Of all the Frequently Asked Questions in Scuba Diving, queries regarding the proper time to fly after diving is one of the most common asked. The dilemma usually crops up, cos as divers we are always keen to squeeze in those few extra dives just before we have to make the most of our diving trips, after-all you just heard the other divers spot a manta ray at a particular dive site, what if it’s still around this afternoon? or you really wanted to have one last look at the amazing Electric Flame Scallop you’ve never even heard of before…whatever the reasons you’re wondering whether it’s reasonable to dive on the day of departure or the evening/night before an early flight.

The U.S. Navy tables recommend that you wait at least two hours before you board a plane after scuba diving; the U.S. Air Force says you should wait 24 hours; DAN recommends a 12-hour minimum surface interval before flying; PADI Flying After Diving guidelines say that you should not go to an altitude (fly) within 12 hours of completing a single dive or 18 hours when doing multiple dives (where possible wait 24 hours)….So which guideline should you follow?

Truth of the matter is that ascending to an altitude immediately after diving causes a significant risk for decompression sickness. Flying after diving, increases this risk because of the decreasing atmospheric pressure as we ascend. You might have only a few tiny bubbles, causing no problems at all, in your body when you reach the surface after a dive. If, however, you go flying, the small bubbles can expand (due to the reduction in pressure with altitude) and could cause the onset of DCS symptoms.

So what’s the minimum time you should give before flying after diving?
Unfortunately, there’s no straightforward correct answer to the question. It all boils down to the risk you are willing to take.

The current winner of the debate is a DAN guideline which states:
a. A minimum surface interval of 12 hours is required before ascent in a commercial aircraft (8000 foot (2438 m.) cabin).
b. Wait an extended surface interval beyond twelve hours (18 hours or more is suggested) after daily, multiple dives for several days or dives that required decompression stops.
c. The greater the diving the longer the duration (some sources say 24-48 hrs) recommended before flying.

The above is for sports diving and should not apply to commercial diving or nitrox diving. Because of the complex nature of DCS and because decompression schedules are based on unverifiable assumptions, there can never be a fixed flying after diving rule that can guarantee prevention of bends completely.

Whether you wait 12 hours or 24 hrs there are no guarantees that you won’t get decompression sickness when you fly. However, the longer your pre-flight surface interval time, the more nitrogen you expel from your system which minimizes the risk of decompression sickness. We recommend you use your judgment and consider some factors before making your decision like- The number of previous dives you’ve made on this dive trip, type of dives (decompression, non-decompression, altitude dives, nitrox etc), your general health and your age. The estimated DCS probability for the 12-hour flying-after-diving surface interval is about 1 percent. Of the 300,000 to 400,000 people who fly home 12 to 24 hours after their last dive, the estimated incidence of decompression sickness among these divers is about 0.004 percent, making the 12-24 hour rule the most followed among divers across the world.

*Photo Credits: photos by caribb, ianmyles, rsgranne on flickr

References:
Divers Alert Network

One of the most frequently asked question by divers starting out in underwater photography is what causes distorted and blurry pictures underwater? Most divers will end up taking hundreds of photographs on a dive trip only to find a handful of usable, clear, sharp photographs,  with the rest being  inexplicably fuzzy and blurry. Here are some useful tips on the causes of out-of-focus pictures underwater which may help point & shoot camera users to get their photographs in sharper focus.

Not enough light
One of the primary reasons for blurry pictures underwater is insufficient light. Poor light makes it difficult for your camera to focus on the subject; it additionally sets your camera to take photos at a slower shutter speed to allow more light to reach the sensor. The slower shutter speed plays havoc underwater when all of your subjects including yourself are moving, and you need to remain stiller than normal. This is the reason why most UW Photographers invest in a good external strobe, or a pair of external strobes to compensate for the loss of light. The inbuilt flashes on most point & shoot cameras are not powerful enough to illuminate subjects at a distance underwater properly, however if you don’t have external strobes, make sure your built in flash is set to forced fire or shoot in shallower waters.

