DreadnoughtNH
Contributor
What are your absolutes that would prompt you to scrub a dive? And do you feel like the dive community does a good job teaching situational awareness and how to recognize and respond appropriately to sketchy conditions (weather, equipment, mental state, etc)?
Doc Harry said it best: "call a dive anytime you want, for any reason."
I do not need a reason or explanation: if I or my buddy aborts, we're aborting. My wife (recently certified) and I did a night dive in Turneffe Atoll Belize, and at 30' and 5m my wife gave the crossed forearms and thumbs up signal. We surfaced and returned to the boat. Two important takeaways: 1) my wife knows that if she gives the signal, I'm not questioning or challenging it, and 2) we've developed more simple signals that we use between each other for effective communication during dives.
To your second question, I do not think the dive community *in general* does a good job teaching situational awareness until you progress beyond AOW into Rescue or beyond (depending on agency). PADI Rescue brushes into awareness and recognizing verbal and non-verbal cues, but in order to recognize anxieties and many equipment/weather issues you need to have more experiences in order to categorize them. Example: the buddy team where one is laughing it up with the captain and crew, while their buddy is looking nervously at their equipment or struggling with their gear? I'm going to be friendly and ask how the buddy is feeling and give them a hand and watch them both. Is it my job, no. Does it make it safer and more enjoyable, I think so.
But short story made long: if you're descending and asking yourself the question "should I abort this dive" for any reason, the answer is probably "yes."