Diving Down 45m/150ft to Monkey Face Rock
Rocketing down the coral wall face, the Roatan Tec Team plunges to 45m/150ft to explore a deep massive overhang that I've named "Monkey Face Rock."
It's hard to describe the exhilarating rush that comes with a rapid deep drop! Pulled down by the weight of our four tanks, we have to be constantly diligent about adding air into our BCDs in order to counter the accelerating descent. By the time we bottom out at our max depth, we have added a very large volume of air -- almost all of which we have to vent during our ascent. On deep tec dives, I've found myself dumping air as deep as 40m/130ft during the ascent!
The awesome photo by Alex Harper-Graham was snapped at the beginning of dive #2241, [which ended with approaching Pillar Coral from the deep side -- and seeing a hammerhead shark!
Want to know more about tec diving or traveling to Roatan? Leave me a comment and I'll be glad to answer your questions! Please upvote and resteem me, and follow me at @thescubageek to keep up with my latest adventures.
You're a tech diver? Awesome! What's your deepest dive? Do you do nitrox and how many deco stops do you usually have to do to come back up?
I'm just a PADI rescue diver but if I had the means I'd further my qualifications. Awesome shot by the way, following you for more! :)
Hi @fiftysixnorth, thanks for the follow! I completed my TDI Sidemount, Advanced Nitrox, Decompression Procedures, and Extended Range courses last month with Roatan Tec Center at Coconut Tree Divers on Roatan, Honduras. Instructor Monty Graham is absolutely incredible (and tough!) as tec instructor.
I am trained to dive to 55m/180ft, which was the maximum on two of my dives on Roatan (Hole in the Wall and Josie J Shipwreck).
When doing these dives, I was diving with two 80cuft tanks of air in sidemount configuration, one 40cuft tank of 50% oxygen (EANx50) on my left, and one 40cuft tank of 100% oxygen. We use these high oxygen gases to accelerate decompression.
The number of deco stops depends on the dive profile... we had 10 decompression stops after our deepest dives to 55m/180ft for 17 minutes (you can see my dive profiles on the links above).
The tec diving course is tough. Think back to your Rescue course, but now spread it out over 13 days and ramp up the difficulty. I had a tank bungee cut, mask popped off, gear bag stolen, and left tank "simulated" free flow while down at 40m/130ft -- all at the same time! Make sure your self-rescue skills are solid and do a few warmup dives before starting the course -- you need your buoyancy to be near perfect for proper decompression.
wow. Thanks for all that info, tech diving is intense! They don't screw around with those courses, it really does make the rescue course look like a cake walk.
If I do tech diving I will replace all my gear first. Last dive I did was in the maldives last october, and my gear is 20+ years old now. It showed too, there's a fault in my bcd that's causing a small amount of air to leak over time into the bcd from the tank screwing with my buoyancy.
I probably need to put in another couple hundred dives before I look into tech. First thing is to look into drysuit diving.. now that i live in Scotland.
Tec diving is definitely a pricey investment to get into... most of your recreational gear (excluding mask/fins/wet or dry suit) will need to be replaced for tec diving. Before going full tec, you should get certified in side mount... it will help you dial in on the gear confirgutation right for you.
When I dived with Roatan Tec Team they provided all the gear I didn’t already own. I’m glad I did it that way so I can learn what I do and don’t like about the bcd harness, wings, regulators and hoses before investing into the gear myself
Oh wow.. ok thanks, that's great advice! I wouldnt even have thought of that. I'd probably rent the gear first to get a feel for what I am comfortable with like you suggest.
Thanks! looking forward to seeing more of your posts :)