Drive to lower elevation after dive

[oab2]

I have read that a gain in elevation after a dive is a problem (no-fly) but what about going from a high elevation to a lower one?

I was thinking about planning some diving at 9000' and then within a couple hours driving down to about 5000'. Would that cause any problems?

 

[Charlie99]

No problem at all even for an immediate descent.

You are going in the "right" direction, so it doesn't matter how far you descend or how quickly after the dive you descend.

Think about the extreme case of coming up from a dive, and then going back down and staying for an extended period of time in a habitat at 30'. No problem at all in going back down to even 2 times your surfacing pressure. (Of course, you have to be concerned with decompression when you finally surface, but that's the equivalent to driving back up to the 9,000' dive spot and you already know about those restrictions.)