Why is the use of dive computers encouraged over dive tables?

The encouragement of using dive computers over dive tables is primarily due to the advantage dive computers provide in delivering real-time data and facilitating complex calculations that account for various diving parameters. Dive computers continuously monitor a diver's depth, time underwater, ascent rates, and surface intervals, allowing them to provide dynamic and personalized information throughout a dive.

This real-time capability significantly enhances safety by ensuring that divers can adjust their dive profiles on the fly to account for unplanned variables, such as changes in depth or additional bottom time. Dive tables, on the other hand, offer static guidelines based on predetermined assumptions and cannot account for these individual and situational factors as effectively.

In essence, the sophisticated algorithms within dive computers help divers stay within safe limits by continuously calculating no-decompression limits and considering residual nitrogen levels in real-time, which ultimately reduces the risk of decompression sickness. The complexity of these calculations is what makes dive computers a preferred choice over traditional dive tables.