100m plus dives
Only a few experienced technical divers have ventured this far in Jordan. The first recreational Trimix dive in Aqaba was conducted by Rod Abbotson and Everette Ingram on 31st May 2007.
The dive was made at the Aqaba Blue Hole (Power Station site) to a depth of 102m. Bottom gas used was a heliair trimix of Tmx14/33. Air was used as a travel and decompression mix and EANx60 for the final stages of decompression.
The dive was planned with V-planner 3.80 version set on conservative level two giving a runtime of 84 mins with the final stop at 6 metres. There are two deep pinnacles dropping from 70m to 90m with a slope to a deep wall at 100m. This dive was from one pinnacle to the other along the edge of a 100m wall. In the middle area the bottom dropped away to greater depths in a series of ledges. A Tmx10.5/50 mix would be required to explore this area.
100m on air with Mark Ellyatt! 131m Dive Record in Jordan
Lots of tanks are required to explore these depth for anything more than a quick bounce dive so excellent buoyancy control is a must as well as lots of dives and a full trimix certification. After you gain your
Tec Trimix our team can help you build up your experience gradually to prepare you for greater depths! Remember one of the important quality of a tecnical diver is
" patience ".
Pictured above - Rod and Everette decompressing on air at the Power Station wall after being checked by the tec support team. In hindsight is was probably not a good idea to use air as a deco gas on this dive a better option would have been Tmx21/20 if switching at the same depth or to come back shallower to 40m and switch to EANx32. As more is learnt about isobaric counterdiffusion.
A second 100m plus exploratory trimix dive was successfully carried out on September 15th by
Dorit Yoseph and our team leader Rod. On a previous trimix dive to 75m Dorit, Rod and Everette found a fantastic new deep area to the south of the Power Station dive site.
Beyong 75m the wall drops to sand shelf sloping from 85 to 97m. This then drops off into the black abyss. A central rock spur juts out into the black covered in huge fan corals dropping off to 120m plus. This was circumnavigated on this dive. The views where spectacular.
Unfortunately this was beyond the operating depth of
our camera. So if you want to see what
"Dorit's Deep " is all about, you will have to be Trimix certified with a build up of depth experience.
After a warm up tec dive on air and EANx50 the previous day at Kiwi Arch to 60m. Rod and Dorit dived to 104m the next day. Bottom gas used was Tmx13/38, giving an END of 58m (hence the 60m air dive to acclimatise) deco gases were EANx32 and EANx75.
Mark Ellyat, famous for his record breaking 313m off Thailand in 2003, recently visited Aqaba on the invitation of tec team member
George Ionita who had been completing a deep trimix course in Dahab and then in February 2008 diving the wreck of the Victoria off Lebanon with Mark. On his visit to Aqaba Mark ran a
Pelagian (DCCCR) Rebreather course for
Philip Barawitzka, George Ionita and
Rod Abbotson.
At the end of the rebreather course, Mark's girlfriend, Iona joined him in Jordan - after doing the tourist bit visiting Petra, Wadi Rum and the Dead Sea, Iona, George and Rod conducted a couple of 100m air dives with Mark at Aqaba Blue Hole and Dorits Deep off the Power Station wall dive site.
Do not attempt this at home kiddies! We were all experienced in deep air expedition diving and regularly diving deep!
Tec team member Richard Rigby joined the elite few divers who have ventured beyond 100m in Jordan. After completing his DSAT Tec Trmix diver course with Rod he underwent a weekend of build up dives culminating in a dive to 105m with Rod at Dorit's Deep off the Power Station wall. Rod went down to 113m to check out the topography for a 120m dive planned the following week.
Rod set a new record in Jordan with a 131m dive with Dorit Yoseph at the dive site off the Power Station known as Dorit's Deep. This was the maximum depth allowed under current insurance policies! Dive Aqaba team members Chris and Izz provided invaluable underwater support. Maximum depth was recorded with a Suunto Vytec computer.
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