How to scuba dive safely: Know the dangers first

Some of the most fun and exciting human activities involve water, and if you think about it makes perfect sense. We are living on a planet that is covered with roughly 71% water, it would be such a waste to not make the most out of it. 

Scuba diving is one in that long list of water activities that could be enjoyed recreationally with your friends and family as well as professionally for scientific, military, and public safety purposes. 

Scuba, which actually stands for “Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus” is an amazing tool that allows divers to stay underwater for an extended period of time, giving them the capability to explore more freely and independently but just like any other water activity. While there are so many incredible benefits to scuba diving, it also comes with dangers of some degree. 

We will list down some of the most known risks and what you could do to prevent them.

Decompression Sickness

It is the most common out of all the dangers that are entailed with scuba diving, it is when you breathe compressed air while deep underwater, the tissues in your body will absorb extra nitrogen and once you resurfaced from the water and your body absorbed too much nitrogen while you were under, the reduced pressure could create bubbles in your tissues which then causes a lot of pain. DCS or “the bends” could cause nerve and other tissue damage or if not treated can even lead to death. 

This could easily be prevented, especially if you have undergone scuba diving training, most of the basic things that you need to know to be safe out there in open water will be covered in the basic scuba diving training. 

Pulmonary Embolism

It is when a diver increases the pressure of the underwater environment by quickly coming up to the surface which could cause too much gas in the lungs that might expand and even explode. 

Scuba divers monitor their pressure and carefully navigate from the surface to the depth and vice versa since it could cause accidents that are easily preventable if only you know how. Making sure that you ascend slowly to the surface will minimize the risk of a pulmonary embolism while scuba diving.

Nitrogen Narcosis

This is usually a concern for divers that go to deeper depths (around 25-30m), it is the risk of absorbing too much nitrogen. 

Nitrogen narcosis could make you feel like being drunk, disorientation, having poor judgment, and even having hallucinations which are not ideal when you are deep underwater and in need of your concentration to be intact. 

This is probably one of the many reasons why deep divers are required to undergo another set of extensive training if they want to dive deeper into parts of the ocean, it will ensure that they are mentally and physically equipped to perform the dive and make it our safe. 

Equipment Malfunction

Part of the beginner scuba diver training is the dos and don’ts of diving, the skills and knowledge to navigate the gears and equipment that you and the team will use to make sure that everything goes on smoothly. 

Nobody wants it but accidents really do happen and most of the time it happens when we least expect it. Scuba diving uses a lot of equipment and it works well, until it doesn’t, the best thing that we can do is be prepared and make sure that we know how to fix or workaround the damage. 

Marine Life Encounters

Most marine life creatures are not aggressive towards divers but rare incidents do exist and we should all keep in mind that we are in fact entering their natural habitat and that it is their space. Just keep in mind to be respectful and cautious towards corals, fishes, and any form of marine life that you will encounter during your dive. 

Summary

According to Ty Burnett, the CEO of In2Scuba Diving Maui Dive Co., a dive shop in Maui, Hawaii, all of these coils can easily be prevented if you have proper training & dedicated scuba couch, after all scuba is an amazing experience despite the risks that come with it. 

Our customers always mention the magical feeling to see what lies beneath the surface of our vast ocean, that part will never change, and the best way to get into scuba diving is to take a beginner class, or if you have done diving previously then it is recommended you take a refresher course before take the scuba diving to the next level become certified.