Non-decompression dive then travel to city that is 1500 MASL

[chubbycortex]

Hi,

I'm planning to do a series of non-decompression dives on Sunday from 8am to 5pm. Then I plan to leave for an upland city by Bus (Baguio City, Philippines) at 1am on Monday. Travel time is 5 hours and the city is 1,500 meters above sea level. The ascent will start on the 3rd hour of the trip.

Is this safe? Or I should allow for a 24 hour margin before traveling?

And if the above non-deco dives are safe, will a decompression dive make it unsafe?



Just a newbie, advice will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Robert

[GrumpyOldGuy]

Its a difficult question to answer without planning the dives in detail. The only way I know of to get a definitive answer is to run your actual dive plan with the NOAA tables http://www.ndc.noaa.gov/forms/New_NO...ables_2008.pdf then you can use the NOAA Ascent To Altitude after diving table located here http://www.ndc.noaa.gov/pdfs/AscentToAltitudeTable.pdf

I would be concerned ascending 3-4 hours after diving and would want to know what my safety margin is. If in doubt or if you don't have the information needed to plan the dives, wait at least 18-24 hours.

[Superlyte27]

No issue whatsoever. I have a buddy that cave dives all day with me on Sunday, then teaches helicopter pilot lessons monday morning below 8000'. It's never been a problem.

[Dr Deco]

Hello cubbycortex:

As mentioned, you would need to consult the NOAA tables to determine if your dives and later ascent are OK. Checking never hurts.

Superlyte27’s answer indicates that one person at least can make dives and then ascents. If they are not OK by the NOAA table, I would be suspicious. Some divers are simply more resistant than others. However, the cave dives might be quite shallow.

Dr Deco