Say you're going to hit 3 diff spots in one outing, say one is in 40', another one in 65' and another one in 90'.

My preference has always been to start out shallow, move out deep as your body conditions and warms up and then end up the day shallow again.

what are your thoughts? how do you do it? do you care? is there a right way?

I see many reports where some of you guys start out deep first thing and end up shallow, any reason why?

The main reasons I prefer starting deep is the fact that I'm still well hydrated, not tired yet, and my ears tend to start developing problems later in the day, often not allowing me to get down deep...

Oto,

I think it depends on the divers. I tend to follow your approach of starting out a bit shallow and do some relaxed dives while stretching the lungs and later heading out deeper. However, the main reason that I tend to start off shallow is because if it is holding fish, I wouldn't even think about diving deeper and I'll just stay within a shallow depth, relatively speaking.

For spearfishing it doenst matter to me. If I was doing some serious freediving I would dive to 10m or neutraly buoyant and wait there as long as I can. Then at 20m. Then I do a negative dive at 4m or less. Oh ya and before all of this I take my mask off and just breathe through my snorkel with face in the water. Its all stuff they teach you in the Freediving classes.

Oto,

However, the main reason that I tend to start off shallow is because if it is holding fish, I wouldn't even think about diving deeper and I'll just stay within a shallow depth, relatively speaking.

So true... Just doesn't work when you dive with BAB who is convinced there are no fish shallower than 80'... ;)

So true... Just doesn't work when you dive with BAB who is convinced there are no fish shallower than 80'... ;)

BAB ain't got nothing when your diving with SuperTarr.:chuck:

He thinks every fish is past 110ft. The best is when he come's up from a dive and say's that there are fish everywhere until you look at his watch and see that he was at 125ft looking at and shooting fish down there. Lucky for me that I can find bigger grouper in shallower.:)

I think that he is the only guy that I know that wear's a pony bottle while freediving.:2gunsfiring_v1:

Being a fan of shore diving it is very natural to me that I start shallow and go deeper as I get further out. Then the reverse on the way back. That is how I started and that is what I'm conditioned to. When depth increases gradually the psychological pressure of "will I be able to do it when I get there" is not present.

Boat diving messes up that process and I still have not been able to find the perfect mix you're looking for. I don't think that it really matters. You can get the diving reflex to kick in diving 30ft in 60ft of water then going deeper as everything falls into place. What I do know for sure is that there's a limit to how much deep diving, to me 60ft at this time, I can do so I better do it early while I still can up to the point that coming up from the bottom starts to become a chore. Then is the time to move to shallower water and end the day on a light note. I suppose that if I ever get to 90ft I will do the same relatively and end the day at 60ft.

Fish here are to be found everywhere so that should not be a determining factor. I do enjoy going deep for its own sake when the vis is good and there is interesting bottom structure.

The last place I fished here has let me to believe that better fish are deeper. I was 100ft+ and I havent seen so many big fish in all my diving here. I also once dropped to 90ft just playing and found some really nice sized coral trout. It just all depends on where you are in the world.

... Oh ya, a pony bottle??? What the hell?

Say you're going to hit 3 diff spots in one outing, say one is in 40', another one in 65' and another one in 90'.


Just do what suits you best, everyone's preference is going to be different. If you like to start shallow to warm up before moving deep then you should do that. On my first dives of the day I'm very relaxed and can hit intermediate depths on my first couple dives and I can tell pretty quickly whether I'm diving well that day and can move out deep to look for bigger fish. I personally don't enjoy starting in 40' and then moving to 80-90 cause it's so much of a difference, and I wouldn't want to hit the 90' spot at the end of the day (after 5-6 hours) cause by then my diaphragm and legs are tired.

0to, try switching up your routine and see how you feel, your dive reflex kicks in so quickly that a shallow water warm up might not be necessary.

Just do what suits you best, everyone's preference is going to be different. If you like to start shallow to warm up before moving deep then you should do that. On my first dives of the day I'm very relaxed and can hit intermediate depths on my first couple dives and I can tell pretty quickly whether I'm diving well that day and can move out deep to look for bigger fish. I personally don't enjoy starting in 40' and then moving to 80-90 cause it's so much of a difference, and I wouldn't want to hit the 90' spot at the end of the day (after 5-6 hours) cause by then my diaphragm and legs are tired.

0to, try switching up your routine and see how you feel, your dive reflex kicks in so quickly that a shallow water warm up might not be necessary.


Kris, you make some good points. I will try changing my routine. The reflex does kick in after a couple of relaxed dives so it shouldn't matter whether I'm in 40 or 80.

You're right about knowing what kind of day I will have when doing an intermediate depth range like 60'. When I make those first dives to 60' or so, somedays I feel like I can glide down and lay down there, sometimes it's a struggle to make it down and stay down.

I like to start shallow and get my legs and lung warmed up before I do anything serious. And even then I think the deepest I have been so far is about 25ft and I usually only stay in one place for about 10 seconds due to the massive current!