Those Dangerous Errors of Divers: Undercurrent 10/2025

Those Dangerous Errors of Divers

ignorance, panic, and poor foresight

from the October, 2025 issue of Undercurrent

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The British Sub-Aqua Club publishes an annual report on diving incidents, collecting data from its members and divers involved in the incidents, some of whom have had unfortunate consequences. Some of these offer real lessons for divers, so we have selected a few to share. While the reports spare the blushes of those who might have been foolhardy, the details are invaluable in keeping divers alert to unique incidents they will be wise to avoid.

How Self-Serving Divers Affect Others

Two divers, whose certifications did not allow for decompression diving, were on a week-long liveaboard trip. Before diving, they were reminded that they should not carry out dives with mandatory decompression stops. On their first dive, they returned to the dive boat having completed six minutes of decompression stops. They were reminded again by the trip leader about their training limits, but laughed it off.

The next day, they dived to 120 feet and, back at 30 feet, they deployed a DSMB (delayed deployment surface marker buoy) midwater (they had not been trained in this). When one became buoyant, he tried to swim back down unsuccessfully and was soon spotted on the surface. Back on board the charter vessel, the diver was observed by the skipper scratching his back, and upon inspection, it was found that he had a rash. The vessel returned to shore, and the diver was taken to a chamber.

Of course, not only did the diver exhibit bends symptoms and had to give up diving, but the selfish attitude of the two meant that the other divers on the trip lost valuable diving time. We've seen many cases over the years in which it takes hours to return a bent diver to shore, while other passengers lose as much as a full day of diving.

Listen to Your Body

Before boarding a liveaboard, a dive group stopped for an evening meal. One diver reported feeling bloated and did not enjoy eating, which was quite unusual for him. Another group member recalled hugging him and was surprised by how hard his belly felt....

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