Laying a foundation

Far from being ‘the boring part in the classroom,’ dive theory lays the foundation for progressing in your training later. True, the same can be said for skills and practice in the pool and in open water, but without understanding dive theory you will soon hit a ceiling, especially if technical diving is your goal. The key to successful application of dive theory is to really understand the concepts underlying it, rather than simply ticking the correct box in a multiple-choice exam.

From the very first time an open-water student picks up their course manual or logs into their eLearning, they are studying the same concepts of physics and physiology that they’ll need to understand decompression dive plans and rebreather diving. Really? Yes, really.

Many divers may remember seeing a drawing of a balloon being taken underwater and decreasing in size as pressure and depth increase. The same drawing mentions increasing air density at depth. So, chapter one of many agencies’ open-water diver program introduces the inverse relationship of pressure and volume as well as gas density. Technical divers use both these concepts to calculate gas consumption and the most suitable gas for a certain depth.

Physiology

Physiology is another example. From the first time divers don a tank of air and start exploring the underwater world, they learn that it’s important to control ascent and descent rates. Descend too fast and you may be unable to equalize your ears quickly enough or exceed your planned depth. So far, so simple. As you are moving deeper into technical diving, however, making the most of your limited bottom time becomes crucial and you must balance a safe descent rate with maximized time underwater. What does that have to do with dive theory? Understanding what’s happening in your ears and sinus cavities when you descend and when you equalize will help when it comes to practicing different equalization techniques. Most of those are best practiced on land initially with someone talking you through it, before attempting them underwater.

Decompression and dive theory

Another concept students learn during initial certification courses is the fact that divers’ tissues absorb nitrogen during the dive. The longer you stay at depth, the more nitrogen your tissues absorb, eventually leading to saturation. Granted, most recreational and technical diving stops far short of saturation, but the basic concept remains in place. The longer you stay, the more care you need to take on ascent. In that sense, every dive is a decompression dive — the main difference being that if divers stay within no-stop limits, a slow ascent and a safety stop are enough to fulfill their decompression obligation.

Stepping into technical diving, managing that decompression obligation becomes more complex. While not ideal, a recreational diver could always return directly to the surface. Missing their safety stop means going against strong recommendations and best practice, but, in all likelihood, the diver should still be okay. A technical diver missing mandatory decompression stops has a much higher risk of becoming ill with decompression sickness.

During technical-diving courses, students learn about different decompression algorithms that help them plan and manage their ascent. Their instructor is likely to recommend an algorithm and a degree of conservatism based on their own knowledge and experience, which then becomes the starting point of the new tech diver building their own experience. While this may sound complicated, it’s founded on the basic concept from the open-water diver course: it’s about managing ascent speed.

Other considerations

With that in mind, other considerations follow: how much gas will we need for the decompression stops? Can one diver carry all this gas? What happens if we exceed our planned bottom time? Exceeding the no-stop limit at 100 feet (30 m) for a minute may lead to a one-minute mandatory decompression stop in 10 feet (3 m) and may even have been blown off by the time the diver reaches that depth. However, exceeding planned bottom times by one or two minutes at 328 feet (100 m) will add 10 to 15 minutes to a diver’s decompression obligation, posing serious questions about gas supply and potential exposure if the dive is done in cold water, to name only two considerations.

Planning for those kinds of emergencies all happens on land well before a technical dive. It is not something you do quickly on the boat while gearing up or in the car on the way to the dive site. On the contrary, planning and preparing for big dives can take weeks, if not months, depending on the complexity of the dive. For most standard technical dives (if there is such a thing), planning would at least be done on the day before the dive to allow time to digest and re-read the dive plan, prepare gases, and pack gear. On the day of the dive, a thorough briefing often completes planning.

Studying dive theory and learning more is also a great way of keeping your knowledge fresh. There is much more knowledge out there than what fits into training agency manuals, and the deeper you delve into that, the more you’ll realize that you are only scratching the surface.

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Logistics

There are some basic decisions to make about the type of diving you would like to do on your trip.

Land or boat based?

At the most fundamental level, you must decide if you’d rather be based on land or a boat. A liveaboard trip is a wonderful way to visit some of the more exclusive dive sites and they’re generally all-inclusive except for some extras like alcoholic drinks and crew tips. However, it means living offshore on a dive boat for several days. If your partner is a non-diver this may not suit them.

Alternatively, at many resorts, you can take day (or even half-day) dive trips. You may leave your hotel in the morning, take part in one or two local dives, and return by early afternoon, allowing your non-diving family or friends to explore on land or relax while you explore beneath the surface.

What is the distance from your hotel to the dive shop?

If you choose a land-based trip, how are you getting to the dive center and onward to the dive site each day? Some dive centers are based within the confines of the hotel; others are independent but will arrange your pick-up and transfers to and from the dive center. Additionally, what is the travel time to/from the dive site? Some ‘local’ dive sites may still require considerable transport time by road or boat.

With the above in mind, consider your personal comfort during the day’s activities. Are refreshments provided? Or will you need to take some food and water with you? Are there facilities onboard such as toilets? How many dives per day? Is there protection from the elements at the dive site or onboard the boat? What is the anticipated time of return to the hotel or resort? Be sure that you’re not chasing the clock with your dives and don’t risk diving too close to your flight home.

Also, be aware of any medical conditions you have that may impact diving. Most dive boats and shops will ask you to fill out a medical screening form, so if there has been any change in your health since you last dove, have a physician’s approval on hand if you answer any questions with a ‘yes.’

Diving

Asking pertinent questions will help you decide if you’re qualified or experienced enough for the diving at your prospective location.

When is the dive season?

Some diving locations, such as the Red Sea, offer year-round diving. However, in other locations, there is a very distinct season, which may be due to weather patterns, such as a monsoon season. Or, it may be for legal reasons, such as a marine park being closed for a period each year. Additionally, if there are a particular marine species that you want to see, research the time of year they are most likely to be present in that area. Do your homework before you book.

What is your dive style?

Not all dives are created equal. If you’re a novice diver or an infrequent diver, inquire about the local diving requirements and technique. For example, if you have a passion for history and wish to explore the wrecks of Scapa Flow, you must have a suitable qualification and experience in a drysuit, colder temperatures and lower visibility. The wrecks are at depth in the challenging conditions of the North Sea and diving them is nothing like a tropical reef.

At the other extreme, some warm, tropical waters are exposed to strong currents as the ocean funnels between channels, around atolls or spirals around pinnacles, creating up and down currents. Diving in these environments requires an aptitude at drift diving and an awareness of your surroundings during the dive. You may have to perform a negative entry at some of these locations or, at the least, you may have to leave the surface as quickly as it’s safe to do so to avoid missing the dive site altogether. Researching the local conditions will help you decide if you feel comfortable with the diving in a particular location. If you don’t, you can obtain the proper training or, alternatively, choose an alternative destination.

Many liveaboard dive vessels in demanding environments require that divers have a minimum of Advanced Open Water qualification (or equivalent), with 50 logged dives. Carrying a dive computer is often also mandatory. This is usually because of the challenges of the individual dive sites, or because most of the sites on the itinerary require the qualification and experience to dive comfortably in the 100-foot (30 m) depth range, often using nitrox.

Equipment

Be sure to pack the equipment you’ll need for the dive environment, for that time of year, and for the itinerary. Ask what may be suitable.

Water temperatures can vary considerably — even in some warmer environments — so ask what the water temperature will be at the depth of your dives and time of year. Consider the cooler temperatures and thermoclines sometimes found at depth. It’s better to be overdressed than too cold during the dive, so pack an appropriate exposure suit, hood, and gloves, if required.

Check any other equipment recommendations for diving in the area. Whether you have a guide or not, SMBs and reels may be mandatory. Each diver may be required to carry a dive computer, and nitrox may be the standard gas. Conversely, when diving in a marine park, gloves, pointers, reef hooks or knives may be forbidden. After some research, it will be easier to decide what equipment of your own you’ll take, and what equipment you may wish to rent locally.

Supervision and groups

Don’t assume you’ll have a dive guide, whether on a boat or diving from land. While in many places a dive guide is standard, it’s not universal. In some areas, such as parts of Australia, a dive guide costs extra. It may be expected that certified divers will plan and execute their dives in buddy pairs independently once briefed. In contrast, in some areas it’s mandatory to dive with a local guide due to local marine-park legislation.

Ask how many divers are typically in each group. Should you have special dive requirements, it’s better to let the dive operation know early. Trip leaders will often split groups into nitrox vs. air, photographers vs. non-photographers, and so on. For example, a photographer in a group of non-photographers is sometimes a frustration for both parties. If you have any doubts or feel your diving may be compromised, you can usually pay for a private guide.

Etiquette

Making the effort to discover the basics of local life will usually pay dividends. What configuration are the local electricity sockets? Do you need to change your currency to local currency for paying bar tabs? Or are US dollars, Euros or British pounds acceptable? What is the tipping etiquette in the local area? Many local boat crews and guides survive on the customer tips they receive, so knowing a realistic tip will help you to budget accordingly.

Additionally, if you’re visiting another country to dive, knowing the basics of the local language enough to be able to say thank-you, please, yes, and no, as a bare minimum, will help you be courteous to the local boat crew.

Conclusion

There is so much more to consider when planning a dive trip than simply choosing a location and flight. Do some work before you go. Intelligent research, along with asking the right questions, can help you have a safer and more rewarding dive trip.

The post Training Fundamentals: Planning a Dive Trip appeared first on Scuba Diver Life.

First things first — if you have been diagnosed with and recovered from Covid-19, you must see a specialist before diving again. While scientists are learning more about the virus on a daily basis, we know that, in many people, coronavirus attacks the lungs and other vital organs. This means that only an appropriately qualified physician can sign you off to dive.

