm pretty sure I did 40m as part of the deep diving segment of Advanced Open Water, but that might not be accurate either. It was about 10 years ago.
  - sandworm101 8y ago
    100+feet was part of padi/naui advanced when i was diving, 20 years ago. We did 120ish feet regularly on normal equipment (air).
  - Nursie 8y ago
    > I don't know if it changed or if I just misremembered. I'm pretty sure it changed. Back when I did PADI OW on Grand Cayman in the early 90s, I did the course under a course director (apparently some sort of god within the hierarchy according to another instructor I chatted with years later). We learned that 40m was the limit and went down that far. It's only years later on 'refresher' courses that I've learned both that I wasn't officially qualified to dive beyond 18m (being an OW only, not AOW), and that 30m is considered the recreational limit these days, with 40m as a sort of hard limit. In the 90s and early 00s I did deep dives, wreck dives, cave dives and all sorts on the basic qualification! Always with instructors, but still... I feel both privileged and hugely underqualified to have done that cenotes dive on the yucatan peninsula... I've done a deep-dive speciality and an enriched air speciality since then. I must get my Advanced one of these days!
    - acjohnson55 8y ago
      I've done a couple cenotes and a couple wrecks, also with an experienced dive master. AOW isn't really very "advanced". It's doable in 3 days, with some prework. Such was the case for me, and I got it like a week after getting my OW. So you're probably a lot more advanced than me by any real measure! Did you do proper cave dives? I've only did caverns (within site of daylight) in the cenotes, which was enough of a thrill for me.
      - 8y ago
brlcad 8y ago
The article is misinformed. The Superpond at APG, Maryland run by the DoD is 46meters (150ft) deep.
- danilocesar 8y ago
  It it open for recreational divers?
  - brlcad 8y ago
    I don’t believe so, especially given how dangerous it is. Several died a few years back and policies became even more restrictive. It’s other name is the Underwater Explosive Testing Facility.

lifthrasiir 8y ago

> I'm surprised such pools don't already exist. As noted in the article, there is already a pool (Y-40) that is 40m deep.

guiomie 8y ago

I thought it was 18m (60ft) for PADI open water.

zackbloom 8y ago
That is generally more of a recommendation. The recreational diving limit is generally considered to be 130ft, as that's the depth you can't spend more than a few minutes at without incurring mandatory decompression (breathing air). You can take a deep diving course if you like, but not everyone bothers. Going below 130 though becomes a technical and very complex endeavour quickly.
- danilocesar 8y ago
  This is almost correct. People imagine that diving training agencies has police power to allow or forbid you to do something. That's not true. When you get a certification, the agency certifies that you have been trained to go to 18m. That's all it does. After the training you can do whatever you want. But if you're not stupid and don't want a quick death or a painful life (wheelchaired due to bends), you will stay within the limits of your training. So it's not only a recommendation, but at the end it works like one.
acjohnson55 8y ago
Looking it up, you're right, and the Advanced Open Water says 30m max. I don't know if it changed or if I just misremembered. I'm pretty sure I did 40m as part of the deep diving segment of Advanced Open Water, but that might not be accurate either. It was about 10 years ago.
- sandworm101 8y ago
  100+feet was part of padi/naui advanced when i was diving, 20 years ago. We did 120ish feet regularly on normal equipment (air).
- Nursie 8y ago
  > I don't know if it changed or if I just misremembered. I'm pretty sure it changed. Back when I did PADI OW on Grand Cayman in the early 90s, I did the course under a course director (apparently some sort of god within the hierarchy according to another instructor I chatted with years later). We learned that 40m was the limit and went down that far. It's only years later on 'refresher' courses that I've learned both that I wasn't officially qualified to dive beyond 18m (being an OW only, not AOW), and that 30m is considered the recreational limit these days, with 40m as a sort of hard limit. In the 90s and early 00s I did deep dives, wreck dives, cave dives and all sorts on the basic qualification! Always with instructors, but still... I feel both privileged and hugely underqualified to have done that cenotes dive on the yucatan peninsula... I've done a deep-dive speciality and an enriched air speciality since then. I must get my Advanced one of these days!
  - acjohnson55 8y ago
    I've done a couple cenotes and a couple wrecks, also with an experienced dive master. AOW isn't really very "advanced". It's doable in 3 days, with some prework. Such was the case for me, and I got it like a week after getting my OW. So you're probably a lot more advanced than me by any real measure! Did you do proper cave dives? I've only did caverns (within site of daylight) in the cenotes, which was enough of a thrill for me.
    - 8y ago

brlcad 8y ago

The article is misinformed. The Superpond at APG, Maryland run by the DoD is 46meters (150ft) deep.

danilocesar 8y ago
It it open for recreational divers?
- brlcad 8y ago
  I don’t believe so, especially given how dangerous it is. Several died a few years back and policies became even more restrictive. It’s other name is the Underwater Explosive Testing Facility.