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IS SCUBA DIVING DANGEROUS

In my over 13 years of SCUBA diving in Hawaii, The biggest question I get asked are sharks dangerous? Let me put this into perspective, we have all seen JAWS THE MOVIE where the shark sinks the boat and eats the captain. If I ever see this in real life I will quit SCUBA diving that day. Statistically one person gets killed by a shark somewhere worldwide each year. Eight people get killed by Coconuts falling out of trees. You are eight times more likely to be KILLED BY A COCONUT than by a shark.

SCUBA diving is considered an EXTREME SPORT. I have been asked often if it is dangerous. I have been a SCUBA instructor / SCUBA business owner for 13 years now. Besides the minor scrapes on the reefs, or close encounters with sea urchins, I have personally experienced 4, and ONLY 4, major accidents. When you consider that I am out there at least 340 days a year, doing 2-4 dives per day, for 13 years, I would venture to say that SCUBA diving with Alex's Aquatic Adventures is SAFE. Please read my personal accounts and make the decision for yourself. These are personal accounts of Alex Mason the owner.

CASE 1: It was on a night dive. At night, parrot fish, which average about 2 lbs, sleep within coral heads, or under ledges for protection. I found one tucked into a coral head. Tom and I peered into the coral head, each of us on opposite sides. As we peered in with our flashlights, we woke it up, and startled it and it bolted out of the coral head. Unfortunately, it bolted toward the opening where Tom was peering in. The parrot fish bolted right into his forehead, so hard it knocked him out. I brought Tom to the surface, back to the boat where he regained consciousness and was fine. An event we are able to laugh at today. Tom returns each year, and continues to dive with me. ("he says he feels safe because lightning will not strike twice in the same place.")

CASE 2: Scott is a very experienced diver. He had been diving since he was 12. In years past I had taught him to dive on a re breather (re breathers allow divers longer bottom times). He came to Hawaii while on holiday and wanted to dive. And dive he did, 5 days in a row, all with extended bottom times on his re breather. But after diving during the day, he also wanted to party and play all night. So by day 5, he was physically exhausted, but still went diving. He surfaced from his second dive a long ways away from the boat (he admits navigation isn't is strong suit). He was physically exhausted, and attempted to swim back to the boat on the surface. Fortunately the heads up boat crew saw him surface, and went to retrieve him. When they reached him, he was passed out and turning blue. The crew dragged him out of the water, and got him emergency medical attention. At the hospital, he was treated for dehydration and was back to normal, physically within a days time. However, mentally he learned that youth is not impervious to the laws of nature; he was a near drowning victim. He returned to the boat, and apologized to the boat crew and captain, and thanked them for their quick prompt quick care. To this day, Scott returns each year, and dives with me. (The moral of this story is do not let yourself get dehydrated number one cause of decompression sickness or exhaustion)

CASE 3: Franco came to me as an Open Water Referral. He had no known medical conditions or physical restrictions, and was in average health. His dive 1 was a 35 foot dive for 24 minutes. The 2nd dive was 30 feet for 20 minutes. When he got back on the boat from the 2nd dive, he collapsed. He was paralyzed on his left side. He was placed on O2 and rushed to emergency care, along with his dive computer to show the doctor his dive profile. Franco spent some time in the chamber. The doctor called me to verify that the dive computer was in fact an accurate description of Franco's dive profile. When assured that it was, the doctor ruled out decompression sickness. It was discovered that, Franco had a pre-existing condition which he was not aware of. He had a condition known as POF, a small hole in his heart, which he had since birth. The odds were 1 in a million that this kind of thing could happen. While he made a full recovery, Franco was informed that if he wished to continue diving, he would require open heart surgery. To my knowledge he has not had the surgery, nor is he diving.

CASE 4: I was the boat captain for a Japanese company who had chartered the boat for a day of diving. We were doing a shallow site, 30 feet. The waters were calm, and there was no current. It was perfect, beautiful diving conditions. After about 15 minutes in the water, the divemaster surfaced her divers and I became aware immediately that one of the divers was motionless. We got him on the boat, radioed for emergency help, for the 10 minutes back to the shore, myself, and my crew members performed CPR. He never regained consciousness, he died in the hospital several days later. His family arrived from Japan and it was at that time that they informed the SCUBA company that the gentleman, in his early 60's had already had several heart attacks. He knew his time was near, so they were not surprised by his passing.

The coroner said he had a pulmonary artery rupture. He died underwater so quickly that he had not even aspirated water. His lungs were dry. As you can see from the reports I have detailed, none of these incidents were the fault of the dive master, or the sport. Anything can be dangerous if and when the rules are not followed, such as driving through a red light. As your dive leader, I will make sure you ARE COMFORTABLE and diving within your dive limits . I take a personal interest in your diving skills, make sure you are a SAFE diver, giving you pointers or training to help you build your confidence and have fun while doing it.I would also like to point out, that being in Hawaii, I do a lot of introductory dives (diving with non certified divers introducing them to the world of diving). These folks dive with me at a maximum of 4, usually on average of 30 minutes long. In all these years, I have not had one incident with an introductory diver.

This is the truth about SCUBA DIVING IN HAWAII. Is it dangerous?

!!!!Not with Alex's Aquatic Adventures.!!!!

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© Alex's Aquatic Adventures January 2012