For everyone else, however, it is more about coming up with a plan for returning to diving after a long break. What’s the best way to safely get back underwater?

Physical fitness

Physical fitness is one of the key factors for safe diving. Some of you may have spent the better part of 2020 devising new fitness regimes and improving your diet, but many of us have enjoyed quality time with our couch and Netflix instead. If you’re part of the latter group, building up strength and stamina in good time before a dive trip is wise.

Diving itself may seem effortless, especially when you’re gliding along a tropical reef in a mild current, with a boat waiting to pick you up when you surface. Consider the other parts of a diving day, though, as this is often when fitness comes in handy.

Even if you are valet diving, with someone else transporting and preparing your gear, being in good physical condition is helpful. Balancing your weight, including equipment, just before a giant stride off the boat is one thing. Climbing a ladder after a dive is another. And on the dive, being able to efficiently kick through a current for a short time will help you return to the exit point.

When shore diving, entries and exits are often the most demanding parts of the dive. Having the strength to walk your equipment in and out of the water makes the entire dive more efficient and therefore safer.

To achieve this, you don’t have to start a full-on fitness regime. You’re unlikely to stick to that if you have been a couch potato for months. Instead, consider adding short walks to your daily routine or incorporating brief exercise routines and strength training. You can start very simply in your own home with a handful of squats or push-ups.

Build up slowly

Just like you built your diving experience slowly, coming back after a long break will take time. It might be tempting to look at the last dive in your logbook and try to repeat it straight away. However — especially if that was a pinnacle dive — pushing the boundaries of your existing diving experience, it’s not a great first dive back.

Getting back into diving is not about rushing. In fact, the opposite is true. Just as you might test a bunch of new equipment for the first time in the pool, consider doing the same. Granted, it’s not an exciting dive site, but it’s the best place to check if everything still fits and works as you expect it to. It’s also a good place for a weight check. Remember, you will need to adjust weights if you are changing suits or heading into saltwater after the pool.

With that squared away, consider your underwater comfort zone and start with a dive that is well within it. A couple of diving days in familiar conditions, if possible, will allow you to build confidence and regain muscle memory. Take it slowly and enjoy the process.

Technical diving

Starting slowly is even more important when you’re building up to deeper or longer technical dives after a break. You may be qualified to dive hypoxic trimix to 325 feet (100 meters) but going from a year on land to five or six cylinders at depth is simply a recipe for disaster. Maybe you were accustomed to hours-long, shallow cave dives. After months out of the water, however, your stamina is likely diminished. If your rebreather has gathered dust for months, it’s probably time to service the unit before even attempting to head to the pool. With the unit ship-shape, consider a refresher for yourself.

Note that refreshing your skills doesn’t necessarily mean booking a course as such. A similarly or higher qualified dive buddy may be able to help. Filming yourself practicing skills also goes a long way toward finding weak points and improving them.

Just as you completed your training in several stages, your return to diving after this year or possibly longer will take some time. The good news is, however, that all this underwater time is enjoyable. Put simply, diving cautiously is part of your return to diving to the top level of your qualification.

Refresher dives for newbies

Technical divers may be on one end of the spectrum. On the other hand, there are those who may have just completed their qualification before taking this long break. If you are one of those newly qualified divers and had to spend several months out of the water, we recommend a refresher course with an instructor or divemaster. Open water certification courses pack a lot of information into a short space of time. Not everyone can consolidate and solidify this information with a couple dozen dives straight away – and these dives are crucial to truly commit diving skills to memory.

It may feel like you’re repeating part of your initial certification course, but practice truly leads to mastery. After all, it makes more sense to practice not only until you can get something right, but rather until you can’t get it wrong anymore.

Whichever way you choose to get back to diving after a long break — coronavirus-related or not —to take things step by step. Rushing into big dives is never a good idea.

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Why does water go up your nose sometimes?

Humans largely breathe in and out of our noses but learning to dive requires people to un-learn this habit and not breathe in through their noses. Even if a diver begins at the youngest possible age — 8 years old with most major agencies — there is a deeply ingrained default setting for the budding diver to inhale through his or her nose when not concentrating on the task at hand, or if they are task-loaded with a perceived problem.

Most modern diving masks are exceptionally well-designed and feature soft, silicone seals that help keep water outside. However, the human face is not static — smiling, laughing, gritting your teeth, or even having facial hair can cause leaks in the silicone seal and water to trickle in. Additionally, the mask can be incorrectly positioned, or another diver or strong water movement can accidentally dislodge it, causing a sudden ingress of water.

Inevitably, at some point in your diving life, any one of these circumstances will force you to expel water from your nose. Competently dealing with water in your mask and learning how to clear it is therefore crucial for comfort and safety. As with most diving-related issues, there are solutions. And, as with most diving-related skills, practice makes perfect.

The solution for water up your nose

First, practice airway and soft-palate control. Here’s a short test. While exhaling through your mouth, cover your mouth with your hand to prevent air from escaping. Your cheeks should begin to puff out. And, you shouldn’t be exhaling through your nose. That’s soft-palate control. While still trying to exhale, move your hand away. If you immediately exhale through your mouth, you used soft-palate control. If you paused before exhaling through your mouth, that was your epiglottis. This is the basis of mask clearing, which is the fundamental skill in dealing with water up your nose.

Mask clearing is the process of expelling water from inside the artificial airspace of your diving mask out into the surrounding environment, without taking on or ingesting any water.

Some divers feel slightly claustrophobic upon flooding and clearing a mask for the first time during initial training. Some may even stand up in the shallows of a swimming pool at the initial, reflexive shock of some water in their nostrils, but it is easy to master airway and soft-palate control, so water up your nose becomes less intimidating.

How to practice airway control

Practice airway control in a safe environment until you’ve built your confidence. Much like learning to ride a bike, it may take some divers longer than others. Once mastered, however, it will feel like the most natural thing in the world.

First, stand in shallow, confined open water or a swimming pool. Remove your mask and loop it over your left arm. While still upright, and with your head out of the water, put the regulator in your mouth and begin to breathe in through your mouth, out through your nose. If you struggle with this initially, hold your nose closed with your right hand while inhaling through your mouth, then release your nostrils as you exhale through the nose. Find your natural breathing rhythm.

As you find a comfortable pattern, bend at the waist and place your face in the water. Then, like a meditation, focus on your breath. If you feel the urge to breathe in through your nose, hold your nostrils closed with your right hand until you regain your natural breathing pattern again, then release the nostrils gently and continue. Resist the urge to stand and remove your face from the water. Work on resolving the problem with your face in the water. Begin in small increments; perhaps starting at 5- to 10-second intervals of no-mask breathing if you lack confidence, then building up to approximately one minute without holding your nostrils.

When you’ve mastered airway control and the sensation of water in your nose while standing in the shallows, you can begin to practice in shallow water beneath the surface.

Clearing your mask

Find a comfortable position underwater and begin by gently allowing water into your mask. It’s crucial to do this very smoothly, as a sudden rush of water into your mask — especially if the water is chilly — can cause a reflexive urge to inhale through your nose as the water hits your face and nostrils. Breach your mask’s seal from the top, gently and steadily pulling the frame away from your face very slightly. Use a fingertip to break the seal, or gently pinch the top of the silicone skirt together causing a fold.

Now, clear your mask. Firmly press the frame at the top edge of the mask with the palm of your hand. This creates a ‘hinge’ that allows the air pressure to blast water out the bottom of the mask. Don’t lift the bottom edge of the mask.

Inhale slowly and deeply through your mouth. Then, firmly exhale through your nose while maintaining the pressure on the top of the mask’s frame with your hand. The exhalation should be a forceful blow a lasting one or two seconds. If one breath is not sufficient, relax and revert to breathing in through your mouth using airway and soft-palate control. Take a few breaths before repeating the process. Continue until you’ve emptied the water from your mask. With practice, you’ll be able to clear your mask in one breath most of the time.

If water up your nose or a leaking mask is an ongoing problem, finding a mask that fits you well to prevent the issue before it starts is a highly worthwhile investment.

Additionally, if you suffer from pre-dive anxiety about your airway and soft palate control, take some time before each dive to sit with your mask on and practice on land before buddy-checking and entering the water. Confidence and practice are key. Finally, if you have a dive trip coming up, visit your local pool for a refresher, scuba review or reactivate program to improve your comfort level in the water.

With practice, you’ll find that dealing with water up your nose isn’t a drama; it’s a routine part of being a competent and confident diver.

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What exactly is scientific diving?

Scientific diving is the use of diving techniques by scientists working underwater in the direct pursuit of scientific knowledge. Marine biologists often apply the scientific method while searching for new species, through their efforts to protect marine life, and in their quest to further expand our knowledge of the underwater world. Scientific divers also help train astronauts before they go into space.

From Boy Scout to marine biologist and diving instructor 

Joseph Bosquez has been diving for the past 20 years, with much of that time spent as a marine biologist. He’s participated in multiple diving operations, from identifying and cataloging fish species with NOAA in the Gulf of Mexico to six months with the Boy Scouts of America on Catalina Island, collecting fish and invertebrate species for the Emerald Bay Aquarium. It was his experience working as a university faculty member, teaching diving and scientific diving, that laid the foundation Bosquez to become an instructor for Divesoft. He says his “overarching vision is to become a high-impact teacher and advocate for the underwater environment.”

Training astronauts for NASA

Perhaps Bosquez’s most notable diving project was his time spent training astronauts at NASA. He spent most of his time at the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory, where he instructed astronauts-in-training on maneuverability in microgravity spaces. “We focused on underwater operations, known as “dress rehearsals,” where the astronauts could practice moving in space and preparing for a number of jobs they would be tasked with aboard the International Space Station,” said Bosquez.