Featured above the Sealife SL109 DC1000 Digital MAXX Camera, with the SL961 Digital Pro Flash available at Leisurepro.com

Suspended Water Particles
Often your camera’s autofocus is programmed to lock on to the closest subject it ‘sees’, and will lock on to floating particles or water debris, causing your camera to ‘hunt’ continuously for your subject.  Upon inspection of these photographs, if you see the white particles known as backscatter in focus but your intended subject blurry, you are facing a problem with backscatter. Using manual focus to correct this is not possible using a point and shoot, so one has to attempt to shoot subjects on contrasting backgrounds, get up close to your subject, or use an external strobe mounted on the side to illuminate your subject and not the particles.

Shutter Lag
Although most modern point and shoot cameras, have decent shutter lag times, often you’ll get a camera that has a significant delay from the time you depress the shutter till the time the picture is actually taken; this is known a shutter lag. Cameras with shutter lag require the diver to stay still for a moment longer after depressing the shutter release button. This is often hard to do when you are taking a picture of a moving fish, where you need to anticipate the position the fish will be in and press the button; additionally you will need to remain incredibly still otherwise you’ll end up ruining all your photographs.  Cameras with long shutter lags are no good for underwater photography, especially since everything is moving.

Camera Preset Mode
Several photographers don’t even realize that their camera’s have separate modes for Macro and Landscape photography. The Macro mode, which usually is indicated by a flower icon on most cameras, adjusts the cameras lens to take pictures with very little distance between the lens and the subject (refer to your camera manual to find out how much distance). If this mode is turned on, the camera may not take good landscapes, or distant pictures, as it is constantly hunting for a Macro subject that is nearest the lens.  The same applies for the landscape mode (indicated by a picture of a hill) which if turned on, attempts to focus at infinity or distant objects and not objects nearby. If the landscape mode of your camera is turned on and you are inches away from say a shrimp, you will probably get a blurry picture as your camera which should’ve been in Macro mode is busy trying to focus from infinity.

photos from flickr by Star5112, mrjorgen

One of the most frequently asked question by divers starting out in underwater photography is what causes distorted and blurry pictures underwater? Most divers will end up taking hundreds of photographs on a dive trip only to find a handful of usable, clear, sharp photographs,  with the rest being  inexplicably fuzzy and blurry. Here are some useful tips on the causes of out-of-focus pictures underwater PART 2 which may help point & shoot camera users to get their photographs in sharper focus.

Camera Zoom
When taking pictures underwater with a point and shoot, avoid using your cameras zoom as much as possible, and try getting closer to your subject instead at a wide angle (zoom fully retracted). The more you zoom, the more sensitive your camera is to movement, causing even the minutest of motions to result in blurry images. Imagine your zoom lens as looking through a telescope at a star, even a slight movement translates into a large shift, or shake.

Shutter speed is too slow
To get a correct exposure your camera could be selecting a shutter speed that is too slow to freeze the action or allow for a little camera movement resulting in blurry pictures. If you cannot manually select shutter speed, try shooting in shallower water where there is more light, or use a strobe to allow your camera to capture motion at a higher shutter speed. Bump up your ISO settings to compensate for the loss of light allowing you to take higher shutter speed snaps.

Lens fogged up.
Sometimes the reason you get blurry pictures is simply due to the lens getting fogged by the condensation inside the camera housing. If moisture is trapped inside the housing and you leave your camera in the hot sun on the dive boat, you are likely to have condensation build-up inside your housing. A silica desiccant packet should help to keep the moisture at bay. Also closing the camera in a dry, low humidity environment and keeping your camera out of direct sunlight may help prevent this. Often while underwater the heat from your flash, or strobes, causes some build-up of condensation; a silica gel packet may help reduce this effect.

Your Buoyancy
Often the simplest cause for blurry photographs is the diver not being able to remain still enough to take the shot. As funny as this may seem, so many divers take up underwater photography with lousy buoyancy control and complain that their camera equipment is no good. Good buoyancy control is key to underwater photography, and anyone taking pictures should have done enough dives to be very comfortable with controlling his/her buoyancy underwater.

