Over the years I have cautioned my students about trusting others for their safety.  This is a difficult issue because folks want to move forward and do more advanced dives, but how do you do this without going out of your comfort zone?

Traditionally the sport  has promoted SCUBA mentors, or diving with a more experienced buddy. The mistake that most new divers make is not asking questions, and not making a clear dive plan that factors in all the “what ifs?”.

The trust me dive is not just limited to extending your comfort zone, but also to believe/trust other, more experienced divers when they tell you that you don’t need a particular piece of equipment. As you grow with the sport, you will find that many divers start cutting corners as they get more and more comfortable. Make no mistake, these are the most dangerous dive buddies you can have! Just because nothing has ever happened to them, they assume that they can throw all rules of safety out.

Here is a scenario that I have seen way too often:

Someone has just started diving after their open water class. They know they have a depth limit, but their friend tells them not to worry…there are no “SCUBA Police”.  Blindly they get ready and follow their friend, with NO dive plan in place.

The newly certified diver is using rental equipment so the first thing that happens is that they can’t get down. No problem because their friend will help by pulling them down. Now they start noticing that they are getting deeper and deeper, almost to 100 feet, and they are wondering why such a big deal was made about this depth. They start to relax. Soon something gets their attention and they stop to check it out. As soon as they stop, they start rising up. They are able to adjust and only end up rising 10 or 15 feet. Now they look around and their friend is gone. The logical thought would be to go back down to the last place they were, back to 100 feet, but there is another problem. Their cylinder is almost empty and they have become buoyant. There is no way to stay at the bottom. They know a runaway ascent is bad, but they can’t stop it. Once at the surface they are so far away from the beach that they can’t see which way to get back.

Does this sound like a fun dive? I don’t think so!

I am not saying you shouldn’t dive with your friends, this sport is so much fun because you can share it with others. But you should always ask questions, not just assume that everything will be OK because you are diving with an experienced diver. Please note, this also applies to divemasters and instructors. Just because you are diving with an instructor you shouldn’t forget all the rules of safety. Make sure YOU are totally confortable with the dive plan.

If you want to go see the cool thing that everyone talks about at 100 feet, do it the smart way — take the class and get certified for that depth. Be a smart shopper, research you instructor and the class you are interested in taking, and you will have fun going to your next level.

Happy Diving!