You're finally packed for that dream dive vacation you've been planning all miserable winter. As you slip your C-card in your wallet, you wonder, "Gee, how long has it been since I last dived? Oh well. It'll all come back to me once I'm in the water. Besides, the dive outfit down there is safe and professional." Dive operators appreciate the vote of confidence, but the best hands to be in are your own. Unlike tennis or basketball, the consequences of a long layoff from diving can be more severe than a sore elbow or a lousy jump shot.
If you haven't been in the water for a while, you have two choices: get ready to dive before you board the plane, or waste precious vacation time retraining when you get there. Here's how to be prepared for diving so you don't waste one day or dollar of your hard-earned vacation:
Got your C-card?
Don't count on a dive operator letting you slide if you forget it. Any dive op worth his accident insurance will require verification. Not taking your C-card usually means an expensive overseas call to the certification agency and a delay of one to three days before you can dive. Quick solution: Clip a second C-card (advanced or specialty) to your passport or order a replacement open-water card. When you travel, it will too.
Study at home.
Dust off your open-water scuba manual and review the chapter summaries. If you're unsure about anything, read the chapter. Check with your local dive store for home-study materials like CD-ROMs or videos.
Review your medical condition.
Especially if you have been inactive during the winter, it's time to think about improving your cardiovascular fitness. Otherwise you could arrive at the resort or live-aboard and discover you can't make all the dives you planned to do. If you suspect any medical condition could affect your diving, or there's been a change in your condition since certification, see a doctor before traveling. Divers often mistakenly assume that because a resort is first-class, the medicine will be first-world, too. Not necessarily true. Divers Alert Network (919-684-2948) or your local dive store can refer you to a diving doctor in your area.
Get wet before you go.
Especially if you haven't dived in a year, put some scuba equipment on your back and go pool diving. Most dive stores offer some sort of refresher course. Leave yourself time to have equipment repaired or serviced, especially your regulator, computer and BC. Why spend a precious vacation day getting yourself and your equipment back up to speed when you've got months to do it back home?
Practice before you pack.
At the very least, practice mounting your BC and regulator on a tank before you put them in a bag. At the resort where I work, we've seen divers try to connect a low-pressure inflator hose to the tank valve (except for the big strong guys, they're rarely successful), as well as divers who put their reg on a tank backwards, scare everyone on the boat when they crank open the air with a loud hiss, then exclaim, "Something's wrong with my regulator!" Uh, yeah, it's on backwards.
Don't wait until it rains to buy an umbrella.
You wouldn't think of leaving your house or car unprotected. Why do it to yourself in a foreign country? Check your medical insurance to determine if you would be covered in a scuba diving accident, especially medical air evacuation and chamber treatments (you probably aren't). You can buy diver's insurance for less than the price of dinner on the town.
You'll be helping yourself and other divers: One of the main reasons hyperbaric chambers go out of business is the failure of recreational divers to pay their overseas medical bills. One Caribbean operator reports that up to 50 percent of all divers welsh on their chamber payments. We all pay for that in higher insurance rates and less access to appropriate overseas medical help.
The bottom line
You should be physically, mentally and emotionally prepared to dive. It's not enough to be certified. Only you can ensure you're qualified on all counts before a dive. Don't let anyone talk you into diving--including yourself--until you're sure you are.