Bosquez also spent some time in the mission control back room during spacewalks. From there he could watch his trainees successfully complete the missions that they had worked on together in the pool months before.

Parting words

Bosquez currently works as the dive operations manager for Czech dive company Divesoft. When asked about his ambitions as a dive instructor, Bosquez addressed the importance of growth and progress. “Scuba diving and marine science have so many avenues in which someone can experience continual growth,” he said. “Over the past few years, I have focused on becoming proficient with Divesoft equipment and my next focus is to utilize the equipment for more advanced diving.”

Scientific diving opens the door to many specialized careers. Whether you’re interested in marine biology, wildlife conservation, working hand-in-hand with astronauts, or discovering a new lifeform, scientific diving can help you get there. Even though such tasks may seem daunting at first, Bosquez reminds new divers to stay motivated.

“Struggle is important, but it isn’t about finding yourself or finding your passion,” he says. “It’s about turning yourself into the kind of person you would have looked up to growing up.”

By guest author NikolaValtošová

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We can forgive new divers for never having thought about how they move underwater. After all, propulsion techniques are not part of the standard open water diver curriculum of all agencies. However, when you move on to more challenging dives or want to become a technical diver, mastering different propulsion techniques becomes important.

Propulsion: a fundamental skill

Like buoyancy control and trim, propulsion is one of the foundational diving skills for technical divers. And, just like buoyancy and trim, propulsion does not exist in a vacuum. If you cannot hold a set depth by controlling your buoyancy with a combination of wing and lung volume, you won’t be able to focus on how your fins are moving.

Without horizontal trim, even a perfectly executed backwards kick will either send you up or down. Kicking up or down means having to readjust your buoyancy frequently, causing additional task loading. However, if you can get these three to work together, you are well on your way to managing multiple tanks, gases and tasks.

The frog kick

Most tech divers start with a frog kick. In principle, the frog kick is similar to the movement you make when swimming the breaststroke. The knees and ankles and some degree of leg extension drives the fin blade, but it’s not always necessary to fully extend your legs. This kick is a tech diver’s ‘bread and butter’ kick, which they’ll use for a majority of each dive.

The modified flutter kick

If your legs tire from repetitive movement, but you still need a similar degree of propulsion, the modified flutter kick becomes an option. Technical divers generally want to avoid stirring up silt from the bottom of the sea, wreck or cave they are diving in, so this altered version of the kick works without fully extending your legs. Full extension of the legs would create a draft, pulling up sand or silt. Instead, tech divers extend their ankles and point their fins upward before flexing their ankles to allow the fin blade to push the water behind them. The kick feels very strange initially, but you can actually use it to build up a lot of power and speed to help you move through a current, for example.

Modified frog kick and shuffle kick

On the subject of modified propulsion techniques, there are also both a modified frog kick and a shuffle kick. They are essentially smaller, and often slower, versions of the frog kick and the modified flutter kick. We use both the modified frog kick and shuffle kick for controlled movements in restricted areas. They are essential for cave and penetration wreck dives to zero-visibility situations. For both, movements are largely restricted to the ankles. Knees and legs stay almost motionless and at a 90-degree angle. The ankles create enough movement to drive the fin blade.

These are not fast kicks, and they are not designed to cover large distances. They are all about controlling your movement and are useful outside of overhead environments as well. During photography dives, both of these propulsion techniques are very useful when it comes to nearing marine life without disturbing it. Both kicks are ideal for sneaking up on whatever it is you would like to photograph.

Moving backward

Having moved close to where you need to be, it’s also important to be able to move away — ideally without using your hands to skull. This is where the backward kick comes into play. For some, it’s more or less the Holy Grail of propulsion techniques, having taken dozens of dives to master. For others, it comes naturally. All technical divers must master this kick. When moving forward and encountering an obstacle, for example, you first backward kick is effectively your brakes, stopping the forward movement. Your next few backward kicks then allow you to back away from the obstacle.

It’s also handy to know how to move backward when gas sharing. The out-of-gas diver signals his team and a teammate moves in quickly to supply gas. To avoid crashing into each other (while holding torches, controlling reels, etc.) both divers can simply kick backward to give each other a little space while staying close enough to share gas. In open-water environments, the backward kick is ideal when divers are adjusting their position within a team. Anyone who has ever done a fast drift dive along an undulating wall will appreciate the ability to adjust the way they are facing with a swift and powerful backward kick.

The helicopter turn

The helicopter turn is another way to turn around. The name is a giveaway: this kick allows you to turn around — 360 degrees if necessary — without taking up more space than your own length. While you can push around with one leg only doing a semblance of a frog kick, the helicopter turn is smoother, more efficient and a lot more controlled when both legs fin together. In that case, one leg would perform a motion similar to a backward kick to steer and the other performs a version of a frog kick. Most divers will have a favorite direction in which to turn; what’s important, though, is to master this kick in either direction to complete your toolbox.

Fin choice and propulsion techniques

A word on fins: typical tech diving fins with relatively short, rigid blades will make these kicks easier to master and give the diver much better control underwater. That said, many other fins will work, but may make mastery a bit more difficult. Generally speaking, split fins or long freediving fins will make things harder and, when problems occur on technical dives, additional task loading will make it harder to solve anything.

So, how do you master these propulsion techniques? Practice, practice, practice. Dry practice will help teach your ankles, knees and legs how you want them to move, and this is something any diver can do at home. Then, in-water, apart from a solid demonstration and practice time, getting video feedback also makes a difference. Seeing what you are currently doing goes a long way toward adjusting, and eventually mastering, whichever propulsion technique you find trickiest.

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Being aware of group peer pressure and mindful of your decisions about diving is a valuable skill, however. Making a dive in the incorrect circumstances can, at best, be unpleasant. At worst, undertaking the dive may be dangerous to you and your dive group. Each diver must accurately assess their own skill and comfort level and — if there’s any doubt – abort the dive. In fact, many responsible operators state that a dive may be aborted at any time, for any reason, with no questions asked, to avoid a smaller concern spiraling into a larger issue.

With that in mind, here are several factors to consider when deciding to make or abort a dive.

Fit to dive

Fitness of body and mind are essential for safe dives. Some dives are straightforward, undemanding and require minimal physical effort. Rolling into a warm, secluded bay with minimal current is a restful experience. However, not all dives are that relaxed. Advanced diving often comes with greater physical and mental demands.

The challenge may be a long, hot walk along a beach in full gear; a lengthy surface swim against water movement; or having to fin against a strong current during periods of the dive. More demanding diving may include a speedy negative entry or heavier equipment. If you feel either your fitness — or your dive buddy’s — isn’t up to the task, it’s probably wise to abort and dive another day.

Being in the correct state of mind is also essential. Pre-dive stress may lead to poor judgement which, in turn, may lead to panic at depth. In the worst cases, this can lead to the rejection of equipment and uncontrolled ascents. If you’re suffering from severe pre-dive stress for whatever reason and you can’t successfully mitigate it, consider aborting the dive. Diving safely requires a calm and clear state of mind.

The third aspect of your personal readiness is ensuring you eat the correct diet and get enough rest before and during your dive trip. Travelers often make themselves ill with alcohol, drugs, poor diet and exhaustion on trips. Diving when hungover carries increased risks of DCS due to dehydration. Your judgement and ability to respond to emergencies may also be compromised. If you’ve had a late night with friends the previous evening, use some discretion and abort the dive until you’re fully rested and recovered. Your body needs the correct fuel to dive safely.

Skills

It’s easy to be goaded into diving beyond your skill level. Often the perpetrator will assure you that ‘it will be fine’ or promise that they’ll ‘look after you.’ The reality is that the responsibility rests with you to ensure you have the skills and equipment to make the dive safely.

As an example, there is no physical barrier stopping an unqualified or novice diver from undertaking deeper, more complex or more challenging dives involving a broader skillset without the correct training. Peer pressure or a false sense of security can lead to a phenomenon known as the ‘Dunning-Kruger effect,’ which distorts an honest self-assessment of readiness for the dive ahead.

You need specific knowledge and training for deeper dives or those beyond recreational limits, wreck penetration, cave diving, drysuit diving or any number of other diving specialties. If you don’t have the training, don’t make the dives. You will only be putting yourself and other divers in your group at risk. Abort the dive.

Equipment

Having the correct tools for the job — and the training to use them correctly — is essential. For example, if you’re at a busy dive site with current and boat traffic, a DSMB and reel, computer, and compass are key pieces of safety equipment. Buddy separation, disorientation, water movement and boat traffic above are hazards that you must manage for a safe and effective dive.

Ensure your equipment fits and functions correctly, and have it serviced per manufacturer’s instructions at regular intervals. If you’re using of rental equipment, make sure it’s not ill-fitting and familiarize yourself with it pre-dive. Don’t be rushed. Address any concerns before entering the water and if you can’t, abort the dive. Don’t dive unless you have all the correct tools at your disposal and the knowledge to make use of them.

Environment

When it comes to diving, environmental conditions vary hugely from location to location, day to day, and with each passing season.

If the conditions in which you’re being briefed to dive look tough or beyond your comfort level, call the dive, regardless of what your certification card says. Here are some conditions that may cause particular stress.

