What is a bounce dive or better yet why?

[vtxkev]

So I understand what a bounce dive is so I think anyway. But the question is why. It doesnt seem like you would gain anything from it.

 

[seaducer]

A bounce dive is pretty much what it sounds like, you go down then head straight back up. Unless you are rescuing someone or going down to recover some expensive thing it really is a bad idea.

 

[Steve_Dives]

You may find people doing it on a wall with a deep bottom. For example, going down to 200 feet, turning, and returning directly to the surface. As seaducer said, really a bad idea. Gear malfunction, current, fishing line, narcosis, free flow, and other manner of things could turn it deadly very easily.

 

[W8less]

Out in the islands we used to use bounce dives extensively to check out the source of oil slicks on the lagoon surface. Could be an unchartered wreck, jettisoned oil drum or a truck somebody dumped overboard during the war. Bounce dives within reason can be a poor mans side scan. Located one wreck the "Phantom Maru" a small Japanese patrol boat this way.

 

[String]

So I understand what a bounce dive is so I think anyway. But the question is why. It doesnt seem like you would gain anything from it.

Common reason for a bounce dive. You have a target on the echo sounded quite deep, you send a diver down to check it out, he sees immediately its a rock and returns to the surface.

i.e. - it can be used for quickly checking/finding something on the bottom without spending ages there.


But more commonly its used for people determined to log a deep depth to show everyone how brave they are...

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Common reason for a bounce dive. You have a target on the echo sounded quite deep, you send a diver down to check it out, he sees immediately its a rock and returns to the surface.

i.e. - it can be used for quickly checking/finding something on the bottom without spending ages there.


But more commonly its used for people determined to log a deep depth to show everyone how brave they are...

Or how much common sense they don't have.

 

[gcbryan]

A bounce dive is when you do a deeper dive for reasons that other's may not understand or may misinterpret in many cases, such as "log a deep depth to show everyone how brave they are..."

They may have gone to a deeper depth to see what was there. Do we say that those who go down to look at a wreck and stay there a long time do so to "log a deep depth to show everyone how brave they are..."?

A bounce dive is a short dive or a dive where the deeper portion is of short duration. There are good and bad bounce dives just like any other kind of dive.

 

[mselenaous]

In addition to the above reasons: retriving lost items, anchoring issues, quick investigatory looksees, or macho bragging rights. Underwater hunters also sometimes do alot of "bounce diving". Essentially a long repetitive series of short dives with even shorter surface intervals, not necessarily deep dives. They may have yoyo dive profiles because they don't want to be dragging around alot of "bait" (very heavy catch bags or stringers which sometimes attrack predators and slows the diver down during his stealth hunting).

 

[FishOutUvH2O]

Actually. . .A "bounce" dive is the first tropical climate reef dive that one of those hardcore, eats nails, wipes their butt with sandpaper type divers makes. You know the ones. They swear it's not a "real dive" and you're not a "real diver" unless you wear a drysuit and dive in water so cold it would make an ice cube shiver, with near zero visibilty, surrounded by entanglement hazards, in the middle of some quarry or shipping channel.

It's called a "bounce" dive because the first time they see how vibrant, colorful, and full of life a body of water can really be, they forget to slow their descent and they "bounce" off of the reef.


Or, in recreational diving it could be a diver that goes to some depth and then immediately turns around and ascends to a shallower depth. Basically doing a "spike" profile. I forget which it is.

 

[emttim]

Actually. . .A "bounce" dive is the first tropical climate reef dive that one of those hardcore, eats nails, wipes their butt with sandpaper type divers makes. You know the ones. They swear it's not a "real dive" and you're not a "real diver" unless you wear a drysuit and dive in water so cold it would make an ice cube shiver, with near zero visibilty, surrounded by entanglement hazards, in the middle of some quarry or shipping channel.

It's called a "bounce" dive because the first time they see how vibrant, colorful, and full of life a body of water can really be, they forget to slow their descent and they "bounce" off of the reef.


Or, in recreational diving it could be a diver that goes to some depth and then immediately turns around and ascends to a shallower depth. Basically doing a "spike" profile. I forget which it is.

You're my hero.