Elevation after diving

[coder_underwater]

Hello there,

As they say plan your dive, dive your plan, but sometimes we do other things after diving

I am currently planning a trip to Bali. The plan looks like this roughly:

Day 1:
3 dives (deep diving training) so assumption is MOD 130 feet probably.

Day 2:
3 dives MOD about 60-80 feet assuming the last dive of the day ends at 5:00pm

Day 3:
bicycle tour in Jatiluwih (elevation is 700 meters or 2296.59 feet)

I checked the road to Jatiluwih and it seems it won't exceed that elevation on the way there.

I read you need 18 hours off gassing at the surface before flying but it's a little hazy on max altitude driving. 18 hours after the last dive would be 11:00AM the next morning. We plan to leave at 8:00 AM.

What is a "safe" altitude to ascend to after diving before reaching the 18 hour off gassing benchmark? Or is there any guidance on this?

Thanks

 

[DiveLikeAMuppet]

I believe there are some BSAC altitude tables, not sure if anyone ever validated them.

There is a DAN study where divers were either OK after significantly shorter periods (few hours) or kept bubbling on a plane even after 48 hours. That’s where the 18-24 hours recommendation stuck.

You get both extremes - people here agonizing about flying after 17 hours and 50 minutes when their computer shows a default 18 hours no-fly period after snorkelling in a bathtub… I also know of at least one technical diver who would happily dive to 70m at noon and fly the next morning after about 12 hours.

I believe the risk really depends on the way you dive, your fitness level and probably loads of other conditions like a hidden PFO. What you can influence is to manage your decompression stress. Ascending from 6 meters at one meter a minute and diving a conservative GFhigh does wonders for the post-dive fatigue.

You could also ask the dive shop to breathe O2 on the surface for a bit after your last dive to minimise the (unknown / difficult to measure) risk.

 

[tursiops]

Hello there,

As they say plan your dive, dive your plan, but sometimes we do other things after diving

I am currently planning a trip to Bali. The plan looks like this roughly:

Day 1:
3 dives (deep diving training) so assumption is MOD 130 feet probably.

Day 2:
3 dives MOD about 60-80 feet assuming the last dive of the day ends at 5:00pm

Day 3:
bicycle tour in Jatiluwih (elevation is 700 meters or 2296.59 feet)

I checked the road to Jatiluwih and it seems it won't exceed that elevation on the way there.

I read you need 18 hours off gassing at the surface before flying but it's a little hazy on max altitude driving. 18 hours after the last dive would be 11:00AM the next morning. We plan to leave at 8:00 AM.

What is a "safe" altitude to ascend to after diving before reaching the 18 hour off gassing benchmark? Or is there any guidance on this?

Thanks

US Navy Dive Manual Rev 7A Chapter 9 Table 9-7 for Pressure Group; Table 9-6 for Surface Interval before Ascent to Altitude. Even in Pressure Group Z, to ascend to 3000 feet only requires 9h13min wait time.

Info - US Navy Diving Manual, Revision 7A, 2018

Document Name: US Navy Diving Manual Revision 7 Change A, 30 April 2018 Author: Naval Sea Systems Command See the attached file: Filename: US Navy Diving Manual Rev7A 2018.pdf File Format: Adobe Acrobat Size: 11.5 MB Pages: 987 Click on the Share this thread icon to copy the link to this...

scubaboard.com

 

[coder_underwater]

US Navy Dive Manual Rev 7A Chapter 9 Table 9-7 for Pressure Group; Table 9-6 for Surface Interval before Ascent to Altitude. Even in Pressure Group Z, to ascend to 3000 feet only requires 9h13min wait time.

Info - US Navy Diving Manual, Revision 7A, 2018

Document Name: US Navy Diving Manual Revision 7 Change A, 30 April 2018 Author: Naval Sea Systems Command See the attached file: Filename: US Navy Diving Manual Rev7A 2018.pdf File Format: Adobe Acrobat Size: 11.5 MB Pages: 987 Click on the Share this thread icon to copy the link to this...

scubaboard.com

Thank you for this info. I would say if it’s good enough for the Navy it’s good enough for me. I think last time I did ascend the very next day to a similar altitude but I am doing my best to avoid getting bent

 

[Kendall Raine]

Thank you for this info. I would say if it’s good enough for the Navy it’s good enough for me. I think last time I did ascend the very next day to a similar altitude but I am doing my best to avoid getting bent

Avoiding bends is always a good idea. The Navy tables were tested with subjects going to altitude at aircraft climb rates (~2,000 FPM). Not driving. Besides, unless you go early you’re likely to encounter lots of Bali traffic making your driving ascent rate even slower. ;-).

 

[tursiops]

The Navy tables were tested with subjects going to altitude at aircraft climb rates (~2,000 FPM).

I can't find anything in the Manual that says that. How do you know?

 

[BabyLitigator]

FWIW, the Sepulveda Pass in LA is more than 1,000 feet and people routinely drive it after even somewhat aggressive Tec dives. There's just no other way to get to the San Fernando Valley from the boats.

 

[tursiops]

FWIW, the Sepulveda Pass in LA is more than 1,000 feet and people routinely drive it after even somewhat aggressive Tec dives. There's just no other way to get to the San Fernando Valley from the boats.

Unless you've been doing deco diving, 1000 ft is no big deal.

 

[grantmac]

It feels to me that there should be some way to use current SurfGF to calculate acceptable elevation? Since that is a real time view of nitrogen loading.
Unless I'm not thinking of this correctly.

 

[Scubagermany]

you will.be doing 24 meters max.on day two.and go to 700 meters min 14 hours later by bicycle. I would say you will.be pretty save from DCS....