The most dangerous thing about scuba is...

[mdb]

I would tend to agree with those who talk about the driving to the dive site as the most dangerous part of any dive day. Once in the water I am just happy to be weightless in the U/W world and free of the daily mind scatter that goes on when working etc.

 

[Krazytomdiver]

As a dive guide,the most dangerous would be PANIC.... hard to see,hard to stop,hard to save.

"living life without a hard bottom"
KT

 

[xyrandomyx]

Whenever I tell someone here that I dive, they ask if I'm scared of the sharks (we get Great Whites here). I always tell them that sharks are about the lowest on my list of concerns, drowning somewhere a little higher up and being killed in a car accident on the way to or from the dive is right at the top.

 

[Dirty-Dog]

I think there are two equally dangerous aspects of diving. Inexperience and complacency. Inexperienced divers can get into trouble without even realising it. Experienced divers can get into at least as much trouble because of a "been there, done that, didn't die" attitude. Unfortunately, the further you get away from the dangers of inexperience, the more likely you are to develop the danger of complacency.

 

[TMHeimer]

Whenever I tell someone here that I dive, they ask if I'm scared of the sharks (we get Great Whites here). I always tell them that sharks are about the lowest on my list of concerns, drowning somewhere a little higher up and being killed in a car accident on the way to or from the dive is right at the top.

Yeah, it's all about the panic. Haven't seen a shark yet (and unlike most divers, hope to never see one). I think I would not panic (based on all the shark info. on SB) and swim slowly away. Being killed on the hiway can happen anytime, not just en route to a dive, so it's not really dive-related per se. For me, that still puts drowning atop the list.

 

[diveprof]

You obviously don't live somewhere where you are organizing dives after work . . .

I'm lucky that my husband and I BOTH dive, so there has been very little grumbling since the change from Cobra to SPG (which was truly a war).

I think the worst, most dangerous and inaccurate thing my OW instructors ever taught me was that "once you buy your gear, this sport is cheap". Of course, the "if" statement is never fulfilled . . .

This whole dive gear purchase thing is a never ending pyramid scheme

 

[xyrandomyx]

Yeah, it's all about the panic. Haven't seen a shark yet (and unlike most divers, hope to never see one). I think I would not panic (based on all the shark info. on SB) and swim slowly away. Being killed on the hiway can happen anytime, not just en route to a dive, so it's not really dive-related per se. For me, that still puts drowning atop the list.

You don't want to see a shark? Why not? I haven't seen a Great White (probably never will, I don't really like the idea of cage diving and randomly bumping into them is a pretty rare event), but I've dived with Broadnose Sevengill sharks. They were pretty awesome.

 

[TMHeimer]

You don't want to see a shark? Why not? I haven't seen a Great White (probably never will, I don't really like the idea of cage diving and randomly bumping into them is a pretty rare event), but I've dived with Broadnose Sevengill sharks. They were pretty awesome.

They are fascinating and I love viewing them on Discovery Channel. If you read articles in Dive Magazines they tell you about the demise of shark populations which is a catastrophy (as with most big ocean fish). They also tell you that divers are not part of their normal diet, that you don't want to resemble anything they eat (particularly on the surface) and that often they don't know what you are and are afraid of YOU. Then the last sentence always reads: "If the shark seems to be unusually aggressive perhaps it's best you leave the area or get out of the water". That's why I don't want to see one.

 

[xyrandomyx]

Fair enough, I suppose. Attacks are rare, but there's no doubt that the some of the large species can be really dangerous.

I'm always hoping to see a shark on my dives, though -- but mostly little ones. They tend to make themselves scarce, so they're not all that easy to spot.

 

[ajduplessis]

Narcosis at depth