Brace the camera correctly
To get steady shots underwater try holding the camera with your elbows pressed up against your chest and not at arm’s length. This gives the camera greater stability, as your body absorbs the shock and vibrations.

Gently depress the shutter release button
While pressing the shutter release button, do so smoothly in one swift motion so as to not cause the shifting of the camera. This takes practice. We suggest plenty of surface photography first to get familiar with the camera and depressing the shutter smoothly in a fluid motion without jarring the housing before taking it underwater.

Motion Blur
Sometime you get blurry shots simply because your subjects, namely fish, and yourself, the photographer, are constantly in motion causing motion blur. If you get your photographs with the subject blur but the background clear, then it’s usually caused by the movement of your subject , or a shutter speed not fast enough to freeze the action of the movement.  Shoot with high shutter speeds and practice on stationery subjects like coral first, then slow moving fish, or turtles, until you get the hang of it. A technique used to capture moving subjects known as ‘panning’ involves moving the camera with the movement of your subject as you depress the shutter and follow through once you are done. This technique is supposed to get you a clear subject but motion blur on the background.

* photos from flickr by: Quinn.anya , jurvetson , PhotopediaPhotos

A few questions that get asked a lot by divers are, what constitutes a good pre-dive breakfast? Is it okay to eat before you dive? Is having breakfast before a dive necessary? What kinds of surface interval snacks are beneficial? Today we attempt to answer some of these Scuba Diver Diet questions below.

Breakfast and Scuba Diving
Contrary to what many divers think, for a normal morning 2 tank dive, one should always have proper breakfast before their dives. Your body usually burns calories to stay warm underwater, and the exercise of swimming and diving require a large amount of energy In the form of calories. A good breakfast provides your body with the necessary source of fuel to expend while diving while preventing you from spending your dive shivering constantly.

What kind of breakfast should a scuba diver have before a day’s diving?
Try to eat something that will give you a long lasting energy supply. It is recommended that a light breakfast free from heavy fats, sugars and oils is best. A breakfast of cereal, fruit, yogurt, toast, muffins, bagels and even egg , will give you sufficient slow burning energy, your body needs to keep you warm during your dive. Try to restrict yourself to eat bland, non-greasy and non-acidic foods, trust me you don’t want heart burn underwater. Also be sure not to overeat, eat just enough to last until lunch.

A key recommendation for divers is to drink plenty of fluids in the morning. Tea, juices, and water are key to preventing dehydration on the boat or while diving. Avoid excessive orange Juice consumption as its acidic nature may make you sea sick. Consumption of too much coffee before a dive is also not recommended as caffeine acts as a diuretic which brings on dehydration. Dehydration can play a significant role in DCS so consume plenty of water before your dive or restrict yourself to decaf, or tea instead.

The saying about eating before you swim, giving you cramps is a myth. However try not to eat anything within 45 mins – 2 hrs before your dive, mainly to allow your system to digest before you set out on a boat to prevent yourself from being queasy and sea sick while on the rocking boat.   For those that get seasick easily, stay away from a heavy breakfast and try foods like ginger snaps, dry toast, cheese and crackers which usually help absorb the stomach acids, making you feel better.

Are Surface Interval Snacks Ok?
During your surface intervals, between dives, we recommend you snack on some high-carbohydrate foods, such as bananas, fruit, granola bars, energy bars, cereal bars, yogurt, cookies and biscuits to give you instant energy for your next dive. Ensure you also re-hydrate yourself between dives by drinking plenty of water or a sports drink.  Bananas are perhaps the most popular surface interval snack, although some boat captains don’t allow bananas onboard their boats, citing an old superstition that bananas bring bad luck to sailors. Try to avoid heavy starchy foods during your surface interval; your aim is to replenish your energy and fluids for your next dive after which you can eat whatever you like.

