Many times, newly certified divers turn out to be the best divers, and the so called “experienced” divers are the ones you need to worry about. New divers listen, are willing to learn, and make every effort to follow the rules. Many times, experienced divers do just the opposite, and have lapsed into bad diving habits over the years, which can drive a dive guide slowly insane. Scuba Gods feels it’s time to set the record straight, while we still have our sanity intact. We publish the following list of diver “do’s” and “dont’s”, in the hopes that somewhere, somehow, someway, someone will finally start getting a clue.

Don’t Show Up With Dive Gear That Doesn’t Work

If we had a nickel for every time we’ve heard this:

• “It’s brand new”

• “I just had it serviced”

• “It worked in the store”

The bottom line: When you show up with dive gear that doesn’t work, your problem now becomes our problem. If you have any doubts, travel light and use the rental gear, which is included in the dive price. And, quite honestly, based on some of the personal dive gear we’ve seen over the years, the rental gear will be an instant upgrade in quality for 95% of you.

Always Listen To The Dive Briefing

Talking and / or messing with your gear during the dive briefing, will score you zero points with your dive guide. Since a thorough dive briefing contains all the essential information you will need for your dive, it’s kind of important to listen, don’t you think?

The bottom line: Always listen to the dive briefing, even if you’ve heard it 100 times before.

Follow Directions On The Surface

If you listened to the dive briefing, you would now know how to:

• Properly enter the water (Note: On a boat dive, the term “Giant Stride” means exactly that: A long, big step into the water, not a face first depth charge, or a jump straight up and straight down, which will only give you a headache when you hit the back of your head on the boat)

• Properly decend (Note: This normally means decending as a dive group, not as an individual, unless surface conditions warrant it)

The bottom line: Believe it or not, statistics show that most diving related problems occur on the surface, not underwater. Don’t become the next statistic.

Follow Directions Underwater

If you listened to the dive briefing, you would now know how to:

• Properly follow your dive guide (Note: This means staying in visual range at all times, never swimming out in front of the dive guide, and never getting deeper than the dive guide or dive depth profile)

• Properly conduct yourself on the reef (Note: This means not touching the reef for any reason, and interacting with marine life only with the dive guides permission)

• Properly check your air (Note: Flashing an “OK” sign to a dive guide communicates zero information about how much air you have left in your tank)

• Properly ascend with safety stop upon reaching the predetermined PSI level, or if the dive time has expired (Note: Always communicate with the dive guide your desire to ascend. Leaving the dive group unannounced will mark you for life. Also, dives are timed for 2 reasons. Number 1: To avoid Decompression Sickness (The goal of a recreational scuba diver is not to go down, use up all the air in the tank, and then surface) Number 2: Scuba diving is a business that runs on a schedule like any other business. When the dive guide says the dive is over, the dive is over, and you must ascend)

Follow Directions To Exit The Water

If you listened to the dive briefing, you would now know how to:

• Properly exit the water (Note: On a boat dive, do not remove your fins until you have contact with the boat, unless you want to see Tahiti the hard way....By floating there)