Imagine that you are swimming along the reef and you notice something you have never seen before. A beautiful gray angelfish is right in front of your mask. I don’t mean 2 feet away, I mean six inches away. You almost have to shoo him away to continue your dive. Lets imagine another dive: you are on the wreck of the Duane. You are floating a foot above the bottom at the bow of the ship. Out of the blue water you see a shape starting to form. As you focus on the shape it becomes apparent it is a shark. Not just a shark, but one of those infamous bull sharks you have heard so much about. It swims within five feet of you, then slowly turns away. You stay still for a few minutes and the shape reappears. He is back, to take a second look at you, only this time he hangs around for a few minutes before leisurely swimming away.
Now let’s imagine that you are not imagining this, but that it really happened to you. Or that it will, someday, because it happened to me. I tried something I swore I would never do, I dived a rebreather. And everything I ever heard about them is definitely NOT TRUE! What is true is this: marine life will approach you with less apprehension because there are no bubbles that are so foreign to the fish. They swim up to you just as if you were one of them. And they will stay there for a while because they are curious and want to see this new fish that is sharing their home on their reef.
Another thing I noticed is the ease of breathing. It is completely different than breathing from a scuba regulator and definitely easier. Breathing from a rebreather is not much different than breathing on land. But with the lack of bubbles I am now able to hear sounds I had never heard before. One example is the sound of the water gently lapping against the side of the boat. Bet you never heard that before, well at least I never had before I started using a rebreather.
When we were diving on the Duane with the Bull Sharks (please do not abbreviate BS, because it really happened) I was able to spend over 45 minutes along the bottom just off the sand exploring all the things I never had the time or air to do. How often are you able to do a non-decompression dive for 45 minutes to over 120 feet deep? While on the boat we were watching the other divers changing over their tanks and getting ready for the next dive. As they were doing so, some of them started noticing that we were just sitting there talking about the last dive and everything we saw, and mostly what the others didn’t see. They noticed that we were not busy changing our tanks for the next dive. This started a discussion as to how these rebreathers work and how one could become certified to dive with a rebreather. Our 45 minute surface interval went quickly as the impromptu rebreather seminar came to an end. Oh well, back to the Duane for another no-decompression dive for 45 minutes while everyone else had a 20-25 minute allowable bottom time. And all this without having to change tanks!
So what will it take for you to stop blowing bubbles. Actually, not a whole lot. Just call Ocean Divers and sign up for the class. You will need to read the book, PADI’s Rebreather and Advanced Rebreather Diver Manual, do the normal obligatory knowledge reviews and have one of the most informative class sessions that you will ever have had since maybe your first certification class. Now you are ready to take the units into the pool. There are several skills you need to learn before going onto the reefs. The hardest skill you will have to re-learn is your buoyancy control. I have never felt like such a first time diver as I did that day in the pool. While doing a face plant into the bottom of the pool, I realized that diving with a rebreahter is somewhat different. From this I developed rule #1 (well, maybe not the first rule, but it felt like that for me), and that is don’t think your breathing will help to control your buoyancy. I think an indentation of my face is still on the bottom of the pool! After a few dives on the reefs and wrecks of Key Largo I was a newly certified Rebreather Diver (woo-hoo). These dives were anything but uneventful, and I was ready to do it all over again.
As I stated in the beginning, I never thought I would try a rebreather. Like many people the stigma rebreathers have had and the feeding frenzy that the media whips up every time there is a fatality involving a rebreather, I was sure diving with one was never going to be in my future. Once I took my class and learned all the safety features that the Poseidon MKVI has, I was truly impressed. You start by turning it on and observe it while it goes through it’s 55(yes, that many) self-safety checks. On one of my training dives the unit gave me a visual warning and the mouth piece started vibrating (not caused by my shaking; this is a warning system. Looking at the large display it gave me the signal to switch from the loop to open circuit (scuba). After doing so completing a normal relaxed ascent (with an elevated heart rate of about 5 million beats per minute) we exited the water and checked out the unit on the boat. It was functioning fine, but basically it said it had lost “confidence “ in the diver (that’s me) and figured it should end the dive. How about that for safety! How about that for making a Course Director feel like a real chump! After a little reflection on my own diving skills and self worth, I put everything into perspective. Any machine that does all that has to be an incredibly safe unit to dive (or “fly”, as these rebreather divers call it). I was sold on the Poseidon MK-VI unit.
If you would like to try a new adventure, or just re-excite yourself about diving, a rebreather could be in your future. I may joke around somewhat and kick myself a little, but every time I get into the water with the rebreather, it is like my very first dive all over again. To start your diving adventure all over again, call Ocean Divers. Our rebreather Instructors will be happy to get you started. Just ask for “Faceplant”.
If you thinking of becoming an instructor and are interested in rebreather technology, Ocean Divers will be offering a rebreather experience as part of our Instructor Development Course in 2013. We will also be offering the PADI Rebreather Instructor Course for those instructors interested in teaching the programs.
Joe Angelo
America's Local Dive Shop. 