* Photo credits: photos by lepiaf.geo, sifu.Renka, happysnapper, Spanner Dan on flickr

Stubborn ears are among the top reason divers pull the plug on a dive. Sounds easy to do but we all have good and bad days and even the best of divers can have trouble popping their ears on a dive. But with a few of these tricks and advanced techniques, we hope that on a bad day you won’t have to end a dive because of ear woes.

Valsalva
The most common way to equalize taught to you before your first dive is known as the Valsalva maneuver. The Valsalva method teaches you to pinch your nose so that no air can pass through your nostrils, and then gently “blow” your nose. This action forces air into your inner ear space, equalizing the pressure within to the outside pressure often with an audible popping or clicking sound.

Toynbee
The Toynbee technique of clearing your ears is to simply pinch your nose and swallow at the same time. This tenses the muscles in the throat and soft palate to pull the tubes open, while your tongue compresses air against them.

Frenzel
Holding your nose, forcefully press your tongue against the back of your throat while making a “K” or “ng” sound. What this technique does is, contracts the throat muscles to open the tubes while compressing air against them with the tongue.

Voluntary tubal opening
Try yawning with your mouth closed by contracting the muscles in the back of the roof of your mouth and throat while pushing your jaw forward and down. Tensing and stretching the muscles pulls the eustachian tubes open.

Lowry
This method is a combination of Valsalva and Toynbee and a little tricky, especially with a regulator in your mouth. Pinch your nose and then blow against your closed nose while swallowing at the same time. It’s good way to ensure the tubes open up and stay open.

If your ears are particularly stubborn, while trying the equalizing methods tilt your head from side to side or look up towards the surface. It helps stretch the folds surrounding the eustachian tubes making it easier to open them.

Read our 10 Tips to Equalize Your Ears When Scuba Diving

*Photo Credits: photos by torbenator and Acid Zebra on flickr

One of the scariest things that can happen to a Scuba diver is an uncontrolled ascent either intentionally initiated in an emergency or by unintentionally often caused by faulty Scuba equipment. An uncontrolled ascent is also known as an  Emergency Ascent  which is always an unplanned ascent, where a diver aborts a dive due to equipment problems, out-of-air situation,  or injury to self, or another diver which are intentionally initiated emergency ascents or unintentionally initiated ascents (also known as a buoyant ascent) when a diver can loses buoyancy and quickly get into an uncontrolled ascent by loss of weights or by a malfunctioning BCD often a sticky inflator causing the diver to ascend.

Despite being a terrifying experience, as with everything in scuba diving, it is essential to remain calm and be prepared for such an eventuality.

The first and most important thing to do should you ever need to perform an emergency ascent is to try and control/slow your rate of ascent to prevent lung over expansion injuries and possible decompression sickness. An emergency ascent caused by malfunctioning BCD inflators stuck in the on-position or loss of a weight belt, is rather scary as they affect your ability to control your ascent rate. In such circumstances a diver should perform the flaring maneuver.

The greater the cross-sectional area of an object moving in a particular direction, the greater the resistance or drag is created to the movement of the object in that direction. In short Flaring is essentially creating the most drag which is the opposite of streamlining.  A Diver can slow down his ascent rate by arching his back, face-up towards the surface and extending his arms, legs and fins parallel to the surface in a spread-eagled manner (like a sky-diver but face up). If you are coming up face down, raise one elbow higher than the shoulder. This will produce an unequal buoyancy which will cause the BCD to roll you face up. This is called the Raised Elbow Technique. Also remember to continuously breathe out as you ascend to prevent lung over expansion injuries.

If you can quickly identify the cause of your ascent in time try to do so, by pulling on your BCD dump valves to ensure that all the air has escaped. Buoyancy compensator air dump valves allow air to escape faster than the low pressure inflator can fill the jacket and should stabilize the leak. If the low pressure inflator button is stuck in the on position, quickly disconnect the inflator hose and dump the air from the BCD by tugging on the air dump valves. However if you have lost your weight belt, your best option if you cannot fin downward to retrieve it or signal your buddy to control you, is to flare and prepare for an emergency ascent.

photos from flickr by: mike757 , Mister.Tee

In our previous post we stressed on one of the biggest risks of Scuba diving- Decompression Sickness (DCS) and the importance of every diver knowing all there is to ‘the Bends’ as it is also known. We covered What is Decompression Sickness in detail and What are the causes of DCS when scuba diving.  If you missed it you can read it here- Decompression Sickness: All About Scuba Diving & The Bends (Part-1).

