When to call a dive... a question of limits.

[Eyegore]

I've postponed one due to a series of doofus mistakes on my part. After around 45 minutes of recovery from overheating-related distress, we made a fun dive.

 

[icechip]

We called a dive at Rachel Carson Salt Pond one fall after just a few minutes of the surge tossing us all over the place. It quickly became 'not much fun' so we pulled the plug. Went with our plan B, a sheltered inlet on the other side of the peninsula. Not far, but got a few looks as I drove over there in my wetsuit with mask on my forehead.

 

[Storker]

As far as I remember, I've called exactly two dives. In both cases, the conditions were a mite too sporting for my taste. Both of them were shore dives. In one of the cases, there was no dive. In the other case, we found an alternative site which was a bit less sporting.

It was all good. And in the first case, I didn't have to rinse down my gear afterwards.

 

[lexvil]

I’ve called a lot of dives as have my buddies, sometimes it’s subtle like “if you don’t want to do another I’m ok with it and if you do want to do another, I’ll be waiting at the car” to actually showing up looking at the misreported conditions and just watching people get tossed in the surf, heading home shortly after, it doesn’t happen often as we watch condition reports pretty closely often not making a decision until the day before.

Sometimes a nice lunch at the beach or a tour of a battle ship is the better way to justify an 8 hour drive.

 

[Scraps]

My sister called a dive with me a few weeks ago. She was in town for a limited time and really wanted to see a Goliath Grouper. This dive was her only chance before she went home. The charter boat captain obliged by choosing a site known to have a few. However, she quickly realized how spoiled she had been in her South Pacific dives: she didn't like our choppy seas, she didn't like the 65-ish degree water, and she really didn't like our 15-foot visibility.

Rough + cold + murky = No Fun For Big Sister.

As much as she wanted to see the big fish, she called the dive before descending. She still felt good about her decision even when I surfaced with my replacement insta-buddy and reported that we had seen three Goliaths.

On another occasion, I called the dive the first time I had a chance to dive together with three of my sons all at the same time. It was a quarry dive. They rented gear--7mm suits with hoods. I was a cheapskate and went with my own 5 mm with no hood. As soon as I got in the water, I knew I was inadequately dressed. I squelched the "Dad's gotta prove he's tougher than his boys" instinct and called it. Properly attired, they had a great time.

 

[DreadnoughtNH]

Zero vis = calling the dive.

If I cannot see my hand in front of me, I also can't see my buddy.

Did this once in Roatan after a storm. I'd rather have a beer and watch the murky waves roll in, then be blundering around in them.

 

[drbill]

This is an example of when I thumb a dive!

 

[Belzelbub]

I've thumbed a few dives where it was pretty much unanimous. On those dives, either the vis was too poor, or the marine life was not home, so we decided to cut the dive short.

Apart from that, I've only really cancelled one dive. Upon descent, I found that I didn't feel like I was getting enough air. I figured it was in my head, but I couldn't get it to clear quickly, so decided to call the dive before it got worse. I relaxed a bit on the surface, then did a dive on the same spot with the same gear & tank with no issues that time.

 

[TMHeimer]

Zero vis = calling the dive.

If I cannot see my hand in front of me, I also can't see my buddy.

Did this once in Roatan after a storm. I'd rather have a beer and watch the murky waves roll in, then be blundering around in them.

Yeah, if you put your mask one inch from the bottom and still can't see any shells, time to leave.

 

[The Chairman]

Cathy, you, and I made the right call for each us. They were all good calls.

This is precisely the point. So, this was taken the day before they called the dives and we dove that day. Of course, by "we" I mean others. We all have different limits. I'm a fairly strong diver to the point that mondo currents don't affect me as much. In addition, years of racing canoes and cave diving have given me a great understanding of currents and how to escape them. But when it comes to seas, at least for now, I just won't expose myself to anything over three. That will improve over time, I am sure.

Our limits not differ from each other, but they also differ from time to time.

• Set your limits
  • Adjust as needed
• honor your limits!