is diving in Cuba safe?

"Dan Bracuk" <NOTbracuk@pathcom.com> wrote in message
news:glv1k0h461qnlnl6se3sh0cge2frdnob8n@4ax.com...
> I have dove in Cuba twice and consider it safe.
>
> I disagree with your philosophy about judging a dive op by the
> certifications they issue. Cert agencies are a training thing and
> have nothing to do with the part of the business that involves taking
> people out diving.

Thanks everyone for your comments. It's just that I had heard some horror
stories about dive ops down in Cuba taking people out on wooden boats that
were not well equipped.

Clint

Free Spirit Gallery
http://www.FreeSpiritGallery.ca
Exquisite Inuit (Eskimo) & Native American Art

On Fri, 10 Sep 2004 16:05:02 -0400, "Clint" <pepmax@videotron.ca>
wrote:

>
>"Dan Bracuk" <NOTbracuk@pathcom.com> wrote in message
>news:glv1k0h461qnlnl6se3sh0cge2frdnob8n@4ax.com.. .
>> I have dove in Cuba twice and consider it safe.
>>
>> I disagree with your philosophy about judging a dive op by the
>> certifications they issue. Cert agencies are a training thing and
>> have nothing to do with the part of the business that involves taking
>> people out diving.
>
>Thanks everyone for your comments. It's just that I had heard some horror
>stories about dive ops down in Cuba taking people out on wooden boats that
>were not well equipped.

THAT can happen anywhere. While Cuba may not be the most advanced
country in the world, it's far from third world.

>
>Clint
>
>Free Spirit Gallery
>http://www.FreeSpiritGallery.ca
>Exquisite Inuit (Eskimo) & Native American Art
>

--
dillon

When I was a kid, I thought the angel's name was Hark
and the horse's name was Bob.

"Jason O'Rourke" wrote

> As for exceeding 1.4, if you want to do it, fine. But then you probably
should
> be using a table plan anyway, esp in a country that has no deco chamber.
For
> the context of the original poster, the issue is irrelevent. If he's
worried
> about the agency affiliation, he shouldn't be doing that sort of diving.

Who is this really. Jason surely knows better than to equate a PPO2 of more
than 1.4 ata with the need for a deco chamber.

Lee

"Clint" <pepmax@videotron.ca> wrote in message
news:hUn0d.66488$FX3.696725@weber.videotron.net...
>
> "Dan Bracuk" <NOTbracuk@pathcom.com> wrote in message
> news:glv1k0h461qnlnl6se3sh0cge2frdnob8n@4ax.com...
> > I have dove in Cuba twice and consider it safe.
> >
> > I disagree with your philosophy about judging a dive op by the
> > certifications they issue. Cert agencies are a training thing and
> > have nothing to do with the part of the business that involves taking
> > people out diving.
>
> Thanks everyone for your comments. It's just that I had heard some horror
> stories about dive ops down in Cuba taking people out on wooden boats that
> were not well equipped.

LOL. Do you really think that Cuba is the only diving in the world that
takes you out in "wooden" boats that aren't that well equipped? You are
going to miss some great diving, if that's what you are worried about.

Lee Bell <leebell@ix.remove.netcom.com> wrote:
>Who is this really. Jason surely knows better than to equate a PPO2 of more
>than 1.4 ata with the need for a deco chamber.

I don't see a need to exceed 1.4 on a recreational dive. I'm going to conclude
that if it's a problem for you having a computer get weirded out, that you have
greater plans in mind. It's not like it suffers that badly if you temporarily
spike it past.

Dive planning is always important. More so when you don't have a safety net.

--
Jason O'Rourke www.jor.com

"Jason O'Rourke" wrote

> I don't see a need to exceed 1.4 on a recreational dive. I'm going to
conclude
> that if it's a problem for you having a computer get weirded out, that you
have
> greater plans in mind. It's not like it suffers that badly if you
temporarily
> spike it past.

That's better. Having a computer that gets weirded out at any PPO2 within
the range recognized as safe by everybody else is, for me, a problem. It's
a problem on at least two levels. First, I don't want a computer that I
believe, in advance, is wrong. Second, I don't want a computer that ,if I
should happen to exceed a PPO2 of 1.4 for even a short period, will give me
bogus information that effects all subsequent dives during the same day.

My problem with the Suunto computers and nitrox goes beyond that. They are
also unexplainably conservative at all PPO2s, approximately the equivalent
of diving at a PPO2 of .1 ata higher than the real one.

> Dive planning is always important. More so when you don't have a safety
net.

Given, but we're not talking about diving without a safety margin. The
standard for PPO2 is 1.6 for at rest situations, lower for more strenuous
times. 1.6 already has some safety margin built in. 1.5,. 1.4, etc. have
progressively more. I prefer to plan by safety margins myself, based on my
knowledge, my diving preferences and my risk tolerance rather than having a
computer company force it on me.

As far as I'm concerned, the only significant advantage to the Suunto line
is their gauge mode and that's not what I buy a computer for. YMMV.

Lee

"brad@The Deep End" <REMOVEwebmaster@deepend.on.ca> wrote in message
news:2170d.40656$Nd6.1106417@news20.bellglobal.com ...
> Hey Chris,
>
> I'm trying to demonstrate the difference between riding that red line on
> your computer for absolute
> maximum bottom time (which some divers tend to practice), or
alternatively,
> a more relaxed profile showing a significant bit of caution towards that
> NDL.

Ummm... oh, never mind.