• Reduced visibility: Low visibility, poor light and turbid water can cause disorientation and difficulty maintaining buddy contact.
• Temperature: Both the temperature and the associated equipment changes may act as stressors. Significantly lower water temperature may necessitate thicker exposure suits, hood and gloves to avoid the dangers of hypothermia. Or, you may need a drysuit, which requires additional training and orientation.
• Aquatic life: The perceived hazard of certain types of aquatic life may cause stress. If you can’t reframe the stressor through knowledge and discussion, abort the dive. Potential encounters with sharks, sea snakes, fire coral, jellyfish, eels, and stonefish make some divers anxious. Increased anxiety may lead to erratic behavior.
• High winds: Winds can cause increased waves, surf and surge, making surface conditions difficult and entry or — more likely — exiting the water difficult.
• Strong currents: There are often strong currents at more advanced sites. Larger pelagic life is often drawn to cleaning stations and split points by the water movement and the food it brings. Swift descents, excellent control, good buoyancy and effective buddy contact are critical at these dive sites. If you feel you don’t have the appropriate skill or comfort level — or you have an underlying problem such as sensitive ears that preclude a speedy descent — abort the dive.

Evaluate the conditions before every dive and make sure they fit your capabilities. If you feel uncomfortable or stressed about the dive ahead, don’t do it. Dive another day.

The ticking clock

Sometimes it’s wise to abort a dive due to pure logistics and time constraints. You shouldn’t feel uncomfortably pressured, cajoled or rushed. If you don’t have time to prepare and do a pre-dive buddy check to your satisfaction before diving, you probably shouldn’t be diving. Abort.

The laws of physics are non-negotiable and sometimes it’s best to abort the dive, rather than risk your health. If there is the chance you may be active or returning to a high altitude after diving, consider aborting the dive.

For example, if you’re flying after diving (or traveling to altitude), you must take this into account. If the end of your dive trip is imminent and it’s questionable if you’ll have sufficient time to off-gas before flying, make the sensible decision and skip the final dive. Similarly, build in some time after your final dive to off-gas before driving over the mountain pass to get back to your resort to avoid putting yourself at risk.

Safety first

We all love to dive and it’s always difficult to turn down a chance to get in the water. Peer pressure and enthusiasm may lead divers into situations that escalate into a serious diving-related incident. Honestly assess yourself, your buddy and the dive ahead and put safety and discretion first. It could save your life. There is always the opportunity to dive another day.

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Determining the limit

Individual agencies often determine the training limits. However, in conjunction with each agency, a body called the World Recreational Scuba Training Council (WRSTC) works to create minimum recreational diving training standards across the globe, based on training data and research. The councils consist of individual training organizations that mutually represent greater than 50 percent of the annual diver certifications in each council’s region.

For example, within the United States council, which is based in Florida, the members are comprised of IANTD, NAUI, PADI, PDIC, RAID, SDI, SNSI, SSI and NASE. The council is transparent in its approach; minimum standards for each level of recreational diving are available to download at the WRSTC website. Closer inspection of these standards reveals that while two students may undertake their training with two different agencies, there will be consistent requirements with regard to participants’ medical history, eligibility, minimum course content and supervision.

Recreational depth limits

When people consider recreational-diving limits, they tend to consider depths first and foremost. Most introductory courses have clearly specified training depth limits.

• At the open-water diver level (or equivalent) the depth limit is 60 feet (18 m).
• At the advanced open-water level the depth limit is 100 feet (30 m).
• With additional deep-diver training, many agencies set a depth limit of recreational diving at 130 feet (40 m).

At first glance, these limits may appear arbitrary. However, usually, these parameters have developed over time and are based on test data from thousands of dives. This creates a consistent education system that equips student divers with the skills they need to safely make dives to the appropriate level.

The importance of depth limits

While some divers — particularly those suffering from the Dunning-Kruger Effect — will always be tempted to push the envelope of their training, there is a solid argument for continuing education and training to progress in your diving. Logged dive numbers alone are not enough.

For example, during the PADI open-water course, each student diver must master breathing without a mask for a least one minute. Although many students dislike performing the skill, within the PADI system the maximum ascent rate is 60 feet (18 m) per minute. So, mastering this skill — or at least practicing — means the diver is better prepared to ascend safely if they lose their mask.

After passing their OW class, there is obviously no physical barrier preventing the newly qualified diver from going well beyond their 60 feet (18 m) limit. Despite this, most prudently wait to go deeper within the confines of a continuing-education course.

At OW limits, most novice divers reach a gas turning point before hitting their no-decompression limit. Further, most agencies’ planning tables afford 50 to 56 minutes even spending the duration of the dive at maximum depth. However, as divers progress beyond that introductory level, the allowable bottom time disappears quickly. Divers must typically pay closer attention to no-decompression limits, gas consumption and narcosis considerations, since there is less margin for error and a longer journey to the surface in an emergency.

Additionally, as depths approach 100 feet (30 m) and beyond, inexperienced divers may feel some gas narcosis, particularly in a more challenging environment. When things go wrong at depth the stakes are higher and, thusly, divers should complete their initial deep dives under the close supervision of an experienced instructor. The instructor can then introduce appropriate planning considerations — and what to do if it goes wrong — in a controlled setting.

Tricks of the trade

Deeper dives aren’t the only ones that require further training. Diving at night; in overhead environments such as caves or wrecks; in strong currents; or in different equipment configurations, such as sidemount or twin-set, all benefit from bespoke training.

Sometimes, hazards are not obvious and, additionally, can be quite environmentally specific. A YouTube tutorial is not a valid substitute for the correct training and preparation. Here are just two examples.

Night diving 

Night diving can be a very relaxing and intimate experience. The limited light and the change in the variety and behavior of aquatic life makes it a unique experience. Night dives are also incredibly popular on liveaboards.

Proper night-diver training covers some the idiosyncrasies of night diving, including:

• Appropriate night-dive sites, equipment and safety considerations
• Amendments to equipment configurations, light handling and night dive etiquette
• Entering/exiting the water and navigating in the dark
• Positive wildlife interactions at night
• Essential communications and signals with lights and sound
• Managing your buoyancy and direction in low light

New night divers without the correct training frequently run into problems. Classic mistakes include ‘dazzling’ others in your group with your light, becoming lost or separated due to poor navigation and communication and, sometimes, joining the incorrect dive buddy/group/guide — or even boarding the wrong boat. Getting the right training helps you avoid these problems and learn how to manage the dive safely.

Drysuit diving

Drysuits are a fantastic diving tool. Sealed from the outside environment, they allow for extended dive seasons and dives in more-challenging conditions. Water temperature also becomes less of a driving factor in dive site selection.

Drysuit diving is subtly but crucially different from wetsuit diving: diving in this manner puts much more emphasis on correct positioning and trim in the water.

Drysuit training incorporates:

• Different suit constructions, suit selection, suit care and suit maintenance and appropriate scuba equipment for colder water environments, undergarments, accessories and equipment configurations
• Putting on and taking off your drysuit with minimal assistance and minimal stress on the suit
• Buoyancy, positioning and trim while wearing a drysuit
• Safety procedures in the event of buoyancy problems, equipment malfunction or drysuit failure

Divers must make subtle adaptations in preparation and technique for safe and successful drysuit diving. Incorrect dressing and seating of neck and wrist seals can lead to leaks. Understanding low-pressure hose connections and the functionality of the suit’s dump valves are key to safety in the event of a mechanical malfunction or loss of control. Crucially, with the whole suit acting like a bladder of air, correct diver positioning and trim is essential.

It’s not uncommon for drysuit divers in training to arrive at the surface feet-first with air trapped in their boots. Consequently, most responsible instructors begin training with supervision in a shallower, confined-water environment; this allows new drysuit divers to explore the limits of the suit (and their skill level) in a safe space.

Before they let me run

Preparation and knowledge are key to a safe dive — whatever your level. Learning to walk before you attempt to run is an old adage that rings true within scuba diving. Bravado and YouTube tutorials are not the same as professional training and staying within recommended limits. Obtain the training to match your diving desires, both for your own safety and the people you’re diving with.

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Training agencies

In athletics, there is a saying that athletes are made in the off-season. While you can’t quite learn to dive on land, there are plenty of things you can learn about diving, even if you are currently self-isolating due to the coronavirus.

An obvious place to start looking is the training agency of your choice. Many offer eLearning options and, over the past week or so, many have also made these options either cheaper to access or even free of charge. Why is it a good idea to sign up for the eLearning portion of a course now, even if you’re not yet a diver? First of all and quite simply: because you have time.

Under normal circumstances, many of us would try to cram an hour of eLearning into an evening. That gets you through the course, but you are unlikely to retain much of the information. Taking time to concentrate fully on the subject will result in you learning or retaining more.

Second, it uses some of the time you have in the day. Be honest: after a few days of Netflix, the novelty is about to wear off. Having an eLearning course to complete is a great way to add structure to your day, which has been identified as one of the main ways to look after your mental health.

Finally, this is an investment in your diving future. The knowledge you pick up now will not go to waste. You will apply it either to complete the course you started or to become a better diver.

So, where to start? Training agencies are the obvious place to look for online learning, but don’t forget your local dive center. With social distancing or even lockdowns, these small businesses will be hurting, especially as their ways of generating income are limited. However, as members of training agencies, they often buy eLearning access at a lower price than you can directly. Why not ask if you can pay a deposit locally that not only gives you access to a course now, but also secures a space in the course as soon as the center is up and running again? For the dive center, this means some income now and something to look forward to.

Diving resources

If you are already a certified diver, look beyond training agencies. There is a whole world of diving-related knowledge and information out there, including courses, instructional videos and more.

For many this is a time for self-reflection, creating an opportunity to look at the ‘why’ and ‘how’ of your diving. The Human Diver, for example, offers online micro-classes and webinars that look at how and why errors occur. While the initial concept comes from high-risk industries such as aviation, the idea is not to simply talk about mistakes, but to look at what created the circumstances that led to the diver’s specific decision. The concepts explained here may not lead to another certification card, but they are applicable to many other aspects of our daily lives where we need to make decisions or work together in teams.