Signs and Symptoms of Decompression Sickness

The symptoms of DCS normally appear anywhere from 15 minutes to 12 hours after diving. The symptoms may differ depending on the severity and where the bubble start forming. Mostly DCS can be classified medically into 4 types -

The Bends: In this type of Decompression Sickness bubbles form within the joints. 70% of all cases of DCS are reported to be of this type called DCS I. Symptoms include-

• A localized “deep” pain, tingle  or dull ache within the limbs or joints of the body such as elbows, shoulders, hip, wrists, knees or ankles.
• Movement of the limb or joint can aggravate the pain
• The pain may be reduced by bending the limb to a specific position

Skin Bends: In 10-15% of DCS cases bubbles form within the body’s upper tissue. Symptoms may be-

• Itchiness around the ears, face, neck, arms or upper torso
• A tingling sensation that can be described as insects crawling on the skin
• Mottled or marbled skin around shoulders, upper chest, abdomen with itching
• Swelling of the skin, accompanied by tiny scar-like skin depressions.

Neurological DCS: When bubbles form within the brain, spinal cord or nervous system it’s classified as DCS II. It accounts for approximately 10-15% of all cases of DCS.

• Headache
• Visual disturbances, spots in field of vision, double vision tunnel vision or blurry vision
• Confusion
• Memory loss/Amnesia
• Unexplainable extreme fatigue or behaviour change
• Seizures, dizziness, vertigo or nausea
• Vomiting
• Unconsciousness
• Abnormal sensations such as burning, tingling, stinging around lower chest / back
• Symptoms may work from feet up, bringing weakness in limbs / fatigue
• Abdominal / Chest pain
• Urinary or fecal incontinence
• General muscle weakness and twitching

The Chokes: Less than 2% of DCS cases come under this category. It is when bubbles form within the lungs causing sudden low blood pressure, slowing down of breathing and possibly shock. The symptoms are-

• Burning deep chest pain under the sternum
• Pain is aggravated by breathing
• Shortness of breath
• Dry constant cough

First Aid and Treatment for Decompression Sickness

Treating decompression sickness  quickly is very important. Diver’s Alert Network’s recommended first aid for DCS is:

• Request emergency medical attention
• Administer 100% oxygen to a breathing patient
• A breathing patient should lie down on their left side, a non-breathing patient should be laid on their back for CPR
• Transfer the patient to a recompression facility for medical attention
• The patients airway and circulation should be monitored until EMS arrives

Prevention and Avoiding Decompression Sickness

There are no dive tables or dive computers that can guarantee 100% a diver will not get DCS. But if a diver learns how to calculate dive time properly, stays within safe depth limits and ascends slowly from every dive while taking recommended decompression stops, they can lessen their chance of getting bent.

When planning multiple dives in a day, do your deepest dives first and then shallower dives. Always carry out a 5 minute safety stop, even on a no decompression dives to be on the safer side. Avoid flying 24 hours before or after diving.

ALWAYS plan your dive and dive your plan! Dive safe!

*Photo Credits: photos by utnapistim, Anglesey Divers, Boogies with Fish on flickr

One of the biggest risks of Scuba diving is Decompression Sickness (DCS), sometimes called ‘the Bends’, ‘Divers Disease’ or ‘Caisson Disease’. Knowing the facts and understanding all there is about decompression sickness is important for any person interested in the sport. While the basic decompression theory is covered in what you learn in an Open Water Diver certification course, we’re going to cover decompression sickness and its relation to scuba diving in detail right here.

What is Decompression Sickness?

