Ask DAN: What Safety Concerns Arise with Specialty Scuba Diving?

My buddy wants to plan a trip to Truuk Lagoon to go wreck diving. We are both experienced divers, but we haven’t done much wreck diving. Is there anything we need to know before we go?

Diving offers the opportunity to explore many unique environments, utilize special equipment, and expand your horizons in new ways. Specialty diving, like wreck diving, comes with a unique set of hazards and requires specific equipment and training. Your personal limits will be dictated by your training and experience, but here are some important factors to consider for the most common types of specialty dives.

Wreck and Cavern Diving

Divers entering overhead environments need extensive training and specific equipment. Nonpenetration wreck and cavern diving can be performed by recreational divers, but they should seek training prior to their dives. Divers in environments like these should consider a redundant source of gas, like a pony bottle, and carry cutting devices to deal with possible entanglements from hazards like fishing line, wire or guide lines. Lights to illuminate your dive will make your experience safer and more enjoyable. For divers with appropriate experience and skill, dive reels are a useful tool to navigate a wreck in limited visibility, although these skills should be practiced in a safe environment first, due to the risk of entanglement. Careful dive planning and attentive monitoring of air consumption are particularly important for both wreck and cavern dives due to the possibility of a diver not being able to surface immediately because of an environmental hazard.

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Deep Diving

Deep dive sites frequently offer divers experiences that cannot be had at shallower sites, but they come with safety hazards related to the increased depth. Deeper wrecks are often better preserved from the damage of harsh storms, and deeper reefs can be larger or home to marine life not found in shallower locations. Deep diving requires an emphasis on buddy diving and planning. It should be noted that diving with air alone beneath a certain depth brings with it an unacceptable level of risk, and that diving deeper than 100 feet frequently gives very short no-decompression times, in addition to an increased gas supply. Dive plans should focus on dealing with a decreased no-decompression limit, and the increased air consumption that comes with both depth and possible stress that can accompany a deep dive. Narcosis can increase feelings of stress or anxiety and cloud a diver’s judgment. Unmanaged narcosis can cause panic or slow a diver’s response to an emergency situation, so divers should be aware of both the effects of narcosis and how to mitigate them. With the increased depth and decreased no-decompression limits also comes increase nitrogen loading, so deep divers should have a working knowledge of safe-ascent practices and always plan to make an appropriately timed ascent and safety stop. Diving deeper than allowed by recreational limits requires training in decompression diving and proper equipment.

Night Diving

Night diving is an excellent way to see the underwater world in a new way. Marine life is frequently more active at night, and some animals and behaviors can be observed only at night. The darkness of a night dive offers a fresh perspective on the rest of the marine world as well, and divers have the opportunity to experience bioluminescence and different views of sites that they might have already seen during the day. The risk of buddy separation when night diving is high, and divers should consider ways to make themselves visible to both their buddy and a boat crew or shore support. Common solutions for diver visibility are lights or glow sticks attached to a diver’s tank, and some divers set up an illuminated range, like a landing strip, to guide them back to shore or a boat. Be sure to bring a primary light so you can view your immediate environment, and at least one backup light between you and your buddy in case there is an equipment failure or one of you loses a light. It is always a good idea to familiarize yourself with the area before dark and include additional exit points or contingencies in your dive plan in case you get lost or cannot find your boat or entry point.

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Photography

The desire for divers to document their experiences, especially those who travel to remote or historical locations like Truuk, is nearly universal. However, photographers shoulder the burden of safely managing an often-bulky camera, strobes and any other lights or equipment they might need. Task loading is of concern during a night dive, and photographers run the risk of neglecting to check their air, losing their buddy or getting lost. Always remember to focus on the dive and your safety first — you can always come back for another picture.

For more information on safe diving practices, visit dan.org.