Speaking of difficult decisions, many new divers use a lot of air compared to their more seasoned buddies or even instructors. And while introductory courses do cover breathing, scubapsyche is offering a free online course that not only covers what deep breathing really is, but also explains how breathing helps you stay calm in stressful situations — something everyone can benefit from at the moment.

If you want to explore the subject further, scubapsyche’s PADI Psychological Diver distinctive specialty course has just been approved for online-only learning, meaning you can actually pick up a certification card for it.

Inspirational viewing and listening

These past days or weeks may have been a great opportunity to catch up with recent movies and binge watch your favorite drama to distract yourself, but what about watching or listening to something truly inspiring?

The selection is endless, and you could spend entire days bookmarking YouTube videos before even starting to watch anything. Personally, I enjoy sidemount diving and while nothing beats a course with an experienced instructor, there are both free and for-purchase videos. Sidemounting.com offers a renowned, comprehensive series of videos to buy, covering sidemount as well as backmount diving. On the more extreme end of sidemount diving, Sidemount Silesia shows Thomasz Michura diving up to 10 tanks using multiple BCDs.

For those looking for some inspiring (and free) listening while you are sorting through your diving equipment, for example, check out diving-related podcasts on your phone or tablet. One of our favorites is Speaking Sidemount, which is so much more than the title would suggest. You’ll hear some proper diving legends, as well as passionate sidemount instructors and explorers. There is some great inspiration there for those looking to try a different kind of diving, as well as anyone interested in hearing about some of the latest exploration projects.

Speaking of exploration, cave diver and explorer Jill Heinerth runs her own podcast, Into the Planet. One of her most recent episodes covers being an explorer stuck at home. A contradiction of terms maybe but fascinating, nonetheless. And what better excuse than social distancing to indulge your interest in finding out about caves, how to become an explorer and so much more. So while we may not be able to get in the water right now, we can still scratch that diving itch digitally.

The post How to Get Your Diving Fix While on Lockdown appeared first on Scuba Diver Life.

If so, it seems like a dream come true —diving is such an enjoyable experience that the notion that it may help to keep us slim and improve fitness is a tempting one. But is diving a good workout? Can you ditch the gym sessions and simply go diving with friends each week? What is the fact behind the scuba-myth?

First, scuba diving and solid physical health and fitness often go together. Many people who dive regularly already have an active lifestyle and, as a side effect, have good physical fitness. The relationship, particularly with professional divers, is symbiotic; the diver is fit since they need fitness to perform their role, and the diving (and the associated physical tasks of working as a professional diver) help to cultivate that. However, what is the reality for occasional divers? Is diving, alone, enough to keep you in shape?

Burning calories pre- and post-dive

Although diving — when conducted correctly — is relatively effortless in-water, the tasks surrounding diving often test a diver’s strength and fitness and more obviously burn the calories.

Carrying heavy equipment on your back to and from an entry point in the heat can be tiring. Some shore dives may involve walking a considerable distance over sand or uneven ground, raising your exertion level and pulse rate. You’ll burn even more calories if more bulky equipment, such as drysuits and twin-sets, form part of your set-up.

Once in the water, you’ll sometimes have to conduct a surface swim to the descent point, which requires cardiovascular exercise and, consequently, you’ll burn more calories.

Physical exertion is necessary on the reverse journey at the end of the dive as well. Unless the boat crew brings the diver back to deck level with a diver lift, he or she will need to lift their weight by climbing a ladder back to deck level or boarding a zodiac or dinghy and climbing back in.

Much like the thoughtless steps we record on a wrist-mounted step-counter during a normal day, each of these tasks burns calories without the diver consciously registering them — the movements are intrinsic to the dive.

Dealing with the unexpected

Plan the dive and dive the plan — we all know this mantra. However, sometimes things can go awry.

An adverse change in weather conditions can mean increased surf, surge or current. Thus, a diver might face a more physically challenging entry or exit from the water, or have to fin harder to make their way to and from a descent point. During the during the dive, they may have to push harder and increase their finning rate to avoid hazards or take shelter from water movement on the wreck or reef.

Dive buddies are another variable in the equation. If your buddy is less physically able than you, you may have to help carry their equipment, tow them to shore, or help them to get in and out of their gear if they become exhausted. These unplanned activities and physical struggles all burn calories. It’s no surprise that professional divers must pass a fitness test to ensure they can handle such circumstances.

Internal thermostat

By far the most prolific way we burn calories while diving is thanks to our body’s thermoregulation.

The human body’s core internal temperature is approximately 98 F (37 C). When the internal temperature rises or, in the case of in-water activities, falls, the body tries to adjust by using internal mechanisms to return the core temperature to homeostasis. The effect is analogous to heating a cold house in winter — you can do it by lighting a fire or turning up the thermostat on the central heating, but this burns more fuel.

The water that we dive in is always considerably cooler than the 98 F (37 C) of our body core. And, in combination with this, water is 800 times denser than air and draws heat away from our bodies approximately 20 to 25 times faster. A diving exposure suit doesn’t so much ‘keep you warm’ as simply delay the process of you getting cold in an alien environment. It is not uncommon to hear divers, even returning from a long dive in tropical waters, say they feel very cold. This is the beginning of hypothermia as the body’s internal systems struggle to fight internal temperature loss. For the body to compensate for the heat loss, we increase calorie consumption.

Fuel consumption

The cooler the dive and the more challenging the conditions, therefore, the more calories we burn.

Some diving agencies have researched the calories burned during a ‘standard’ scuba dive. PADI estimates that an average shore-dive in temperate water burns as much as 600 calories per hour. This is roughly equivalent to calorie consumption while jogging. Leisurely boat dives in warm, tropical waters are estimated to burn approximately 300 calories an hour, equivalent to hiking or a brisk walk. A dive day in the tropics, with three dives a day, therefore, burns about 900 extra calories, or about 40 percent extra for an average male. You can — if you’re on a calorie-controlled diet — even note the calories you burned in your logbook.

Scuba diving for weight loss

Given that an average person requires around 2000 to 2500 calories a day to maintain their weight, it’s easy to see why lots of repetitive diving can lead to weight loss. Even three dives a day on a tropical liveaboard can consume 36-45 percent of your usual calorie requirement.

So, the answer is yes — scuba diving does burn calories and you can lose weight when diving. But you must still expend more calories than you consume — diving is not a license to go wild at the buffet. It’s all about the energy balance. Should you dive to lose weight? No, you should dive because you’re passionate about it. The potential weight loss should be a bonus for an already fantastic sport.

Diving may help you to maintain a healthy weight and fitness. However, it’s not a workout. Each diver must still take responsibility for their health and fitness and work to ensure they are fit and healthy to be safe on each dive.

The post Training Fundamentals: Does Scuba Diving Burn Calories? appeared first on Scuba Diver Life.

Diving is expensive

Many people view money as a barrier to entering the sport. Is diving expensive? Of course, at its extremes, diving can be expensive. To take a diving trip on a luxury liveaboard vessel touring the Galapagos Islands may cost thousands of dollars. To train and invest in a full closed-circuit rebreather set-up may cost thousands of dollars. However, to hold these up as examples of diving being expensive would be inaccurate. Passing your driving test doesn’t mean buying a new Ferrari and, similarly, you can participate in diving relatively inexpensively.

For example, a simple try-dive experience with the local dive shop in their pool may only cost $30-40. An introductory open water (OW) certification — depending on agency and location — may cost $300-400. This means that, for less than the cost of a new TV, you can earn a certification that allows you to dive globally for life. Even within the confines of an OW course, many dive shops will allow you to begin with a small deposit to cover training materials. Then you can budget to pay the course balance over the weeks you’re completing your training.

Already certified? While having your own scuba diving equipment is always best, most divers begin by simply buying the essentials: mask, fins and snorkel. Then, as you progress, you can buy equipment to suit your needs as time and financial constraints allow. In the meantime, rental equipment is always available relatively inexpensively to fill the gap.

To simply dive doesn’t need to break the bank. In some areas, there are training lakes with facilities to support divers that you can visit for as little as $20. Or, if you’re lucky enough to live by the coast, free diving may be available off the local coastline — you’ll only need a buddy and $5 for a cylinder fill.

Diving can be expensive, but it needn’t be. You can enjoy diving whatever your financial circumstances.

Diving is dangerous

Diving is statistically a very safe sport. Certainly, in comparison to other outdoor leisure activities such as snowboarding, bowling, horse riding or even fishing, there are fewer reported accidents, incidents and medical issues each year, according to the NCIB.

Interestingly, the most-reported medical problems associated with diving usually relate to sunburn, seasickness and dehydration. By definition, diving cannot be without some form of risk — divers get to explore the world underwater and with that, of course, is some inherent risk. However, it is a risk you can easily manage and diving fatalities are thankfully very low.

In terms of pure statistics, in the Diver Alert Network’s 2016 report, there was a fatality rate of approximately two people per 100,000 participants. To give this figure some context, the fatality rate for jogging is 13 per 100,000 participants and for horse riding is a much more significant 128 per 100,000 participants.

Drilling down further into the figures reveals a not insignificant proportion of these fatalities are linked to a pre-existing medical condition or lack of fitness; the majority occurred in divers older than 50. Some accidents can be chalked up to poor judgment or diver error, and may have been avoided.

While scuba as a sport will never eradicate accidents and injuries completely, diving is one of the safest adventurous leisure activities to pursue.

Divers commonly run out of air or suffer from ‘the bends’

Training with all the major dive agencies, such as PADI, SSI, SDI and NAUI, is standardized and common standards are in place, overseen by the WRSTC.

