If you are a regular diver, you are probably aware of Nitrox already, and even if you don’t have your Nitrox certification (yet!), you may know about its benefits. But just in case...
What is Nitrox?
Enriched Air Nitrox is pretty much exactly what it sounds like – a mix of nitrogen and oxygen, blended together so your scuba diving tank contains more oxygen than normal air (which is 21%, in case you needed a quick reminder of your dive theory!).
The Enriched Air Nitrox specialty is the most popular scuba diving specialty course in the world, as it provides many benefits to divers – especially divers who join us on one of our amazing Similan Islands Liveaboard trips, or Myanmar Liveaboard trips. In fact, nitrox is particularly beneficial when fun diving on a liveaboard trip.
What are the Benefits?
The benefits of using Nitrox are varied, but for our Thailand liveaboard dive trips, the main advantages are:
Longer Available Bottom Times
Dives on air can often result in shorter bottom times, especially at deeper dive sites like Richelieu Rock, where you’ll typically find you want to spend more time at areas of 15-28 meters depth in order to see the best marine life. Because your body is absorbing less nitrogen, your No Decompression Limits (NDL’s) are extended, meaning more time to work on that perfect photo of a Harlequin Shrimp or search for Pineapplefish.
Less Fatigue
Many divers report feeling much less tired when they go scuba diving on Nitrox, compared to regular air. This is a significant benefit while on one of our North Andaman (Similans) or Myanmar liveaboard trips, when you are making multiple dives per day, for a few days at a time. Of course our well-planned schedule of ‘eat, sleep, dive, repeat!’ factors in plenty of napping time between dives, but diving on Nitrox may help you fight fatigue in the evenings, providing more time to share photos and dive stories from your day with your fellow guests and dive leaders.
Better Dive Planning
In your Enriched Air Nitrox Course, you’ll learn how to plan your dives safely to stay within limits, using a Nitrox compatible dive computer, essentially the same way you would use a computer to safely plan your air dives. Due to the remote locations our North Andaman Similan and Myanmar Liveaboards visit, we tend to plan our schedule and dive trips to be conservative anyway, with plenty of surface interval time for off-gassing. However, with less nitrogen, there is also less risk of Decompression Sickness (DCS). So older divers, along with those who are in a more ‘at risk’ group such as divers who are a little less fit, are overweight or have had past physical injuries, should consider using Nitrox to further reduce risk and get the most out of their dive trip with us.
Ready to Dive Nitrox?
As you can see, liveaboard diving is exactly the kind of diving where you benefit most from being Nitrox certified, and with free Nitrox deals on selected early bird and last minute bookings, there’s no good reason not to dive Nitrox! So be sure to check our website home page for our most up to date liveaboard diving deals. You can also check trip availability and book online to secure your place.
Learn to Dive Nitrox
Not a certified Enriched Air Nitrox diver yet? No problem! Our professional staff can teach you the course during your liveaboard trip. Nitrox is just one of the many dive courses available onboard, so if you want to develop your skills and knowledge in other areas as well, we can definitely work with you to plan your perfect trip.
Our PADI Enriched Air Nitrox course costs just 9000 THB and includes your manual and all of your certification fees. Plus once you have completed the course, we’ll happily provide you with Nitrox tanks for free on the remaining dives of your liveaboard trip with us!
We hope to have you join us (on Nitrox!) on one of our liveaboard dive trips soon. If you would like help planning your trip, Nitrox course or require any further information about our schedules, itineraries or prices, be sure to contact us at info@deepandamanqueen.com, and we’ll be only too happy to assist you.
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