Snuba Safety

[Leo Jay]

My girlfriend and I have been planning to try snuba for the first time in a couple of weeks down in St. Thomas. I'd only recently decided to try snorkeling for the first time, but soon found out about snuba, which seemed even more interesting. As a non-swimmer, it seemed like a good way for me to get some underwater experience in a safe environment. But I've recently read posts that have suggested that snuba is unscrupulously marketed to unsuspecting tourists who are unaware of the "hidden dangers". So now I want to put that point of view into perspective. What are people's general impressions of this activity? I haven't really even been in the water since I was a kid, but I'm not afraid of it per se, and I'm not easily panicked. I'd read that there has never been an accident on any snuba dive conducted by an authorized snuba outfit, so it seemed like a pretty safe activity. What is the real deal?
:confused2

 

[ClayJar]

Snuba minimizes many of the risks of scuba diving ("unlikely" to be out of air, nearly impossible to get bent, etc), but there is one risk that it most certainly does not greatly alleviate, that being barotrauma.

The greatest change in volume with respect to depth is at the surface. It is possible to suffer a lung overexpansion injury by holding a deep breath from the shallow end of a pool to the surface. Is it likely? I would say, probably not. Is it still a real danger that should be stressed? Absolutely.

In scuba classes, the "do not hold your breath" mantra is drilled into you over and over. As long as you beat that into your brain with a big enough stick, snuba shouldn't be unduly dangerous. From what little I've read and overheard, many people seem believe that the very real dangers of breath-holding are not emphasized enough in snuba, but if you take it upon yourselves to learn that, you should be fine. (In fact, if you go try snuba, make a point to ask about breath-holding injury potential in front of the rest of the group, if the place doesn't stress it.)

 

[TxHockeyGuy]

Your biggest risk is from BOYLE'S law. I liked NetDoc's way of remembering this, Breath Or Your Lungs Explode Stupid. Basically SNUBA is very similar to SCUBA except for the fact that you are going to be fairly limited in depth (my guess is 10-15'). The problem is it is possible to have an overexpansion injury in just 3'. Let me explain.

Water has weight, as you go under the water that weight creates pressure and the volume of air in your lungs decreases in accordance to that pressure. Now with SCUBA or SNUBA lets say you take a full breath at 10'. As you go up that air will expand as the pressure decreases, if your lungs are already full that air will find somewhere to go and this is a VERY bad thing. Now as long as you don't hold your breath you should be alright.

Some of the other dangers:

-What happens if your mask floods, do you know how to clear it or will you panic and bolt to the surface possibly creating the situation I already covered?
-Same thing if someone kicks off your mask.
-What happens if all of a sudden their compressor fails and you have no air, can you do a controlled emergency ascent while exhaling?

Granted we're talking about 10-15' here so the risks are minimal with the exception of Boyle's law. All of this is covered in any basic OW course.

 

[Thalassamania]

The greatest danger in diving is, IMHO, ascending through the water column for the last 10 feet. It is as dangerous with SNUBA as it is with SCUBA. The only thing that SNUBA does is keep you close to the surface with an infinite (theoretically) air supply. Please be careful and breathe, don't hold your breath.

 

[ChrisA]

My girlfriend and I have been planning to try snuba for the first time in a couple of weeks down in St. Thomas. I'd only recently decided to try snorkeling for the first time, but soon found out about snuba,

(1) In theory it is possable to kill yourself on snuba. Dive to 6 feet, take a large breath, hold it then swim rapidly up to the surface. In theory that could over inflate your lungs and cause an air embolisum and death. But in the real world this just not happen and you will be fine. It's like driving a car to work. In theory all that keeps you away from a head on fatal collision is a double yellow line painted on the road. You could be killed if some other driver sneezes but this does not happen very often at least not enough to keep you off the road.

(2) Next, compare snuba to snorkle. I don't see any advantage to snubs. You can dive deeper with a snorkle and you are not tethered. Snorkle is also cheaper all you need is some equipment and some water. With snuba you have to pay a guide. I've seen groups of tourests on snuba and it looks silly. I see lots of others doing whatever they like and zipping around with just a snorkle and mask while this little group of snuba peple get pulled along on a leash all tethered to some big floating compressor. If would be OK if the snuba let then do something they coudnot do otherwise but that is not the case, it restricts them.

 

[Ice9]

My girlfriend and I have been planning to try snuba for the first time in a couple of weeks down in St. Thomas. I'd only recently decided to try snorkeling for the first time, but soon found out about snuba, which seemed even more interesting. As a non-swimmer, it seemed like a good way for me to get some underwater experience in a safe environment. But I've recently read posts that have suggested that snuba is unscrupulously marketed to unsuspecting tourists who are unaware of the "hidden dangers". So now I want to put that point of view into perspective. What are people's general impressions of this activity? I haven't really even been in the water since I was a kid, but I'm not afraid of it per se, and I'm not easily panicked. I'd read that there has never been an accident on any snuba dive conducted by an authorized snuba outfit, so it seemed like a pretty safe activity. What is the real deal?
:confused2

Here's my take:
You say that you are not easily panicked, and although you are not a "swimmer", you sound like you are comfortable in the water. With that in mind, I'd suggest you go ahead and take a scuba class. Go get your OW cert. Its not hard and you don't have to be Mark Spitz to do it. I'm not exactly an olympic swimmer, but I've never had a problem diving... The way I see it, SNUBA will just limit what you can do and enjoy, and leave you desperately wanting more...

That being said, like the others have pointed out, don't hold your breath and make sure you don't flood that helmet!

 

[tkdawg]

Pass on the snuba and do more snorkeling. You will have a better time with more freedom. You can get a snorke vest thay inflate to help you float better. Spend some of the money you were going to spend on the snuba and get into a scuba class. The people I know people that have done it and they had no problems.

 

[andydiver06]

Hey you guys, the OP is a non swimmer trying to experience the UW kingdom. Snuba or UW walk is just perfect for him . After the experience maybe he will learn to swim and then take up scuba who knows. Only one danger I see jay is that if you get hooked up to this sport you better be earning some serious bucks. Have fun and wish you all best .

 

[Diver Dennis]

I would try it if I were you. Andy makes a good point that it's a good way for you to experience the U/W world. As a non-swimmer though, make sure you are comfortable in the water. It sounds like you are since you snorkel now. Snuba is quite safe. Talk to the tour operators and make sure they know what's going on and listen to their instructions.

 

[wunat]

Scuba diving does come with certain risks. That is the reason why we take scuba courses (at different level) with skill development to prevent those risks and manage them if any.

We heard about scuba accidents more often than, let's say, accidents and injuries from people playing tennis because it is scuba diving and it's not just another sport/activity people do.

Many times I see people expose themselves to risks are due to them not doing things properly. And this is due to the fact they weren't taught the proper way or they just don't bother. Instructors play very critical roles here despite which agency they are with.