Foundational dive training focuses on core safety skills, gas management, the buddy system and dive planning. Unless there is some form of diver error or — even more unlikely — equipment malfunction, there would be no reason for a diver to run out of air. However, at the foundational level, each diver learns to deal with out-of-air emergencies, air sharing and the various methods of ascending in the event of a problem.

Similarly, decompression sickness — known as the bends — is extremely rare when divers plan and execute dives correctly. During initial OW diver training, divers learn how to determine safe depth limits, bottom times and nitrogen exposure with no-decompression limits through the use of dive tables and dive computers. While it’s not impossible to suffer decompression sickness on a standard scuba dive, the chances are remote if the diver has followed their training and dived within safe parameters.

Instructors emphasize from the very first moments of training that divers must “plan the dive, dive the plan.” Incidents of air depletion or decompression sickness are extremely rare and divers learn how to mitigate possible risks.

Sharks are out to kill you

Sharks are apex predators. However, they’re simply not interested in attacking divers. In a long list of ‘world’s most dangerous animals,’ sharks are nowhere close to the top. The pure statistics of shark fatalities help to dispel the myth that they are bloodthirsty killers. Sharks are responsible for approximately 10 deaths per year, globally. This compares with nine people killed per day in the United States alone by texting while driving. And, staggeringly, snakes kill 50,000 people per year.

For a diver, to see a shark is an increasingly rare privilege, not something to fear. And, provided that divers interact within a safe and responsible manner, they present an amazing opportunity to see beautiful creatures in their natural habitat.

You can only dive in the tropics

Scuba diving is a rich and varied activity. While undoubtedly there is an appeal to diving in warm, tropical waters, you can dive anywhere where there is water. You don’t even, necessarily, need to be in a coastal area. There is some great diving in cooler waters, inland lakes, rivers and caves. Many divers enjoy diving in Canada, exploring the wrecks of Scapa Flow, the other waters of Great Britain or the water around Vancouver, British Columbia, for example.

Possibly the most famous cold-water dive site is the Silfra Fissure in Iceland, an area with crystalline waters where two continents meet. The water comes from melted ice via nearby Langjokull Glacier, and the water temperature fluctuates between 36 and 39 F (2 to 4 C) during the year. Aside from the sheer novelty of the experience, the topography and visibility of greater than 325 feet (100 m) makes this a truly remarkable dive.

With the correct training in drysuit diving, low water temperatures or even living far from the ocean aren’t a barrier. There is always diving nearby. 

Diving is a male-dominated sport

The image of the macho male diver is something of an anachronism, a throwback to diving’s roots in the military and the days of Jacques Cousteau. While the 2017 statistics from PADI do show entry-level and continuing-education diving certifications have an approximate gender split of 37 percent female versus 63 percent male, the female ratio is increasing steadily with each passing year. Some of the greatest divers and dive instructors in the world are female. The sport has evolved over the decades; heroes of the sport are now the likes of legendary cave diver Jill Heinerth. A diver’s gender has become irrelevant to most modern divers.

Misinformation, misconceptions and diving myths needn’t be barriers to friends and family learning to dive. Help them overcome their fears with information and education and, usually, by the time they’ve completed their first try-dive, you’ll have a potential new dive buddy.

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Dive skills, like anything else, become rusty over time. Have you ever tried playing the musical instrument you mastered in high school after years of letting it collect dust in the closet? Or speaking a language that you were once fluent in after a long time of not speaking it?

We use some skills often, like mask clearing and buoyancy control. You may not have practiced other skills since your training — think navigation and emergency skills like alternative air-source use and performing a Controlled Emergency Swimming Ascent (CESA), or even assembling and disassembling your dive gear.

While people with more dives under their (weight) belts might need little time in the water to finely tune their skills, someone who has done less dives, such vacation divers who complete 20 dives in three years, will need more practice to remember their skills.

Keep in mind that no matter how long you’ve been a diver that if you’re not actively practicing your skills, you’re not staying on top of them. During your course you might have practiced them until it was ingrained in your muscle memory, but after some time of disuse, we tend to forget what we’ve learned.

Practice makes perfect

Dive, dive, dive. Getting into the water and diving is the best way to improve your skill and keep them fresh. Spending some time in the water with an experienced diver or — better yet — a dive professional, will help you not only practice the skills but also avoid picking up bad diving habits.

How do you know your skills are adequate and current? Ask yourself whether you and your buddy can perform all the skills for the dive that you are about to do. That includes everything from mask skills to navigation and emergency procedures.

Your dive skills are the key to making you a safer diver. Competence makes you more comfortable in the water, helps you avoid pre-dive anxiety and, ultimately, adds to your enjoyment of the sport. Keeping your skills up to date by practicing is the best way to ensure that you keep enjoying every dive experience. You may also want to consider a rescue course, even if you don’t intend to pursue diving professionally.

A final reminder: If you are not enjoying yourself, you are doing it wrong, even if you are just practicing some skills in the pool. Have fun with your skills training and diving will be more enjoyable all around.

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What are dive tables?

In 1908, Scottish scientist John Scott Haldane advanced his pioneering decompression theory. His calculations were initially formalized in the first-ever dive table — a decompression table for the British Admiralty. The dive table then, as now, demonstrated the relationship between depth, time and the absorption and release of gas under pressure from solution in the body.

Haldane’s calculations were just that — calculations. He based his findings on experiments with goats and his theory that the human body comprised of five theoretical tissue compartments. However, through the ongoing march of scientific progress, and the crucible of war, his calculations were refined to produce the U.S. Navy tables. Fledgling recreational scuba divers often used these tables to plan dives as the sport blossomed in the 1960s and 1970s.

With scuba’s exploding popularity in recent decades, training agencies recognized that divers came in all shapes, sizes, ages and genders. A table that was reasonably safe for a hyper-fit navy diver may not necessarily work for all. Thus, recreational dive tables were developed; the most famous is Dr. Raymond Roger’s ubiquitous blue and white DSAT/PADI dive table upon which millions of new divers learned their craft. The mathematics, however, traces its roots all the way back to Haldane’s work, which forms the backbone of modern computer algorithms that help keep divers safe.

The Computer Age

As computing technology developed on land, so it did in the water. Dive computers providing real-time readouts of depth, bottom time and nitrogen exposure that could be worn as part of a standard scuba set-up entered the recreational market. However — much like cell phones — dive computers were initially the preserve of the wealthy. Now, as technology has accelerated and prices have fallen, most divers wisely purchase, or at least rent, a computer every time they dive in open water.

Many recreational agencies have now gone as far as making dive table usage purely an option within open water training. Dive tables appear to be slipping into obscurity, but should they go quietly into the night? Or is there still a place for dive tables in modern scuba diving?

Drawbacks of dive tables vs. computers

When we consider whether dive tables are still relevant, here are a few of their drawbacks versus computers:

• Traditional dive tables facilitate dive planning on a ‘square profile.’ This means that when planning a dive to 60 feet (18 m), for example, the dive table calculates as if you have descended directly to 60 feet and stayed at that depth for the entire time, with the associated nitrogen exposure. This means that, particularly on deep or repetitive dives with air, the planned dive time is considerably shorter than the multilevel profiling of a diving computer would allow, provided the diver intends to remain within no-decompression limits.
• There is also the associated knock-on effect on a diver’s surface interval due to the increased calculated theoretical nitrogen exposure. The table doesn’t give you a shorter time at depth — it simply assumes you spend your whole bottom time at the maximum depth planned.
• This type of square profile leaves little room for flexibility in dive planning without having pre-planned multiple options on a slate. If you accidentally exceed your planned maximum depth, even if only for a short period of time, the table doesn’t facilitate simple contingency planning as easily as a computer.
• Tables provide only depth and time information. The remaining parts of the dive planning and management remain firmly in the hands of the individual diver. Computers, conversely, often present the diver with a whole host of information in real time that allows for decision making and contingencies.

Benefits of dive computers over tables

While more expensive than a table, a dive computer is relatively inexpensive these days and has several benefits over a dive table in many situations:

• Firstly, and perhaps most importantly, a computer calculates the diver’s precise profile in real time, sampling every few seconds. It provides up-to-the-minute data on the diver’s individual profile and theoretical nitrogen exposure. This allows the diver to effectively multi-level a dive and, while the allowable time at maximum depth will be very close to that of a table (on the first dive of the day), the computer’s live calculation allows the diver to buy back dive time by multi-leveling the dive. For example, a diver using a computer may begin the dive at 100 feet (30 m) and then, as the computer counts down to five minutes from no-decompression time, ascend to a shallower depth of 60 feet (18 m). The computer would then recalculate and offer the diver more allowable time, if gas consumption allows.
• The computer provides data at the diver’s fingertips during the dive. Many modern computers not only offer depth, time and exposure information, but also supply ascent rate information, safety stop information, emergency decompression information, gas consumption (if linked with a transmitter), surface interval and repetitive dive planning, and have a compass.
• Many dive computers allow gas switching so that, as your diving progresses into extended range, nitrox, or technical diving, the computer can change between different gas mixes mid-dive at the press of a button.
• Computers also monitor no-fly-time at the end of a dive trip, offering precise information to the minute based on the individual’s profile.
• Computers log dives automatically and, in some cases, offer Bluetooth connectivity, making logging dives a paperless process. Some computers may even upload your full dive profile, depths, ascent rates and water temperatures, allowing divers to analyze their dives in detail and drill down into the data to potentially improve technique.

Drawbacks of dive computers versus dive tables

So, if dive computers offer all the benefits and information listed above, why bother with tables at all? Many divers remark on not having picked up a dive table since certifying and, even if they did, wouldn’t remember how to use one. However, dive computers — despite their functionality and features — are not infallible.

