It’s a common topic for divers to discuss: are you a deep diver? How deep have you gone?

Many believe deep diving to be a sign of courage and bravado. You can regularly find divers on the boat who will boast about their past depths and even back it up by showing their computer! Then, there are others who argue deep diving doesn’t offer anything better than shallow dives. Less fish, less light, what’s the deal?

Even if you don’t dive deep often, it may be a good idea to log a couple dives deeper than 60 feet every once in awhile. For starters, it’s important to understand what nitrogen narcosis (“getting narc’d”) feels like; ask any diver and they’ll tell you it’s like a pleasant, drunken feeling. Learning to recognize these symptoms can you make you a safer diver (but no less susceptible to narcosis in the future). Also, it can be a great exercise for controlling your buoyancy. If you dive with any air in your BC at that depth, you will certainly need to learn how to vent and control your ascent for your safety stop…