NITROX

The air we breathe is comprised of approximately 21% oxygen and 79% nitrogen. NITROX mixtures with percentages of oxygen greater than 21% are called Enriched Air Nitrox (EANx). The commonly used EANx mixtures are:

EAN 32 (32% oxygen/68% nitrogen) EAN 36 (36% oxygen/64% nitrogen)

EANx was first used in 1912 and has been used extensively for over thirty years in commercial diving and the military. Advanced divers have been taking advantage of EANx for cave diving, wreck diving, and other diving applications. Since 1985, EANx has been recognized by national SCUBA certification agencies as an alternate breathing gas for recreational diving.

The EANx/NITROX course will teach you the proper use of the NITROX decompression tables and how to analyze the percentage of oxygen/nitrogen in your tank. The course is a 3 hour classroom-only course. When you pass the test, you will be issued a NITROX certification with T.D.I. (Technical Diving International)

Your standard SCUBA gear can be used with EANx/NITROX. Tanks for NITROX use are color coded, and dedicated for NITROX use only. Any regular SCUBA tank can become a NITROX tank (a special cleaning is required).

EANx diving has many advantages over air diving. Some benefits:

1. EANx, when used with standard dive tables or computers, provides a tremendous safety factor. In fact, the actual nitrogen accumulation is that for a 10'-20' shallower dive. The application of EANx is actually ideal for divers who simply wish to be more conservative, those divers who are not as young as they once were, or those who may not be in the peak of physical fitness;

2. A significant increase in bottom time no-decompression limits;

3. A reduction of the possibility of decompression sickness;

4. A slight reduction in nitrogen narcosis;

5. A reduction of decompression time if the no-decompression limits are exceeded;

6. Reduced fatigue after the dive.