• Dive computers, while based on Haldane’s original theory, often vary slightly from one another in design, user interface and in the individual algorithm and model that calculates dive times. This means a group of divers may have considerably different allowable profiles if using a different computer brand, model and algorithm. This can lead to confusion in the water at a dive’s deepest point where one or more diver’s computer is more conservative. If all divers plan the dive using the same dive table, there will be no confusion regarding turn points or which computer’s data triumphs.
• The reliability of dive computers has improved exponentially over the years. However, as with any piece of technology, dive computers can fail through either malfunction or battery life. If you’re mid-dive and your computer fails and you haven’t planned a contingency with a table, timing device and depth gauge or, alternately, a second back-up computer, your dive is over. And, unless your computer failed during the first few minutes before you descended to depth, you’ll prudently likely sit out the next dive, even if you managed to borrow another computer. The unknown nitrogen exposure of that part-dive means the readings you’d get if immediately returning to the water with another computer would be inaccurate. A table, despite its drawbacks, never has a malfunction or requires a new battery.
• Dive computers are convenient and easy to use but relying on them exclusively and turning your back on tables can leave divers with a gap in their knowledge. No-decompression time and the relationship between depth and time often seems an abstract concept to those divers who have solely used computers. As divers increase skills and experience, they may begin to move into mixed-gas or technical diving. Part of conducting technical dives or use gases such as trimix is the ability to execute depth and dive-time calculations based on dive tables and SAC rates. Working knowledge of basic air tables prepares divers for planning more challenging dives.

Becoming a lost art

Dive computers should never replace a diver’s brain. Use your computer as an additional layer of planning and safety alongside other means; not as a replacement for sound judgment, good planning and reasonable conservatism.

If you haven’t used your dive table in a while, take a look at it. Familiarize yourself with it. Even if you don’t use it regularly, knowing the theory behind its creation is important. One day it may even keep you from aborting or missing a dive.

The post Training Fundamentals: Are Dive Tables Obsolete? appeared first on Scuba Diver Life.

The advanced open water course is usually the second step. Comfortable that participants have mastery of foundational concepts, instructors begin to introduce an element of task loading. Participants will work on simultaneously maintaining buddy contact while performing navigation tasks for example, assess a wreck, make observations at depth, or learn to communicate at night.

Advanced open water often whets a diver’s appetite for further knowledge, and many subsequently move into specialist areas such as photography, wreck diving or deep diving. Having developed core skills and learned to cope with task loading, divers may then choose to move onto the third step: the rescue diver course.

Taking the next step to becoming a rescue diver

The rescue diver course is a crucial step in a diver’s skill development. For the first time in their diving education, rescue divers learn to look beyond themselves to consider the safety and well-being of other divers, which is why being a competent rescue diver is a prerequisite for all leadership-level training within the structure of most major diving agencies. Even if a diver never intends to pursue a professional diving career, the rescue diver course is still invaluable.

Challenging but also fun, the course, when conducted correctly, should push divers to reassess both their own abilities and give them a greater awareness of how to assess and interact with other divers. Many divers reflect later in their careers that the rescue diver course was their most rewarding training. The course expands the introductory problem prevention and accident management learned during open water courses. It takes key safety skills such as air-sharing, cramp removal and tired-diver tows and builds on those concepts, allowing divers to assist in more complicated diver emergencies.

How will I know when I’m ready to take the course?

Arriving as a candidate for a rescue diver course, you should be comfortable with all the skills that preceded it in your open water and advanced open water courses. Rescue candidates should be competent and confident in their own diving skin; each part of the rescue diver course draws on previously learned key skills. If there are any skills from your previous training you feel uncomfortable with, practice them before beginning the rescue diver course.

Necessary skills

Essential skills and attributes for potential rescue diver candidates include:

• Solid foundational compass use and natural navigation skills to enable safe conduct of search patterns.
• Good buoyancy control and spatial awareness for dealing with distressed divers and conducting unresponsive diver lifts.
• Excellent fitness to facilitate safe and speedy response to diver emergencies, together with the strength to exit an unresponsive diver from the water.
• The ability to be self-sufficient and comfortable in scuba equipment. Time is of the essence during a rescue scenario and the ability to be able to dress (and undress) yourself efficiently in the scuba equipment available at hand is essential.
• General comfort in the water. At rescue diver level you should not become flustered if your mask becomes dislodged and needs to be cleared or, alternatively, if a distressed diver knocks out your regulator and you need to recover it.

The minimum entry requirements for the course, within the PADI system of education, are 12 years old with the (Junior) Adventure Diver with Underwater Navigation Adventure Dive certification. If you’re not sure if you’re ready, speak with your instructor and ask their honest opinion. The course is both mentally and physically demanding and your instructors know your ability, the course curriculum, and what skills you’ll need.

What will I learn?

The PADI Rescue Diver course is presently the most popular, and is essentially split into three sections:

1. Knowledge developmentRescue Diver candidates must complete five knowledge development sections. Each section examines a different area of rescue knowledge, from recognizing stressed diver behaviors and how to address a potential incident before it happens, to assessing different types of pressure-related injuries and administering first aid.There is also a final exam which students must complete with a passing score.

   In addition, candidates must prepare an emergency assistance plan (EAP) that they could realistically use in a real-life scenario. The EAP should include guidance and instructions to steer rescue procedures at a dive site in the event of an emergency.

2. Rescue exercisesFollowing a self-rescue review, the instructor will introduce and demonstrate key rescue skills as appropriate. Divers then practice procedures until they are comfortable and meet the required performance requirements. Skills include:* Tired diver
   * Panicked diver
   * Response from shore, boat or dock (responsive diver)
   * Distressed diver underwater
   * Missing diver
   * Surfacing the unresponsive diver
   * Unresponsive diver at the surface
   * Exiting the unresponsive diver
   * First aid for pressure-related injuries and oxygen administration
   * Response from shore/boat to unresponsive diver at the surface

   Students repeat each skill until they achieve mastery. All rescue exercises take place in open water, although many instructors introduce skill-training initially in a pool where no visibility, current, waves or temperature issues may hinder learning.

For example, it is much easier to introduce and practice an unresponsive diver lift in the safe confines of a pool before moving into an open-water environment for assessment. Using a pool allows each candidate to clearly observe and repeat skills until they find a degree of comfort.

3. Rescue scenariosHaving learned and mastered all of the key rescue skills during part two, candidates must successfully respond to at least two rescue scenarios.Within the bounds of what is reasonable and safe in the course environment, the scenarios will be as realistic as possible.

   The scenarios are meant to allow the candidates to piece together all their newly acquired rescue-diver knowledge and respond to a scenario as if it is real, demonstrating their prowess. Instructor and divemaster guidance is minimal.

Helping yourself

If you’re seriously considering a rescue diver course, consider taking these various measures to prepare:

• Practice your in-water skills and hone them. Your own skills should be polished and instinctive before you can adequately care for an in-water victim.
• Complete the Emergency First Responder (EFR) primary and secondary care (CPR and First Aid) training. It is a rescue course requirement that you have completed satisfactory first aid and CPR training in the past 24 months prior to rescue diver certification. Undertaking the course (or taking an EFR refresher) will help you get into a rescue mindset and cultivate a methodical and measured approach to emergencies.
• Work on your fitness. Rescuing divers is physically demanding and the stronger and fitter you are, the better position you’ll be in to deal with emergency scenarios. You don’t need to be an Olympic athlete, but if you struggle to get your own fins on or become breathless on surface swims, spend some time improving your fitness before beginning your rescue training.
• Speak with people who have already taken the course. Understand the demands (and the fun) that goes with it. Listen to advice and tips from trusted sources.
• Prepare for the classroom sessions. The knowledge development is a step up from preceding courses. Take the time to read your training materials, complete your knowledge reviews or electronic learning well in advance and flag up any issues or difficulties with your instructor.

Benefits

The rescue diver course will change your perception of divers and diving. It allows successful candidates to gain new insight into diver behavior, diver issues, how to prevent them and how to address emergencies. This essential course, for some, subsequently acts as a springboard to professional levels, such as divemaster or instructor.

On a personal level, many report the Rescue Diver course provides them with an elevated awareness and empathy for their fellow divers; recognizing stress (and distress) in other divers and promoting a more pro-active and sympathetic view of their cohorts on the beach or boat.

If you dive with family and friends, the Rescue Diver course allows you to obtain new skills and knowledge that may help you help them in the event of a problem or, even better, nip a problem in the bud before it even occurs – allowing you a more confident and relaxed day’s diving.

The post Training Fundamentals: Becoming a Rescue Diver appeared first on Scuba Diver Life.

Risks for kids

The researchers found a number of anatomical and physiological characteristics that we should consider when it comes to certifying children.

The increased pressures we experience while diving can affect the respiratory system, and using compressed-air tanks increases the effort we must expend as we breathe large amounts of higher-density air. Both inhaling and exhaling becomes active instead of being autonomic. Children have smaller airways, which means they’re expending more effort when breathing compressed air. This could lead to slower gas exchange and put them at a higher risk of airway collapse. Children are also more prone to getting respiratory infections, which leads to higher risks of airway obstruction or trapped air during ascent.

Patent foramen ovale (PFO), or a hole in the heart that didn’t close properly after birth, also occurs more frequently in children. PFO can lead to nitrogen bubbles entering the circulation system. While there is little research available on PFO and child-divers, adults with PFO are at a higher risk of developing decompression illness. The researchers note that due to these increased risk factors, children should stay shallower than 33 feet (10 m) as micro-bubbles are unlikely to form in shallower depths.

The most common diving accidents in children involve their ears. Children’s eustachian tubes are narrower, shorter and more horizontal. They are also more prone to inner-ear infections. This could hinder proper equalizing.

