Decompression sickness: Driving from Hilo to Kona after diving?

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Would suggest, as others, a drive around the south side. It's scenic and, If interested, you would still have plenty of time to make stops to see the black or green sand beaches or even visit the Volcano's National Park, which is lower elevation than Mauna Loa and Muana Kea.
 
Couldn't you plan the dive as if it were a high altitude dive, even though you are at sea level? That way, you wouldn't have to worry about ascending to that particular altitude?
 
Couldn't you plan the dive as if it were a high altitude dive, even though you are at sea level? That way, you wouldn't have to worry about ascending to that particular altitude?
You can plan it as if it were a high altitude dive, but that does not mean you were at high altitude. What matters is what actually happened on a dive and what happened after it, not the way it was planned.

I run into this sort of thing frequently in my diving, and a thread I wrote on that might be of interest: Ascent To Altitude From Santa Rosa

While you are driving, you are off-gassing, and if you are doing a gradual ascent, especially if you are doing an increasing series of ascents, it is like doing decompression stops. In theory, you should be accelerating the rate at which you off-gas that way, and, also in theory, you should be safer because of it than if you just stayed at sea level for the same period of time.

In theory.

When I drove from Kona to Hilo and the volcano, I had that theory in mind. The drive around the north end of the island is very much like a series of decompression stops. You go up for what should be a safe amount of ascent, level off for a while, ascend again, level off for a while, etc.
Unfortunately, that theory has never been tested. I would love it if someone would take a bunch of divers on a drive like that, doing some doppler bubble imaging along the way, to see what happens.
 
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This chsrt is to be used with the NOAA Tables and Letter Groups
 
Years ago when we dove Kona, we were asked if we were planning to visit Hilo. I gather that a local diving instructor who lived in Hilo, but worked mostly in Kona ended up with a confirmed DCS hit due to the drive just a few weeks prior. Of course, that's a lot more diving than most visitors would do.
 
I think the southern route around to Kona via VNP goes to higher elevation than the northern route via Waimea. Check the altitudes to see what the elevation gains are. Stay safe and have a great trip.
 
Having dived a few times in Lake Tahoe, I waited a couple hours before driving back west over a 7,500 foot pass. I felt pretty crappy doing it. I'd suggest following the advice of the longer drive, lower pass, long lunch.
 
Hwy 19 through Waimea is 99.5 miles, 2700 feet elevation.
Saddle Road is 76.1 miles, 6,632 feet elevation.
Hwy 11 south is 123 miles, can't find elevation.
 

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