Nitrox Diving

Cocos Island is considered as one of the best scuba diving destinations in the world. But it doesn’t mean the anybody, a certified diver for that matter, can explore this beautiful underwater paradise. Majority of its dive sites require you to perform deep diving where nitrox gives you an extended bottom time. This in turn, allows you to spend more time interacting with the magnificent marine life living in Cocos island.

So what is Nitrox Diving?

Humans need oxygen to survive. However, the air that we breath is not solely composed of oxygen. It has other gases as well, like nitrogen, which comprises 78% while oxygen only comprise 20%. This ratio proportion also applies to the compressed air that we use in our scuba tanks.

Unfortunately, our body doesn’t need nitrogen like plants do. So when you go diving, the nitrogen is stocked and stored in our system and when it reaches a saturation point can lead to a divers common ailment referred to as nitrogen narcosis where signs and symptoms include loss of balance and disorientation. This is escalated when you go deep diving due to high surrounding pressure.  With nitrox, your tank will be filled in such a way that the nitrogen is lowered down by increasing the oxygen content. You should take note, that although your underwater time is extended, nitrox has its own limitation especially on depth as the added oxygen becomes toxic when you exceed the depth limits.

Furthermore, nitrox is not just offered to you as an option for your underwater adventures in Cocos island. It requires training and certification where nitrox diving is being offered as a specialty course after you become a certified open water diver. With this, we highly suggest that you should undergo nitrox diver certification course before your trip to Cocos Island.

Significance of Nitrox when Diving in Cocos Island

The bottom line of using nitrox is it gives you an extended time underwater at certain depths without suffering the effects of nitrogen narcosis. This means that you can maximize your opportunity to explore the vast marine ecosystem of Cocos island and interact with its thriving marine life like its signature species: the hammerhead sharks. Not only this, as Cocos island is known for big fish, your wildlife interaction will not just be limited to hammerhead sharks but other large marine creatures like manta rays, schools of bigeye trevally, sea turtles and other large sharks like the feared tiger shark. With this, you will definitely need more time underwater.

Now that you know that nitrox allows you to spend more time underwater without suffering the effects of nitrogen narcosis, it does not mean that you will be using it in all of your dives in Cocos island. There are some sites in Cocos island where your underwater adventure is limited to a shallow reef and the use of nitrox is of no significance. But if you think that these shallow dive sites are less interesting, then think again. For example, the shallow reefs of Silverado allows you to interact with Silvertip sharks which are considered the grizzly bears of Cocos island.

Reference

Undersea Hunter Group: www.underseahunter.com

Dive Zone: www.divezone.net

UW Photography Guide: www.uwphotographyguide.com

Video courtesy from cupofjoe2988