Is the surface the most dangerous part of the dive?

[Celt]

I tend to think you also might stand a better chance of being rescued if you are on the surface.

The only serious surface incident I ever read about which really scared me was with Kirsty Maccoll. Absolutely insane stuff. Kirsty MacColl - Wikipedia

Use a marker or surface buoy. Stop 10 feet under and listen for traffic. You just have to ask, how many have been killed or injured under the water scuba diving. With any scuba incident, if the surface is available, that’s the place to be. It’s always better to blow the deco than to drown doing it.

 

[Rae HalfTheHill]

Complete and utter garbage, for a property weighted scuba diver the surface is where you’re the safest. You can’t get decompression sickness if you stay on the surface, you can’t drown if you stay on the surface, you can’t hit yourself with a boat some other clown has to do it. YouTube crap.
Edit: This stuff must be made for people who have no experience of going outside their own houses.

I invite you to come work on a boat in South Florida for a week... you'd be surprised at the skill and fitness level of some of the diving customers we get

 

[Rae HalfTheHill]

How on earth does a diver sink back down after surfacing, especially after a dive with a spent tank?

Well (if properly weighted to begin with), that diver would be ending their dive with an empty BCD. Also if properly weighted (by my training agency standards) they ideally would float at eye level while holding their breath on the exhale. So while a properly weighted diver might not sink, they aren't exactly positively buoyant enough to get completely over waves. Add to that a removed mask and regulator, and the illusion of sinking becomes very real to the diver who has not established positive buoyancy.

 

[PR_SMITH]

Wouldn’t that mean they are grossly overweighted?

The failing to establish positive buoyancy is often simply not adding air to the BC or wing. They spend their energy kicking and finning instead. Many times I shout “fill your BC, relax and stop wearing yourself out”.

 

[Celt]

I invite you to come work on a boat in South Florida for a week... you'd be surprised at the skill and fitness level of some of the diving customers we get

There’s millions of men, women and children going to sea every day.Sailing , fishing, swimming and using boarding ladders managing not to drown themselves. Surely divers are as capable as them on the surface. The video is simply drama that really should have included a warning to adults that it was made for children.

 

[Lorenzoid]

There’s millions of men, women and children going to sea every day.Sailing , fishing, swimming and using boarding ladders managing not to drown themselves. Surely divers are as capable as them on the surface.

You sure give divers a lot of credit. It takes what, four days to get scuba certified? My basic sailing course was I don't know how many weekends. Same for my swimming course. I only really learned to swim before taking more advanced scuba training. I'm rambling, but my point is that I have never been a natural in or around the water, and it's not a requirement to be all that comfortable in the water to get scuba certified.

 

[IrishLoaf]

Use a marker or surface buoy. Stop 10 feet under and listen for traffic. You just have to ask, how many have been killed or injured under the water scuba diving. With any scuba incident, if the surface is available, that’s the place to be. It’s always better to blow the deco than to drown doing it.

What happened to Kirsty MacCool is that a boat drove through a restricted area they surfaced in.

There is an interview with the divemaster online.

 

[Celt]

You sure give divers a lot of credit. It takes what, four days to get scuba certified? My basic sailing course was I don't know how many weekends. Same for my swimming course. I only really learned to swim before taking more advanced scuba training. I'm rambling, but my point is that I have never been a natural in or around the water, and it's not a requirement to be all that comfortable in the water to get scuba certified.

Surely someone who is uncomfortable on the surface has no business going under the surface. A bit like a rock climber afraid of heights.

 

[Celt]

What happened to Kirsty MacCool is that a boat drove through a restricted area they surfaced in.

There is an interview with the divemaster online.

Best to always assume there’s traffic.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Surely someone who is uncomfortable on the surface has no business going under the surface. A bit like a rock climber afraid of heights.

I agree, yet they manage to squeak by and pass the course. I would guess part of it is the thinking that by diving more, you will become more comfortable with being in the water. That generally seems to prove correct.