Driving to Elevation after diving question

[DesireeMcGunagle]

My bf and I have a fabulous trip to Maui in January where we will be doing a discovery shore dive in Kihei. I'm an advanced diver, he is not certified. My question is this....I was told by the agency we are diving through to be mindful of driving to elevation after our dive (we are staying in Haiku) which is at 1500 feet elevation. The recommended that anywhere over 1000 feet of elevation isn't "safe" and said that PADI suggests waiting 18 hours before going to elevation. She then quaintly added, "it's up to you what you do," as if to say, we would probably be ok. I need some real answers here. Obviously we would try to stay at a lower elevation as long as possible and make a day out of it, get dinner, go home later in the evening. Advice? Thanks!

 

[JohnN]

Some links you may find helpful: Altitude Exposure After Diving
What is Decompression: Flying after Diving — Medical Dive Article — DAN | Divers Alert Network

 

[iamrushman]

the real answer is yes it can happen with a drive to elevation....stay the day at the coast.....it happen to us on the big island driving to the volcano and we all had wrist and elbow discomfort and had to high tail it back to the coast.........also if your dive is shallow your SI time could be shorter than 18hrs.

 

[KevinNM]

I think they are overly conservative. I would suggest strongly against doing a bunch of deep dives then jumping in your car still wet and racing to altitude, but a several hours before ascending 1500 feet is pretty much what I and every other diver in Albuquerque does when diving at the nearest site. However, it's not me that will go in the chamber...

On the big island you ascend to 6,600 feet, not 1500 feet, if you drive over saddle road. It's a pretty big difference in risk.

 

[shurite7]

We deal with this in Glacier and Yellowstone National Park as well as other passes every summer. There are no particular studies pertaining to those who have to drive over mountain passes or from any elevation to a higher elevation. There are studies on flying after diving, which is why everyone refers to that when it comes to driving.

Here we use a general guideline of at least one hour of surface interval for every 1000 feet increase in elevation for a single dive within NDL; two hours for every 1000 feet increase in elevation if diving two dives within NDL. There is nothing empirical about this.

In your case going from sea level to 1500 feet isn't too much of an increase. Don't be in a rush to get back to your hotel room after the dives.

 

[KenGordon]

By my tables the worst surfacing code is a G. The transfer from level 1 to level 2 (which can start at 500m in worst case weather) can be done with only at worst a D. To get from a G to a D requires a 90 minute surface interval.

I don't know how deep and long a discovery shore dive for an unqualified diver can be but I suspect it will not result in a G. A G is from a dive up to the NDL or a deco dive.

So, I would do this drive after a couple of hours IF it is really only 1500ft.

 

[boulderjohn]

DAN's recommendation for flying or ascending to altitude assumes an elevation gain greater than 2,000 feet. At 1,500 feet, you are good to go immediately.

 

[diversteve]

The difference is that on the Big Island VNP is at 4000'. If you went over the Saddle Road thru Hilo you went even higher.

The OP is talking about a DSD which is probably not going to exceed 40-60' if she tags along. I don't think you can get much deeper shore diving the Maui coast w/o a scooter.

Of course I"m not recommending she do it but I have had dinner in Paia (Mama's Fish House) after 2 repetitive dives that morning. Nothing real deep though, definitely this side of 80'.

Have dinner along the coast b4 driving back. If you need a suggestion: Roys Hawaii | Roys Kaanapali - not inexpensive but always excellent.

the real answer is yes it can happen with a drive to elevation....stay the day at the coast.....it happen to us on the big island driving to the volcano and we all had wrist and elbow discomfort and had to high tail it to to coast.........also if your dive is shallow your SI time could be shorter than 18hrs.

 

[spoolin01]

You'll have to work pretty hard to find even 40' from shore in Kihei. Air at 1500 ft is less than 1psi lower than sea level. It just doesn't seem like there's much basis for concern. As well, for what little difference it makes, if you're living at 1500' and come down to dive, that further shades your baseline favorably.

 

[DesireeMcGunagle]

WOW I am overwhelmed by all the great advice you guys have! Thank you so much ! We are just doing two shallow shore dives. The first dive might be rather short depending on if he sucks up a lot of air. I imagine we will be at a depth of 30 to 40 feet. What I am gathering is that there might be a little bit a room for concern but that if We spend the day at the coast and make a day out of it most likely we will be fine. We are meeting the dive instructor early around 7 AM so we will have plenty of time to dive in the morning and stay the day at the beach. Thanks for your advice, I was about to cancel my Airbnb and pay for something twice as expensive in kihei.