Advice Needed Urgently Please!

[Poolstok]

Hello All.

My wife and I qualified Feb 07 at Sodwana Bay, and that was the last time we were in the ocean. We have done one other fresh water dive, so my experience is quite limited.

I booked a long weekend at a popular resort at Sodwana for the easter weekend. I am planning to drive down on Friday Morning, do dices over sat and sun, and then drive back on Tuesday.

Here is the problem. Yesterday I started with a bit of a sinus, and this morning had some pre-cold symptoms. I got some Adco-Ibuprofen and Sinumax. My GP says to call her in the morning....I started the medication about 4 hours ago - well, one pill each, and my sinuses feels quite clear...

Is it worth the gamble driving down from JHB (a whole day's drive for people outside SA), or should this muti allow me to equalise....

I will lose R1000 if I cancel my booking now....

Speedy replies will be appreciated!

Thanx

Pools

 

[fisherdvm]

See if you can get a doctor's note, and fax it to them. Hopefullly you will lose less than R1000 (I don't know how much that is).

Tell them that you will dive with them, only if your symptoms permit. And pay one dive trip at a time. If they know you are making best attempt to spend money with them, perhaps they will be a little nicer on the pocket book.

A good dive instructor or DM will not advise you to push your limit. If it is a good dive shop, they will give you credit for future dives....

That is why I am reluctant to book any "dive vacations"..... Nothing ever goes well, weather, illness, etc.

 

[jimdiverman]

See if you can get a doctor's note, and fax it to them. Hopefullly you will lose less than R1000 (I don't know how much that is).

Tell them that you will dive with them, only if your symptoms permit. And pay one dive trip at a time. If they know you are making best attempt to spend money with them, perhaps they will be a little nicer on the pocket book.

A good dive instructor or DM will not advise you to push your limit. If it is a good dive shop, they will give you credit for future dives....

That is why I am reluctant to book any "dive vacations"..... Nothing ever goes well, weather, illness, etc.

I know this may not be of much help on this trip, but in the future, consider buying dive trip insurance to cover the cost of your trip. Whenever I plan trips like that, I always buy the insurance (more than 30 days prior to your departure) to protect myself any type of emergency that could come up at the last minute and ruin my diving vacation. You can usually find these places online, or you can also use DAN.

Good luck!

 

[Poolstok]

Thanx! R1000 ~ US$200....

Lets hope for the best then....

 

[Poolstok]

I did not know that one could do that! SOunds like an option.... Thanx!

 

[mudhole]

Hello All
Is it worth the gamble driving down from JHB (a whole day's drive for people outside SA), or should this muti allow me to equalise....
I will lose R1000 if I cancel my booking now....
Pools

Hay Fever or the Common Cold are the two most likely causes of your distress. The best advice is to stay in bed and drink lots of liquid. . . but HEY! I'm a diver, and when I get a chance to dive, I go.

However, I'll take medications before I get there. Once I get there I'll take a Sudafed in the morning when I get up, and if congested, I'll take a spray of Afrin before the dive. If these don't clear my sinuses or Eustacian tubes, I feel I've taken all the chances I'm willing to take, and abort the dive. Usually those two medicines work to clear my head for the diving. That's worked for over 30 years. Sorry, I don't know what names these medications might be in your country.

We all want to make every dive, but sometimes conditions in your body, and sometimes conditions at the dive site are not optimal. . . always be prepared to cancel a dive, even if you're on the boat suited up.

 

[b1draper]

Since you got certified in Feb of 2007 a refresher wouldn't be a bad idea. Even if the refresher is just you and a DM friend or an instructor in a pool. Also, drinking LOTS of water will help to thin out the snot/congestion.

 

[fisherdvm]

Since you got certified in Feb of 2007 a refresher wouldn't be a bad idea. Even if the refresher is just you and a DM friend or an instructor in a pool. Also, drinking LOTS of water will help to thin out the snot/congestion.

Good idea, even if it is in your hotel swimming pool at 6 ft depth. 10 ft depth would be a better test of your ability to equalize and clear your ears though. If you have access to a PADI book, go through the 20 skills with your wife in a pool would be a good idea, if a DM is not availabe. Suck the air down to 500 psi, or empty your tank to 500 psi with the purge button, and get your weight adjusted so you are floating at eye level below the surface with an empty BC. If you do your "refresher" by yourself or with your wife, just do it at 4 ft - for safety sake. Oh, I mean the first 14 skills, as the last 6 are not that important.

Not to say that I am recommending sudafed. If you are using sudafed, make sure that it is the ORIGINAL sudafed - pseudoephrine - the ones hidden behind the counter at the drug store, and that you have to ask for it. Not the replacement sudafed - which is not the same ingredient.

 

[Poolstok]

WELL, i am staying at home today and tomorrow, so hopefully it will clear up....

but if I do drive down, that's a R6000 + trip down the drain - maybe I can snorkel.....

I'll do the refresher in the pool at the hotel - not a bad idea - actually wanted to before now, but TIME!!!! Hectic!

We have Sudafed here - will grab some... they have warned us about sprays though...?

We did NAUI, so I am reading up it all again regarding the blockages etc....

Well, at least I can try, right? If I can't sumberge, then so be it....I'll snorkel and wotnot....

sigh....

Thanx for the feedback guys!

 

[paperdesk]

Sodwana bay!!!!! I'm so jealous! If you're feeling good, and the medications seem to be clearing you up well and for long enough to have a good buffer around your dive, than I personally would go for it. However, everyone is different, and it's so hard to say what may work for another person.

One consideration though is that in my experience Sodwana is not at all a beginner site. At least when we went there were large waves and it was VERY exciting just getting into the boat and to the dive site! In fact, the boat behind us flipped and dumped everyone and gear into the drink! Miraculously no one was injured.

The diving itself was great but with bad surge and strong current. I hate to even say it, but I do question if this is the best place to go if you're already compromised physically, and not having a lot of experience behind you. Perhaps the conditions are different this time of year?

If you do go I'd highly recomend you get dive insurance in the case something does go wrong. Dan is the best IMHO.

Post back how things go for you! Sodwana bay is one of my favorite places on earth, but SA has several of those on my list

Best wishes,

Ted