One of the most common laments for new divers is the limited amount of underwater time, due to specific tables that must be followed in order to avoid decompression sickness. While the threat of decompression sickness is enough to convince divers to keep an eye on their time spent below the surface, the yearning for just a few more minutes doesn’t readily go away. Fortunately, this is one wish that can easily be granted by taking the Enriched Air Diver specialty course from PADI.
Enriched air diving involves using an air mixture that differs from a typical tank mixture, called Nitrox. Nitrox is comprised of more oxygen and less nitrogen, to lessen a diver’s absorption of nitrogen from the water column. If you are breathing nitrogen as well as absorbing it from the water, you must follow directions for ascent that will allow the extra nitrogen in your blood to dissolve at a healthy rate.
However, by reducing the amount of nitrogen and increasing oxygen, your blood will have absorbed less nitrogen than usual, enabling you to have more time underwater, no required decompression stops, and shorter surface intervals, allowing for 4 or more dives in a day. If a dive site offers much to explore, but the diver only has limited time available, diving with Nitrox can be a great solution.
There is a reason why there is specialty training for diving with Nitrox, however. Overexposure to oxygen can have just as negative of an impact as nitrogen, so it is vital that the enriched air is mixed properly by a dive shop, and checked personally by you. In addition, servicing the parts that come in contact with Nitrox has to be done in a very specific way with certain materials, as oxygen in itself is quite flammable. Diving deeper and longer does not come without its costs!
The Enriched Air Diver specialty course from PADI will train you how to get the most out of your dives using Nitrox, as well as educate you on how to test the mixture in your tank, manage your oxygen exposure, and set your dive computer to an enriched air setting. If more time under the sea is what you seek, take the Enriched Air specialty course!
