Have you seen: THE DEEPEST BREATH?, on Netflix?

[Bricealan]

The film is a Documentary about Free Diving, and I am sure you all know what that is, and apparently attracts a lot (maybe not a lot) of women divers. As a side note, I am a certified Open Water Scuba Diver, and the deepest I have been in the Pacific is 103 feet, for a short period, and when I saw the "warning" on my dive console: ELEVEN MINUTES - NO DECOMPRESSION TIME, I nearly lost control of my bladder, and found that trying to follow the other divers into shallower water, I felt as though I was 'nailed to the bottom' when trying to 'kick up with the other divers", and I immediately panicked, and bolted to the surface from 103 feet, and was 'benched' for the next dive by the dive master.

With all the above said, I was trying to demonstrate some experience in the ocean and how 'Deepest Breath' left me almost in shock, and a little sick to my stomach.

The two women that were the crux of the film were trying to set a world record and were diving to over 100 meters with one Japanese woman setting a record of 104 meters, (341 feet) One woman made the comment that at 30 meters (98 feet) , which was my deepest Scuba Dive to date the pressure "pushes you down deeper and deeper" with you NOT having to 'kick', and that is why I felt nailed to the bottom at 103 feet. AT THAT DEPTH, 360 FEET, YOUR LUNGS ARE COMPRESSED TO THE SIZE OF YOUR FIST!!

They were so deep, there was no light at that depth, and no other divers around to help them if they got into trouble, since a 'Scuba Diver' could not surface quickly if they had to to bring the free diver up quickly, since the Scuba Diver would have to 'decompress' or get decompression sickness and possibly die at the surface.

I cannot envision anything short of having a 'Death Wish' to do that, and I read that in June of this year another male diver went to 436 feet in a free dive.

Any divers on board with GAG? I would appreciate your comments. Any wanna be divers?

!00 fatalities at one dive site.

[gorydetails]

Jesus, I'm a master diver and this post gave me anxiety. Open Water divers should stay about 60'. You were foolish and stupid. If you were my dive buddy we'd have a come to Jesus meeting.

[Bricealan]

I did not qualify why I was at 103 feet. I went down with a Dive Master, and no one said where we were going on that first dive. We were at Catalina, and I was told to just 'follow the chain down' from the huge buoy, that was about 100 meters from the dive park.
I had no idea where or how deep we were going, and only found out when we got to the bottom.

I was a little pissed that I was not told beforehand, how deep we were going and only found out when we hit bottom and looked at my console. Had I know we were going to 100 feet plus, I would have not gone, but rather would have leveled off at probably 50'.

I talked to my dive buddy afterwards and he agreed with me that I should have been told, and I would have been prepared for it, or would have waited until I had more experience in that deep of water
As it was, I suffered no ill effects, but I was relying on the Dive Master.
Thanks for your comments.

[gorydetails]

Then I would have kicked that dive master's ass. Completely unprofessional. I would have called his certifying agency ($5 says it was PADI) and the owner of the shop. And just being told does not mean you're prepared by any means. There's a reason for certification limits

[Bricealan]

@gorydetails I had only made about 25-30 dives at that point and had only been to 45-50', and had not had any experience at decompressing after a deep dive, but the group did start back into more shallow water as soon as we hit bottom. When I started to kick up and go towards shore and more shallow water, the pressure felt HUGE and I could hardly kick up with the group. That is when I panicked, and went to the surface. Had only been down there a total of maybe 3 minutes at that depth, but even so I could have gotten injured by making that cork-like, pop to the surface.

[gorydetails]

You were likely overweighted. You had plenty of time with 11 mins before you went into deco to go shallower. You panicked. Which is not an unexpected consequence. You were diving beyond your training and limits and quite frankly I’m surprised you didn’t make a trip to a chamber. You never answered, PADI, right?

[Bricealan]

I don't know who the Dive Master was certified by? I went through PADI and got my Cert. through Sport Chalet before they unfortunately closed up. I used to dive with the people at Sport Chalet, as they had a great group of instructors etc. As far as me being over-weighted, I only carry about 14 Lbs in my BC and I did find I was carrying 2 lbs in the back pockets of the BC. I weigh 145-147, so only carrying about 10% of my body weight, and have very little body fat.

[gorydetails]

I’m just finding all of this hard to believe. I’ve never been on a chartered dive where there was no dive briefing telling you about the dive site, depth, features of the dive, etc. I’ve never been on a dive where the dive master pushed relatively new divers well beyond their training limits.

[Bricealan]

This was NOT a CHARTERED DIVE.! I was diving with South Coast Divers, and we did shore dives in Laguna Beach. Only boat dive I did was to get certified, with Sport Chalet, and we were with our dive master/instructor, and of courses he knew out limits/experience, because he trained us from the beginning.

[Bricealan]

P. S This was a 'shore dive' at Catalina Dive Park, if you are familiar with that area. I had never done any training with any of the dive masters with SCD, and I just think they assumed too much, ALTHOUGH one of the dive masters, who was NOT there that day, did know my experience level. He was not there and had given up diving because of sinus problems and clearing his ears.

[gorydetails]

Are these dive masters or just dive buddies you picked up on the FB site?

[Bricealan]

South Coast Divers has two dive Masters and one of them is an instructor. The instructor was along when we dropped down at Catalina. I think he was most at fault since he knew what my level was.

[gorydetails]

This is a good learning moment for you. Always dive within your limits and discuss a dive plan with your buddy before you get in the water. As I said, if I owned South Coast Divers, and an employee brought a newbie OW diver down to 103 feet without that diver’s prior knowledge he would be fired.

You could have earned yourself a trip to a deco chamber, you left your buddy alone putting his life in danger - what if he had run out of air coming up after you?

[Bricealan]

At that point, I did not have a dive buddy. I was simply with the group that dropped down. Chuck only became a dive buddy' with me AFTER that event at Catalina

[gorydetails]

Bro, even in a “group” you need a dive buddy. You and one other person need to be paired up. This is basic 101 diving. Who would you go to if you had run out air? Hope someone swimming along would help?

[MementoMori777]

No but sounds interesting, diving fascinates me but not enough for me to get in them waters 😂

[Bricealan]

You should try Scuba Diving, not 'Free diving"

[MementoMori777]

I'm good lol