Once we have qualified we all tend to dive headfirst (pun intended!) into the world of scuba diving, but sometimes we forget some of the basics…..

Scuba diving is a great hobby, its fun, gets you outdoors, you learn to appreciate nature in all its glory but it also has a serious side. Let’s face it, diving can be a high risk activity, we’re venturing into an environment we’re not naturally designed to survive in and because of this there are a number of key do’s and don’ts to remember. We all get taught these during our training, whether it be Open Water, Advanced or even more technical courses, but like many activities we enjoy and do often we get lazy, over familiar and forget some the basics. It’s a bit like driving in that respect, we pick up bad habits over time and get complacent. So, with time on our hands we thought we’d recap on some of the most important don’ts out there in the world of scuba diving.

1. Hold Your Breath

   This is Scuba Diving’s number 1 rule and for good reason as it is seriously dangerous. This is probably the first rule we are taught when doing open water certifications or doing a try dive, as holding your breath can lead to you ascending too quickly and that air then expanding and rupturing your lungs. However, as divers get more experienced they tend to want to conserve air or even hold their breath as a form of buoyancy control. The best way to conserve air is to ensure you are relaxed, feel at ease and have the correct weighting to help with buoyancy. That way you can adjust your position by breathing in and out, use less air and have a more enjoyable dive.

2. Skip Your Buddy Check

   The pre dive buddy check BWRAF (BCD, Weights, Releases, Air, Final Check) is a great way to ensure you have everything before you enter the water. I have lost count of the times I have seen someone attempt to backroll into the water missing a mask or fins out of eagerness, I have even seen experienced divemasters forget to open their air supply and sheepishly have to ask someone to open it for them at the surface. It also very important that your buddy knows where or how your weights are secured in case of an emergency in case of any unforeseen emergencies. It is tempting to skip this step as time passes and we become more and more (over) confident, however it is as applicable for divers with hundreds of dives as it is for those who are just starting out - it only takes a minute so why not ensure it is part of your pre-dive routine

3. Touch Corals & Marine Life

   It may seen obvious but we should never touch corals or marine life when we dive - we could damage fragile coral eco systems, scare and hurt marine life. Firstly lets start with corals - these animals are beautiful living ecosystems, but simply touching a coral can cause it to die as the oils from your skin can disturb the delicate mucous membranes that protect them from disease. Walking or standing on coral is also highly destructive and can kill off the living polyps that build the reef structure. Secondly, marine life, including some corals can be highly venomous and cause painful and potentially fatal reactions if touched. Some fish may look beautiful such as lionfish, but the spines in their fins pack a painful venomous sting, same goes for scorpionfish and stonefish to name but a few. Other animals, if not venomous can be stressed out but the experience such as turtles and may not come back to the spot causing future divers to miss out on seeing them

4. Put Your Mask on Your Forehead

   This one is a bit of a bugbear of mine, a lot of divers either at the beginning of the dive or at the end love to put their mask on their forehead and it is easy to loose it in this way. If you’re on the way out to your dive site its easy for your mask to get knocked and fall overboard thus ending your dive before you have even started. The best place for it is around your neck, that way you can’t lose it. Even at the end of a dive, once divers have surfaced it is not uncommon to see people put it on their forehead, again its easy to lose it in this manner, potentially ruining your next dive and can also mean that you get salt water in your eyes which can lead to stinging sensations and mean you are less alert to potential dangers such as boat traffic. Remember - most accidents happen at the surface!

5. Use Non Reef Safe Sunscreen

   This one may not get taught in scuba diving courses but it is essential if we want the beautiful coral reefs we see today to survive for future generations. Chemicals found in most common sunscreens when washed into the sea can have a catastrophic effect on corals, of particular concern is a chemical called oxybenzone which has been found to increase corals susceptibility to bleaching, damage coral DNA which in turn interferes with reproduction, can cause deformities and abnormal growth . It may seem trivial, but even in low doses oxybenzone can cause huge amounts of damage. The good news is there are a lot of so called reef safe sunscreens now available so we can all do our bit to protect and preserve the amazing underwater environment.

6. Dive Beyond Limits or Certification

   As an open water diver you can dive down to 18m, advanced to 30m and those with deep diver specialities can go to 40m - the limit of recreational diving. It is tempting to think what difference can a couple of meters make, if i just dive down to 20m instead of staying at 18m - what harm can it do? The first time you go to deeper depths than your current certification allows is with an instructor - if gas narcosis kicks in they’ll knock what to do and be able to assist yo. Also, the deeper you dive the lesser the margin for error and the better your skills need to be. If you shoot up to the surface from 18m without doing a safety stop then the chances are you’ll get away with it and no harm will occur, but try doing that from 25m or 30m and the risks of serious injury or illness rise considerably.

   Its not only about diving to depths, new environments such as strong currents, penetrating wrecks or even diving in colder temperatures all have their own set of risks of which divers need to be aware and know how to recover from.

7. Use Single Use Plastic

   Plastics are becoming a huge issue for the planet and especially the ocean, just walk along any beach after high tide and you’ll be greeted by an array of plastic waste. As divers we should always be responsible and try to help protect the marine environment. its very easy to add a reusable bottle to our packing list which we can refill and use during our trip - the more you do it, the more of a good habit it becomes. This is especially important when diving on a boat, with the boat moving quickly through the water it easy for empty bottles to get picked up by the wind and blown into the sea and causing more pollution.

8. Dive Without Insurance

   Dive insurance can seem like another hidden expense, and what’s the point if you follow all the guidelines and rules? Sure, we can all dive without insurance, very few dive centres will check or insist you have it to do and people often go on holiday without travel insurance too and nothing ever happens, right? But what about the one time something does happen, scuba diving is inherently dangerous, we’re entering an environment we’re not designed as humans to survive in for extended periods of time and when accidents do occur the costs associated with evacuating someone to a hyperbaric chamber can be eye wateringly huge. Its always worth making sure you have dive insurance, there are plenty of organisations who can provide coverage and it doesn’t really cost that much. Even if you have an existing travel insurance policy its always worth checking that it covers scuba diving and if not consider upgrading or contact an organising such as DAN who can provide coverage.

9. Put Weight Belts on Without Your BCD

   This is another one that really annoys me and is actually really unsafe. I often see divers get on to the boat and immediately put their weight belt on whilst the boat is moving and they’re not wearing any of their other equipment. What happens if the boat hits wave and the diver falls overboard? Without their BCD and air or other gear they’ll sink quickly and could end up panicking. I can never understand why dive centres don’t look out for this one more, besides it being unsafe it can’t be very comfortable having several kilograms on a belt around your waste on a bumpy boat ride!

   Whilst on the subject of weights another one one is divers who put weight belts on benches - these could easily slip and fall onto someones foot and break a bone. Always keep your weight belt on the floor and that way everyone should be safe..

10. Forget to Service Your Equipment

    Servicing your equipment can take time and be expensive and a lot of people forget to do it, or skip it to save money. However, you need to remember that scuba equipment is life support equipment and won’t function properly if not maintained. Always follow the manufacturers recommended service intervals whether for number of dives or time passed. Always remember to rinse your gear down after diving, especially for those of us who dive in salt water, this means o-rings and other materials will stay in good condition - really important for this with cameras in housings - a flooded housing is expensive to recover from!

Hopefully this article has not come across too preachy, its certainly not my intention to sit here and judge others. It also doesn’t mean that from time to time I have been guilty of ignoring or forgetting some of these simple rules - however I do try to remind myself to follow them and on the whole I manage to. I’d love to hear what you think and how many of these you follow and whether or not there are others you think should be here.