Scuba diving is an incredible adventure, but to enjoy it to the fullest and most safely, it’s crucial to follow some guidelines. Beyond just not holding your breath, there are fundamental diving instructions every diver must know and apply.
Before Your Dive: Crucial Preparation
1. Get Trained and Certified
This is, without a doubt, the most important instruction. Make sure you get your diving certification. An Open Water Diver course will give you the autonomy needed to explore the underwater world with an instructor or Dive Master. If you haven’t dived in a while, consider a refresher course.
2. Know and Respect Your Limits
It’s natural to want to push further and explore greater depths or longer dive times. That’s great! But always do so when you have the necessary skills and certifications. Specialty courses are your best allies for safely expanding your limits.
Important: Never dive if you are not in optimal health. Avoid diving if you have a cold, are dizzy, pregnant, have a fever, or are under the influence of alcohol, drugs, or tranquilizers. The night before a dive, prioritize rest, hydration, and proper nutrition.
3. Plan Your Dive, Dive Your Plan
You’ve likely heard this phrase many times, and it’s vital for your safety underwater.
- Pay attention to the briefing: If you’re diving with a guide, listen carefully to the information they provide.
- Personal planning: If not, define your dive time, maximum depth, and make sure you know your return route.
- Signals: If it’s your first time with a buddy, review signals. They can vary depending on your training.
- Constant monitoring: Once in the water, stick to your plan and check your gauges to avoid exceeding bottom time.
4. Check Your Gear (and Your Buddy’s)
Your SCUBA gear is your connection to the underwater world. Before each dive, thoroughly check your equipment and your buddy’s. A quick check can prevent major problems.
During the Dive: Golden Rules
Once underwater, these rules are fundamental to staying safe and enjoying yourself to the fullest.
1. Never Hold Your Breath
This is the number one rule! Pressure differences affect the air in your lungs. Breathing normally and continuously prevents lung overexpansion due to pressure changes.
Additionally, slow, deep, and continuous breathing will help you conserve air and precisely control your buoyancy.
2. Follow the Buddy System
Diving with a buddy is the safest way to dive. Your «dive buddy» is your support in emergency situations and your alternative air source.
Always keep your buddy in sight and within a maximum distance of 5 meters (16 feet), if visibility allows. If you lose them, search for 30 seconds; if you don’t find them, ascend.
3. Conserve Energy
Reduce movement, dive warm, and relax. Stress, strenuous physical exertion, and cold increase your energy consumption and, therefore, your air consumption. A relaxed diver is a safe diver.
4. Make Safe Ascents
The recommended ascent rate is 10 meters per minute (35 feet/minute). This allows your body to eliminate absorbed nitrogen, avoiding the need for decompression stops (in recreational diving).
Your dive computer will alert you if you ascend too fast. If you don’t have one, match the speed of the smallest bubbles. And don’t forget the safety stop you learned in your Open Water course.
5. Respect the Natural Environment
While this may seem like an ecological rule, respecting the marine environment is also a safety instruction. Avoiding touching marine life or damaging the environment protects you from potential injuries, allergies, or irritations. Plus, it makes you an eco-friendly diver.
After the Dive: Take Care of Your Body
The instructions don’t end when you exit the water. Your body needs time to adapt.
1. Avoid Demanding Physical Exertion
Your body has been subjected to different pressures and has absorbed nitrogen. Avoid intense activities like running, weightlifting, or hard workouts, as they can disrupt your internal gas balance.
2. Log Your Dive in Your Logbook
Keeping a record of your dives is fundamental. It allows you to monitor your progress as a diver, recall the details of your underwater experiences (depth, time, species sighted, equipment used), and, most importantly, helps you plan future dives more safely by knowing your diving history and accumulated surface times.
3. Wait at Least 24 Hours Before Flying
Waiting at least 24 hours before flying after diving is a vital safety rule. The pressure change in an airplane can affect your body after a dive, increasing the risk of problems. Giving your body time to adapt is crucial.