There seems to be an influx of accidental diving deaths in the media these past few weeks. An experienced instructor drowned in her own trainining pool, a renowned diver lost his life to the Andrea Doria in Massachusetts, as well as Ashley Mauldin, who’s family lost her on a dive trip in the Bahama’s. If you are a new diver or a seasoned veteran, you should never skip corners on safe diving practices. Below is an outline of common safe diving procedures. By all means, feel free to add your own, but our sport never allows for subtraction.

Dive Buddy

Always dive with a buddy. Enough said.

Physical Fitness

Though diving is not an olympic event, it still requires a great deal of physical prowess. If you are the typical male doing a beach dive you will most likely be carrying 65-70lbs of weight on your back. If you are diving with your wife or girlfriend then that weight jumps to over 100lbs (you are carrying her tank right?). Either way, make sure to always warm-up with a light jog, or just put on your wet-suit, and then a good stretch. If you have enough notice before the dive make sure you are doing at least 30 minutes of cardio each day prior to the dive. Not only will these techniques help get you to and from the beach dive safely and wearing a smile, it will also keep you happy underwater–> Cramps anyone?

Physical Health

For pete’s sake stop smoking! D.A.N. has researched the effects of smoking and diving, and it has shown that smoking does increase your risk of getting the bends. Smoking also decreases the effective lung size which means you are breathing harder and burning far more air than your cleaned lung buddy. Do yourself, the fish, and your mom a favor. Stop smoking.

If you know you have asthma or any other heart problems this may not necessarily preclude you from diving. Make sure to have a thorough, and honest, talk with your doctor before continuing diving. Many of these problems can be fixed, but you definitely do not want an asthma attack at 100 ft.

Equipment Care

Many dive accidents could have been prevented if the diver’s equipment was taken care of properly. This means to rinse your gear with fresh water and an odor absorbing agent like sink-the-stink after every dive! Annual service repairs for your regulator by the manufacturer is also recommended. They will typically replace all the o-rings and service any problems. This will keep you breathing happy for years. Always make sure to hang your BC and regulator after rinsing them. Your will not want your labrador puppy leaving a present for you in your BC pocket.

The last thing is to keep all your gear as far away from demon-sand as possible! Sand is the number one, sure-fire way to send you straight to no diving land, or even worse a dive emergency at depth. I have seen countless students with their wet-suit, BC (with tank), and regulator on sitting on a sand dune at the beach. On their right side, their regulator is completely coated with sand. On their left side, their computer has sand coming out of every hole possible. Don’t think that the sand won’t creep inside either. Sand has a way of going places water never thought possible.

Plan

The last, but certainly one of the most important, components to diving safe is to plan with your dive buddy (you do have one don’t you?). You always want to scope out the site together before putting on any gear, making a note of the wave cycle and height. Ask yourself, and your buddy, if it is a safe day to dive and if there are any apprehensions. After acknowledging that you will be diving, make sure you have close access to a phone in case of an emergency. Know the address and location of your dive site for emergency personnel. After putting on your equipment, check your buddies equipment while he checks yours. Look at his BC, do you know how to get it off in an emergency, can you locate all of the quick releases? Can you work his inflator hose? Do you know how to release his weights (weight belt… weight integrated?)? Does your buddy have an octopus? Is your buddies air turned on? Is your buddies pressure gauge working? Check everything!

Once you have done all of these steps make sure you and your dive buddy know at what pressure to start heading back, and at what pressure to start ascending. Once doing all this, keep an eye on your buddy during the dive and make sure that he is watching you too!

Have a Great Dive!

There seems to be an influx of accidental diving deaths in the media these past few weeks. An experienced instructor drowned in her own trainining pool, a renowned diver lost his life to the Andrea Doria in Massachusetts, as well as Ashley Mauldin, who’s family lost her on a dive trip in the Bahama’s. If you are a new diver or a seasoned veteran, you should never skip corners on safe diving practices. Below is an outline of common safe diving procedures. By all means, feel free to add your own, but our sport never allows for subtraction.