Peeing Etiquette

[divezonescuba]

There’s three types of divers:

Those that pee in their wetsuits
Those that pee in the wetsuits and lie about it
Those that pee in the wetsuits and don’t realize that they did it

 

[miked]

Several years ago, our dive group of 5 (including DM), due to varied air consumption, was reduced to the DM and myself. He had to go check the anchor, and signaled me to head up to the boat. I got to the bottom of one of the ladders and there was a woman standing on the other ladder, hip deep in water, with her wetsuit around her knees.(She was evidently peeing.)
I surfaced at the other ladder, said "Hi"...She was mortified that I possibly swam through her pee. I thought nothing of it. Back on the boat, she came over, red faced,and apologized profusely. I said "no problem, dive boat etiquette". Her fiance thought that her embarrassment was the funniest thing in the world. She was not happy with that. For some reason, they bought me a beer when we reached the shore.....Go figure

 

[drl]

The essence of peeing etiquette is, in the water or in the head, but never on the boat!

 

[Snoweman]

Several years ago, our dive group of 5 (including DM), due to varied air consumption, was reduced to the DM and myself. He had to go check the anchor, and signaled me to head up to the boat. I got to the bottom of one of the ladders and there was a woman standing on the other ladder, hip deep in water, with her wetsuit around her knees.(She was evidently peeing.)
I surfaced at the other ladder, said "Hi"...She was mortified that I possibly swam through her pee. I thought nothing of it. Back on the boat, she came over, red faced,and apologized profusely. I said "no problem, dive boat etiquette". Her fiance thought that her embarrassment was the funniest thing in the world. She was not happy with that. For some reason, they bought me a beer when we reached the shore.....Go figure

 

[dmcutter]

In Bonaire a couple years ago we were noodling around in the shallows waiting for some of our group and a gal in white shorty wetsuit walked out into waist deep water, pulled her wetsuit down, obviously to pee, and then walked back to shore. I guess she just couldn't hold it until her dive started...

 

[stretchthepenn]

In a wetsuit, peeing is no problem. In a drysuit, though... Hoo, boy. I find that if I grab onto something, then I can start the flow, but if I'm swimming or hovering, then It Just Won't Happen, even if my back teeth are floating.

 

[Snoweman]

I've proven to myself that I I can per while gripping the bottom, gripping the safety stop, or gripping the boat's ladder. It's just not that difficult

 

[Fringehead]

I've never seen/smelled this before, and I've been diving since 2011, so I'm wondering if this is a new thing with male divers.

On a local boat yesterday, while the captain was giving the safety briefing, an older male diver released a puddle down the legs of his wetsuit and onto the deck. The stench was immediately apparent (worse than my cat's pee, and that's sayin' something). He proceeded to walk around as if nothing had happened. The stink followed him everywhere. None of us could sit in the covered area of the boat whenever he was around. The divemaster finally talked to the guy about not doing that again. The captain said this had happened on a previous trip with the same guy. He isn't disabled as far as I can tell; it seems he's just a gross slob.

BTW, the boat has a perfectly nice head, with freshwater sink and all.

To me, besides being gross and disgusting, it's pretty blatant disrespect of one's fellow divers. If the head weren't working, (and I've done this in the past when it was broken), I simply let the captain know I'm "taking a break" off the back of the boat, find a discreet place, pull down my wetsuit and swim bottom, and paddle around a little while I take care of nature's call. How tough is that??

 

[TMHeimer]

It's very tough if you're diving in Nova Scotia (or anywhere at least a 7 mil wetsuit is needed -farmer john or otherwise).

 

[Nosmosis]

Sorry if this question belongs in the advanced scuba section but what is the etiquette for peeing while diving? Do you always move to the back of the group in order to not make this behind you but your urine wake? Is there a signal to tell your buddy you have to piss?

Asking for a friend.

This is why we put the wetsuit over the booties. And either pee underwater or use the head. No pissing on boat decks.