Decompression sickness or ‘the bends’ is directly related to the Scuba Gas Laws- Henry’s Law in particular, which states that under pressure, a greater quantity of gas can be absorbed by a liquid. In a Scuba diver’s case this gas is the nitrogen that a diver breathes from the air filled in a scuba tank and the liquid absorbing it is his/her blood and body tissue.

Usually, nitrogen is expelled from a persons body during an exhale and through their skin. When breathing compressed air while diving, because of the ambient water pressure, the nitrogen is absorbed remains in the body’s fatty tissues and blood. The longer and deeper the dive, the more nitrogen is absorbed into the tissues. As long as the diver remains at pressure, the gas presents no problem. However, when the pressure around the diver decreases the nitrogen starts coming out of the tissues back into the blood stream. This is known as off gassing. If the pressure is reduced too quickly, the nitrogen starts forming bubbles in the tissues and bloodstream rather than being exhaled just like when you open a bottle or can of soda it releases the pressure causing the carbon dioxide gas to lose its solubility and escape in the form of bubbles or fizz.

The nitrogen bubbles that form in a persons body tissue can collect under the skin or within solid tissues inside the body causing severe pain as they collect near the joints. Bubbles that congregate within the joints are very painful and usually cause the person to bend over in pain which is why it’s called ‘the bends’. Sometimes however, the nitrogen bubbles can form in the bloodstream which restricts the flow of blood flow to the lungs causing sudden low blood pressure, slowing down of breathing and possibly shock. In extreme cases, nitrogen bubbles can form within the brain, spinal cord or nervous system column. This can result in paralysis and can even be fatal.

What Causes Decompression Sickness?

As we saw above, nitrogen bubbles start forming the body if pressure is reduced too quickly. When diving water pressure is reduces if a diver ascends too quickly. So, getting this nitrogen out of the tissues at the correct rate is a challenge divers face. When a diver ascends at the right rate and by stopping part of the way up, the pressure is released slowly and the gas diffuses from the tissues through micro-bubbles that can be exhaled safely. Another cause for decompression sickness is diving too long or too deep as more gas is absorbed into body tissue and in higher concentrations than normal.

Ascent to an altitude in the case of divers flying shortly after diving too can cause decompression illness as pressure in aircraft cabins is not actually maintained at sea-level pressure the change in pressure can cause bubbles to form in the body.

More about- Signs and Symptoms of Decompression Sickness, First Aid and Treatment for Decompression Sickness, Prevention and Avoiding Decompression Sickness in Decompression Sickness: All About Scuba Diving & The Bends (Part-2)

* Photo Credits: photos by ParaScubaSailor, chris5aw, ClifB on flickr

There’s always a fascination and illusion that Scuba diving means to dive deep. The belief doing rounds is that there’s better stuff to see, but this in fact is one of the most common mistakes of many new divers, as we’ve seen in Myth Buster: More Scuba Diving Misconceptions Dispelled.

Recreational Scuba divers breath compressed air and are limited by physical laws to a certain amount of time underwater at a certain depth. The standard rule of thumb however is the deeper you dive, the less time you can spend underwater. That leads us to one of the most common questions asked about diving: “How deep can you scuba dive?”.  While there’s no fixed answer to the question as you can potentially dive as deep as you like, there are consequences and risks of diving beyond certain depths with standard scuba diving equipment.

To put it in perspective, when you get your first certification to dive (Open Water Diver) the dept limit to dive is 60 feet (18 meters) whereas an Advanced Open Water diver is certified to dive to 100 feet (30 meters). Different Scuba certification agencies permit different depth after the various training levels are complete. However, PADI recommends that the absolute maximum depth for any recreational diver is 40m (130ft), while BSAC says a maximum depth of 50m (165ft) is ok with proper training.

