Welcome to ScubaBoard, an online scuba diving forum community where you can join over 205,000 divers from around the world discussing all things related to Scuba Diving. To gain full access to ScubaBoard (and make this large box go away) you must register for a free account. As a registered member you will be able to:
Participate in over 500 dive topic forums and browse from over 5,500,000 posts.
Communicate privately with other divers from around the world.
Post your own photos or view from well over 100,000 user submitted images.
Gain access to our free classifieds marketplace to buy, sell and trade gear, travel and services.
Use the calendar to organize your events and enroll in other members' events.
All this and much more is available to you absolutely free when you register for an account, so sign up today!
If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact the ScubaBoard Support Team.
Fly a dive flag. Period. No excuses. No exceptions
Try Google. I searched on "South Carolina dive flag rules" and found a plethora of information and rules.
I always use a dive flag for safety reasons. Always, always, always. We have very fast boats in SC and occasionally one hits and kills a diver. In fact it happened not long ago. ALWAYS fly a dive flag. Always.
Below is a video I took of some back woods South Carolina boats getting ready to run the Cooper River. I took this video a few months ago immediately after finishing a few fossil dives. The location is only a mile from where a diver (with over 500 dives) was hit and killed a few years ago.
I get your meaning, my only worry is that since there's literally no one who ever dives in the local lake here, no one on the water is going to know what a dive flag is anyway. I'm really worried that the kids on jet skis are going to use it as a race marker or something.
Semper Fi, Cameron David Smith, my son, my hero. 11/9/1989 - 11/13/2010
"If you are unwilling to defend your right to your own lives, then you are merely like mice trying to argue with owls. You think their ways are wrong. They think you are dinner." -- Terry Goodkind in "Naked Empire"
When the pin is pulled, Mr. Grenade is not our friend.
I'm having a hard time finding any laws on dive flags in S.C. Can anyone point me in the right direction?
It's the Law: On the Water
Diver-Down Flags
Scuba divers or snorkelers should display a diver-down flag to mark their diving area.
Vessels must remain at least 50 feet away from the flag. If they have to approach the diving area, operators must have permission from the person who placed the flag or the boat displaying the flag. Diver-Down Flag - South Carolina Boating License Laws and Safety Guide
According to the South
Carolina Code of Laws, the South Carolina Boating and Safety Act of 1999,
current through the end of the 2003 Regular Session, SECTION 50-21-87:
(A) A person may not operate a vessel within fifty feet of another
vessel when a diver is displaying a diver down flag (red with a diagonal white
stripe) to mark the location of the diver. When the flag is being displayed in a
water body too narrow to allow passage of another vessel other than within fifty
feet, a vessel operator may proceed only past the displayed flag at a no-wake
speed and allowing as much clearance between his vessel and the displayed flag
as is safe and practical.
(B) A person may not engage in diving
activities within fifty feet of a vessel whose occupant is fishing.
(C)
A person does not violate this section if he fishes or displays a dive flag in
an area before another person subsequently engages in diving activities or
operates a vessel within fifty feet of a displayed dive flag.
Fly the flag. BTW, I've never heard of vis being better than a few feet in Lake Greenwood. Most of those folks come down to Clark Hill (AKA Lake Thurmond) or Jocassee for local diving. The Corps Rangers will write you a ticket (a pricey one at that) if you caught diving without a flag in Clark Hill (Lake Thurmond).
LinkBack URL
About LinkBacks
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by XxMerlinxX
).