Furthermore, the articular cartilage (the white tissue found between bones in your joints) in children could increase the risk of developing gas micro-embolisms. Although the researchers state that there is no researched evidence for this, they argue that higher metabolism and the forming of capillaries in these areas in children contributes to this increased risk.

Diving not only increases the body’s energy consumption, it also exposes divers’ bodies to higher amounts of heat loss. Children are especially vulnerable to this as they generally have a lower body-fat percentage than adults.

Most common types of accidents and their causes

According to Divers Alert Network (DAN), 3 percent of diving fatalities involve children. While most fatalities involve drowning and gas embolisms, other causes include children or adolescents who had not received training and participated in higher-risk dives like deeper dives in caves and wrecks. Fifty percent of child-related diving accidents involved children with asthma who also had a history of anxiety or ADHD, or children who made rapid ascents caused by panic or oxygen exhaustion. Other causes of accidents include loss of consciousness due to hypoxia (too little oxygen) due to a cessation of breathing while ascending, lunge over-expansion injuries, gas toxicity, otic (ear) and dental barotrauma, and decompression illness. It is important to note that decompression illness can occur on the very first dive, during shallow dives and even in swimming pools.

Recommendations for scuba diving in children

There are very few studies focusing specifically on children and scuba diving. Thus, many of the recommendations are based on experts’ opinions. Generally, any condition that could increase the risk of barotrauma, disorientation, anxiety, or the increase or development of co-morbid conditions should be assessed beforehand.

Medical conditions that should be considered include ear, nose and throat health, respiratory system health, PFO and epilepsy. While diabetes mellitus does not necessarily increase risks in diving, children should have it under adequate glycemic control and dive with someone familiar with the disease.

Researchers list the following medical conditions as absolute contraindications for diving in children: sinusitis, acute and chronic otitis media, acute tubal ventilation disorders, asthma (in those under 12) and diseases that involve the narrowing of airways.

From a psychological point of view, experts agree that the youngest age to start diving activities is 8 years old. Generally, children will have developed the ability to cooperate, concentrate, control themselves, have logical thoughts, take responsibility and exhibit risk awareness at this age. Parents should thoroughly consider whether their child is ready to dive before they proceed. Here are a few factors to consider:

• Children are more easily distracted than adults. This could lead them to increase their depth to see something interesting.
• Children can excite easily and are generally less aware of risks. This makes them less predictable, requiring more attentive supervision.
• Children are less able to react to novel and new situations and might find it difficult to handle a situation different from those their instructors describe.
• A psychological evaluation should be done at every training stage to ensure that the child is fit to dive.
• ADHD increases the risks of decompression illness and ear and sinus problems. It is advised that children with ADHD do not dive.
• The child should express a desire to dive, not just be fulfilling the wishes of their parents or friends.

Parents should also have dive equipment checked regularly to ensure that it is the correct size. Regulators should be light and flexible and kids should use lightweight tanks.

Appropriate dives for kids

Children should only participate in low-risk dives. Thus, they shouldn’t participate in night dives, cave dives, or wreck dives. Shorter dives are best in order to prevent hypothermia, and the recommended maximum depth is 33 feet (10 m). Children should also be accompanied by at least one, preferably two, experienced adult divers.

Is your child ready to dive?

It is important to individually assess the risk/benefit ratio.

• Does the child want to go diving, or do their parents or peers want them to?
• Does the child fulfil the medical requirements?
• Can the child swim at least 80 feet (25 m) without equipment?
• Can the child listen to and understand directions?
• Is the child capable of following rules?
• Can he or she identify and interpret fear?
• Is the child capable of interpreting hypothetical situations?
• Can the child react adequately when stressed, scared or frustrated?
• Can the child communicate problems, ask for help and offer help?
• Is the child responsible?

Children often make excellent divers, sometimes even better students than adults. It is important, however to ensure that your child is both medically and psychologically fit and ready to dive before introducing them to the sport.

The post Getting Your Child Certified: What You Need to Know appeared first on Scuba Diver Life.

Why would you take this course?

This course has been designed for all certified divers, so if you are already an open water diver (or equivalent) or above and aged 12 years old, you can enroll in this course.

This specialty goes over the problems created by marine debris in our environment, and the challenges it creates. During the course you will learn how to conduct a debris survey dive and how to report your data. This is a good way to contribute to a worldwide citizen-science program.

What is involved?

The course will take you through general information about the issue of marine debris in our environment. Subsequently, you will learn details on how to run a survey dive. The data collected on these dives is quite important for citizen science and helps Project AWARE compare different areas and analyze what types of debris are creating the worst issues in our environment. The course aims to teach divers a standard method of reporting that data.

You will receive a guide to marine debris, and you will learn how to use the Dive Against Debris data card to report your dive. All this material is freely available on the Project AWARE website.

Where can I take the course?

You can take it anywhere as, unfortunately, you’re likely to find marine debris on nearly every dive site. Some dive shops will have a specific dive site that is appropriate for underwater clean-ups, so the course offers a good way to not only learn about survey dives but also to go out and remove some trash from the ocean.

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What are shallow water blackouts?

A shallow water blackout is a loss of consciousness or ‘fainting’ underwater, caused by a lack of oxygen to the brain while breath-holding. Despite its name, such a blackout can occur at any depth, although most cases do happen in water shallower than 30 feet (9 m).

How do they occur?

Your body registers both the amount of oxygen and carbon dioxide (CO₂) in your blood. When the CO₂ in your blood reaches a certain level, you reach what is called the ‘breakpoint.’ At the breakpoint, breath-hold divers surface and take a breath. If you reach the breakpoint while still underwater, you experience an uncontrollable urge to breathe, causing you to inhale water.

Hyperventilating before doing breath-hold diving decreases the amount of CO₂ in the blood, meaning that while under pressure, a free diver may still have enough oxygen to sustain normal brain function without needing to breathe, due to lower levels of CO₂. By the time CO₂ levels reach the breaking point and the diver ascends, the drop in ambient pressure can lead to a decreased partial pressure of oxygen. The result is that the brain does not receive enough oxygen and the diver can black out.

Who is at most risk?

Generally speaking, anyone who participates in breath-hold diving or swimming is at risk. Free-divers, snorkelers, competitive swimmers and spear fishermen are more at risk of experiencing shallow water blackouts due to long breath-holding times and potential underwater exertion. While shallow water blackouts can happen to anyone, younger, more competitive men are also at higher risk.

How can you prevent them?

• The first and most important factor is education. The cause of death for many shallow water blackout victims is drowning. This means that there’s not enough awareness about the condition. Even competitive swimmers who have participated in the sport for decades are often unaware of the potential for blackouts, although they do know that hyperventilation and extended breath-holding can be dangerous.
• Avoid hyperventilation and exercise before or during breath-hold diving to help prevent shallow water blackouts.
• Don’t overweight yourself while breath-hold diving. Attempt neutral buoyancy at a depth of 15 feet (4.5 m).
• Ensure that your weight belt is quick-release and treat it — and any other equipment — as disposable. Let it go if you have to.
• Always train and dive with a buddy who is aware of shallow water blackouts, their signs, and how to treat them.
• Use a 2:1 recovery time with depths less than 60 feet (18 m) and 3:1 time with depth more than 60 feet or longer than 90 seconds. For example, if you dive to 60 feet or less, recover at the surface for two minutes after a 1-minute breath-hold dive.

Anyone involved in water sports faces the risk of shallow water blackouts. They are largely indiscriminate of age, gender and even fitness levels. The most important way to prevent one is through education, followed by avoiding hyperventilation and long or repetitive breath-hold dives.

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The researchers interviewed medical experts, dive professionals and expert divers (identified as divers with more than 1,000 dives) in order to find the likely causes of these incidents and found the following:

Possible causes of divers running out of air

Eighteen possible causes were listed for divers running out of air. The top five include failing to monitor the air gauge, inexperience, overexertion, inadequate training, and poor dive planning.

Possible causes of divers losing buoyancy control

Fourteen possible causes were listed for divers losing buoyancy control. The top five reasons include inexperience, failure to release air while ascending, poor skills or training, incorrect weighting, and panic, anxiety or stress.

Possible causes of divers making rapid ascents

Sixteen possible causes were listed for divers making rapid ascents. The top five causes include panic, anxiety or stress, failure to release air when ascending, inexperience, running out of air, and improper use of the BCD.

What does this tell us?

While some of the causes are situation-specific, in several cases the causes are the same. Factors like inexperience, inadequate or poor training and panic, anxiety or stress frequently contribute to these three main risk factors that could potentially lead to diving accidents.

The findings emphasize the need for divers to gain experience in a safe environment. While some divers take to diving like fish to water, others need more time and practice. Additional pool sessions and dives with a dive professional could greatly benefit these divers.

Skills training is equally important. With instant gratification being the norm today, we must change student divers’ attitude that merely paying for the course entitles them to a certification. Resort courses churn out divers in three to four days in between sipping cocktails and general vacationing. While this may be suitable for divers with a natural feel for diving, other novices might be overwhelmed by the information, leading to poor retention of both knowledge and skills. Again, additional training and time in the water would benefit these divers.

All divers can feel panic, anxiety and stress — regardless of their experience or skills — based on their frame of mind on any given day. While more experience and better training could lower the chances of a diver experiencing anxiety or panic it still does not eliminate the possibility completely. Read more here about the science of a panic here.

Running out of air, losing buoyancy control and rapid ascents are some of the main causes that lead to scuba diving incidents. While the environment and equipment failure are possible contributions to these situations, adequate training and experience could possibly lower the risk factors of divers entering into these types of situations.

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