Diveco says fine for me to fly 4-ish hours after a dive

[drbill]

This old geezer would find another diveco to dive with and wait a longer period before flying. However, I'm pretty conservative about some things (except my politics). Those of you with greater youth on your side may weather it well. Of course I would ensure I was pretty hydrated and not drinking alcohol during that period.

 

[bleeb]

For whatever it's worth, since no one else has explicitly mentioned them, the conservative limits that were alluded to and that form the minimums that most agencies subscribe to are for 12 hours after a single dive and 18 hours after multiple dives to recreational depths, assuming no issues or symptoms. (2002 Flying After Diving Workshop)

Compared to this, 4 hours sounds a little short. Even at 10 m, after a one hour dive, some parts of your body will have absorbed a significant amount of nitrogen and four times that will still leave you with some of that.

 

[gcbryan]

If you want to be 100% safe limit the dive to 20 fsw and do the entire dive using 100% O2 and you won't absorb any nitrogen. Problem solved.

 

[dhuskins]

If you want to be 100% safe limit the dive to 20 fsw and do the entire dive using 100% O2 and you won't absorb any nitrogen. Problem solved.

. . .or dive up to 30 fsw on Nitrox 40 and suck down a couple bottles of 100% O2 on the surface for two hours after the dive. That way you can see more, not exceed your enriched air certification and have a fun dive.

Personally, the cost of all this for one shallow dive is not worth it to me. If I have to get up before the crack of dawn to fly out to a location for only one dive, and then rush back in to deal with an airport a couple hours later... No thanks. I would rather return some other day when I can get several dives in and take my time to enjoy them.

 

[Damselfish]

Never mind the dive/fly question, I wouldn't be keen on the rushing around and worrying about making my flight. (Especially for just one dive, and especially if I wasn't renting and had to deal with packing up my wet gear.)

So out of curiosity, where does this leave from and where exactly do they go to dive? Diving is not the same everywhere on the GBR, some areas are much better than others and they may not be flying out to the best areas. I'm guessing they go out to one of the platforms which is not worth it. If you're going there may as well take a boat out and at least get in more dives for less money and probably do it whenever you want.

 

[GrandpaScuba]

I was all ready to jump in with the nay-sayers and tell you it was a bad idea. But then I decided to actually look at the tables...

If you dive to 30ft for 60 minutes, you would be a D diver at the end of the dive. At the end of 4 hours, you'd be a B diver. Let's say that, since it's shallow, that you really make your tank last and stay for 90 minutes. At the end of the dive you'd be an F diver. After 4 hours of SI, you'd still be back as a B diver.

If you slip just a little below 30 feet, say to 35 feet, then after the 60 min dive and a 4hr SI, you'd still be a B diver. But, the 90min dive with a 4 hour SI leaves you a C diver.

A 6 to 8 hour surface interval before flying would be better and a 12 hour wait would be best. It is possible that they may be right. It's a risk that you'll have to decide for yourself if you want to take it. My recommendation is to wait 12 hours. But it's your decision. (these numbers are based on the Doppler No Decompression Tables)

 

[Blackwood]

They are insisting that since the dives are super shallow at only 10 metres, if I do only 1 dive I'll be fine for the 2 p.m. flight the same day. I'm not a very experienced diver, but his sounds very odd to me. Am I missing something?

Doesn't seem odd to me.

Place your Risk (getting bent) versus your Reward (diving) and make a decision.

Disclaimer, the following is not a suggestion: Personally, I'd do the dives. Yes, I could run into trouble if there were a loss of cabin pressure, but like anything it's a statistics game, and what are the chances? Slim-ish.

 

[Rainer]

If the plane violently decompresses at 30,000+', who isn't getting bent?

I'd also do the dives. If I can take O2, I would.

Doesn't seem odd to me.

Place your Risk (getting bent) versus your Reward (diving) and make a decision.

Disclaimer, the following is not a suggestion: Personally, I'd do the dives. Yes, I could run into trouble if there were a loss of cabin pressure, but like anything it's a statistics game, and what are the chances? Slim-ish.

 

[Teamcasa]

This is my first post after some time lurking.

I'm planning a trip to Queensland, Australia soon, and am trying to organize a daytrip out to the Great Barrier Reef by helicopter for a dive or two. The trip goes at first light, and returns at about 11:30 a.m.. The diveco only has availability on the day I leave Queensland (my flight out of Queensland is at about 2:00 p.m.). They are insisting that since the dives are super shallow at only 10 metres, if I do only 1 dive I'll be fine for the 2 p.m. flight the same day. I'm not a very experienced diver, but his sounds very odd to me. Am I missing something?

Yes. Your schedule is too tight to enjoy yourself. Find a different dive shop to take you on the day you can dive and give you a proper surface interval before rushing around tying to make your flight.

 

[Blackwood]

If the plane violently decompresses at 30,000+', who isn't getting bent?

Exactly. There's a reason that Oxygen masks are provided rather than Air.