How deep for jumping off grotto?

[Owner/Builder]

We are building another pool and my designer says we would be ok jumping off our grotto into the deep end only being 7' deep. I was expecting it to be at least feet deep if not 10 or more. What should I go for depth, and is there a way that I can keep most of the pool shallow, under 5 feet, and somehow make it extra deep right where we would jump off the grotto?

 

[Rich D]

Our PB said 6' would be fine. When we got our initial plans showing the 6' deep end they also had "Not A Diving Pool" stamped in big red letters on the plan. We would never allow guests to dive but you just never know about that type of thing so fromm a legal aspect that made use uncomfortable. I had never thought 6' was going to enough so we changed it to 8' which is considered a "Diving pool". The required us to stretch the pooI a few feet. I always knew I would be diving into the pool but I also knew I can easily safely dive into 4' of water if required. Going to 8' was well worth it in my opinion. The only way I enter the pool now is a deep dive off the the grotto. The diving rock is just under 4' off the surface. For strictly jumping I would say 7' is the minimum. (you can't guarantee every one will jump into the deepest part) . However want this...


Then 8' is the way to go...

 

[Owner/Builder]

The grotto is going to be roughly 12' tall so o was thinking it would need to be deeper

 

[Rich D]

12 feet !!! do you have a pic of what this look like?

 

[zea3]

12' feet tall is the equivilant of a high dive! There is no way 7' is deep enough for that! 10' would be a minimum depth I would feel comfortable with. I was looking at a couple of videos on youtube with 12' diving boards and the marked depth was 12-13'. If you are going to have kids, teens, and dumb adults around you don't want to spend all your time sitting on top of the grotto telling everyone "feet first only". Only 7' deep with that tall a grotto would be a huge liability. I'm going to ask a couple of builders to look at your question and see what they think.
@bdavis466 @jimmythegreek

 

[JamesW]

I would say 10' minimum.

I would have a professional engineer specify the depth and "diving envelope".

You could contact a diving board manufacturer for advice.

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[jimmythegreek]

For diving the pool would need to be 12 feet deep with a 6ft radius around the target so 12 diameter deep spot out in front. For jumping 10ft is fine you have to account for a pencil dive. A canmomball type could prob take 8ft deep and be ok but this kind of thing is dangerous overall theres alot of liability with that height. I would be hesitant to build it

 

[DB-Cooper]

My pool is about 6.5’ deep. I have a raised area where a fountain will go. It’s probably 2-3’ off the ground. If I dive , I easily get close to the bottom. Also, the deep end starts sloping up towards shallow so I have to deal with that rise. Essentially it’s perfect for me, I am probably a few inches above the floor on a good dive.

If it’s a 10+ ft jump, you likely need to be much , much deeper. 7’ is going to be a hazard for anything short of a cannonball or belly flop. 7’ would be good for maybe a 3’ jump.

 

[sktn77a]

We have a 6.5 ft deep pool and if I dive off the diving board head first, I can easily hit bottom. Go 8ft and don't budge.

 

[Richard320]

I hit the bottom in 8' if I just hop off the deck feet first.