A Free Ascent - the Last Resort? Part Il: Undercurrent 09/2025

A Free Ascent - the Last Resort? Part Il

some have found themselves forced to do it

from the September, 2025 issue of Undercurrent

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We asked you if you had ever made a free ascent or CESA.

Although many readers who responded said they'd never been taught to do a free-ascent, some said they were limited to the lung-expansion-risk-free simulated free-ascent, making a 30-foot horizontal swim in a pool while continually exhaling.

Many PADI instructors, including Bob Halem (San Jose, CA), were quick to tell us free ascent from 20-30 feet is always taught during the open-water part of the PADI Open Water Diver course, with manual inflation of the BC at the surface. (We are sorry we got that wrong and apologise for our error.)

PADI Course Director Patti Stewart (St.Croix, USVI) said, "In open water, we perform [such] an ascent with physical contact to the student while the instructor maintains contact with a taut ascent line."

Trained or not, some readers have needed to make a CESAs (controlled emergency swimming ascent while diving. While equipment failures can be a cause, we're surprised how many people searching for lobsters ran out of air.

Equipment Failure and Diver Errors

Nothing mechanical is entirely reliable, and your regulator is a prime example, as Jeff Janak (Dallas, TX) found out. While diving at Palancar in Cozumel recently, he was 55 feet down and descending when he heard a boom and discovered that his tank O-ring had blown. "I checked my air. It was 550 psi only two minutes into my dive."...

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