Just because you can go a certain depth does certainly not mean it is safe to dive at to that depth. At depths between 30-60m, while not dangerous in itself, divers are likely to experience the intoxicating condition of nitrogen narcosis which can have a severe impact on a diver’s decision making, leading to stupid and sometimes dangerous actions. After a certain depth, at partial pressures greater than 1.44bar, the oxygen in a divers air supply becomes toxic, so going further or experiencing this toxicity for too long could prove fatal.

Due to increased pressure at greater depths the chances of decompression sickness are also increased. Diver’s are required to take longer decompression stops, to avoid the formation of gas bubbles in the body. By releasing the water pressure on the body slowly at the end of the dive and allowing gases trapped in the bloodstream to gradually break solution and leave the body, a diver minimizes their chances of getting ‘the bends’. Another concern when diving deep is air consumption. Under  water pressure the air in a diver’s tank too gets compressed further, providing fewer “breaths” which in turn runs out a lot quicker than if you were diving at a shallower depth. This means either carrying an additional small cylinder of air called a pony bottle or having a drop tank available is advisable.

In technical diving, 60 metres / 200 feet may be a “deep dive”. These divers use specialized pieces of scuba diving equipment or special gas mixtures other than normal atmospheric air to overcome depth issues like nitrogen narcosis, oxygen toxicity and the tremendous pressure. It is possible to technical divers to go deeper than 200m (700ft) with closed circuit rebreathers. This sort of ultra-deep diving requires extraordinarily high levels of training, experience, fitness and surface support in the form of decompression chambers.

FUN FACT: The Holy Grail of deep SCUBA diving was the 1,000 ft (300 m) mark, first achieved by John Bennett in 2001 and has only been achieved twice since. Only eight (or possibly nine) persons are known to have ever dived below a depth of 800 feet (240 m) on self contained breathing apparatus recreationally. That is fewer than the number of people who have walked on the surface of the moon!

*Photo credits: photos by Ilse Reijs en Jan-Noud Hutten, Dude Crush, star5112,  Rafael Robayna – ecocentrik.com on flickr

The simple and most commonly heard answer to this question is yes, it is true; you don’t have to be especially good at swimming to Scuba dive.

I’ve heard this said a little too often and surprisingly by some experienced Scuba Instructors which is a little worrying to say in the least especially when the statement isn’t backed up by a longer explanation. What is even more shocking is when you hear somebody say, “You don’t need to know how to swim to Scuba Dive, your BCD acts as a life vest”. The truth is that you need to be able to swim if you want to learn to Scuba dive, and not just one swimming lesson either,  to get by your certification requirements, but well enough to be able to save yourself should the worst occur. Certification agencies like NAUI and PADI require the diver to be able to swim at least 200m unaided to certify, and to be able to tread water (stay afloat) for at least 10 minutes and be comfortable in the water. This is the bare minimum requirement to be able to Scuba Dive.

So when an instructor tells you that you need to be especially good at swimming, it means that you may not need to be a champion swimmer, but for your own safety and to those around you, you should at least be able to comfortably swim back to a dive boat, stay afloat unaided while waiting for a dive boat to come pick you up, and be able to swim underwater without constantly bumping into your dive buddy or in to every coral outcrop. Knowing how to swim well will improve your confidence in the water, and will prevent you from panicking should you need to do a surface swim with a deflated Buoyancy Compensator.

What if on the way to your dive site you get knocked into the water when the dive boat hits a particularly rough wave? You would need to swim or tread water until the dive boat returned to pick you up. . Just one of the many reasons why knowing how to swim properly is necessary to learn Scuba Diving.

Knowing swimming techniques is especially useful when diving in currents, by being able to avoid objects when currents change or to simply find your way around underwater.  Learning how to streamline your movements underwater and minimize ineffective movements that consume energy and precious air, are all things that you can learn by being good at swimming. Divers who haven’t learnt how to propel the water around them using minimal hand and fin movements often end up stirring the sea bed, or have trouble controlling buoyancy and maneuvering underwater.

So if you spend that extra time in the pool fine tuning those swimming techniques, you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how much the spent will help you in your Scuba diving.

Photos by Camp ASCCA, Magnera, David Clow – Maryland