Safety stops are a recommended procedure at the end of every dive just to allow
some extra dissolved gases to escape your tissues before exiting the water
completely and they re a very unique part of the dive so, there are a few
things that you need to remember and things to do during a safety stop
Signals The
first thing is the hand signals between you and your buddy. Here s the hand signal for your safety
stop and there s a meaning to both parts that a lot of divers don t know. But, a safety stop
is three minutes at five meters so, together it makes the hand signal. Other hand signals for your
safety stop are to deploy a dSMB and that looks like you re just throwing a ball in the air.
The it comes down to communicating how much time you have left to your buddy because some computers
time things differently and if your dive profiles are different one of you may need longer on the
safety stop. But, you re just using your basic numbers, gesture to your computer and the number
is how many minutes. If you want to get fancy you can add a time signal. But, when it s all clear
you brush your computer to say it s all clear. Buoyancy
When you re in shallow water at the end of the dive you are the most buoyant and the
shift in your buoyancy is the greatest because any air in your BCD and drysuit
changes volume a lot more. Your cylinder is nearly empty and more buoyant So,
take particular attention to your buoyancy just as you re ascending to your stop depth and have
your hand on your deflate button nice and high up so that you re ready to prevent a runaway ascent.
Remember that air in your BCD and drysuit will find its way to the highest point underwater
so make your left shoulder the highest point so that any air is near your inflator hose or
drysuit dump valve. Enjoy
One thing that so many divers do on a safety stop, which is wrong,
is they just switch off. It s as if the dive is over and they just spend three minutes looking
at their computer screen when there s still so much to look at and believe me, your computer isn
t going to do anything particularly exciting. Keep looking around or plan your safety stop to
explore the reef at a shallow depth. And failing that, if you don t have anything to look at,
at least play tic tac toe or rock, paper, scissors with your buddy. Some divers practice their bubble
rings but, try not to switch off and end your dive at the start of your safety stop, you re
still scuba diving. Horizontal
Safety stops are best done when you re completely horizontal in the water so that your entire body
is at the same depth and decompressing at the same rate. And if you re holding onto
a line in a current then there s more space for other divers to be at the correct depth.
Even if there is no current a safety stop is the perfect time to practice your position in
the water and work with your body to critique your positions and work on your trim for the
next dive. Position
During your safety stop it s important for you to consider where you are in the water and where you
re planning to exit. It s far more fun to surface near your exit point than a long surface swim. So,
think about where you re going to exit instead of just hovering on the spot
wherever you reached the correct depth. If a boat is picking you up then you ll
need to swim away from the reef to give them plenty of space to pick you up. Boats
won t get too close to the reef in case the current drags the boat over the rocks so,
you re going to need to swim away from the reef and you might as well do that during the stop
dSMB If you re swimming out into
open water then a Surface Marker Buoy is essential to let boat traffic know that you re down there.
Once you ve sent up a dSMB a few times it gets easier, the important thing is to minimize slack
line so it doesn t get you all tangled up both when you re deploying the buoy and when you re
winding it in at the end, keep that line taught. A lot of divers also mark their line at the 5m
point as a visual depth marker so they know how deep they are and if they re sinking or floating
too much. But, keep that line taught so that your SMB stands upright in the water otherwise it will
flop down and be harder for boats to see. Hold
If you re holding onto a line during your safety stop that s attached to a boat,
don t hold onto it too tightly because it will yank you around which can be dangerous so,
if that rope wants to go, just let it go, only hold onto it gently.
And look at it first before you grab that line because marine ropes are often covered in sharp
mollusks and even the rope itself can be very coarse and with wet hands a small movement can
cut your hand up or damage your gloves. So, be careful with ropes and don t hold onto it if
you don t have to. Not Over
One thing that isn t recommended to do during your safety stops is practice certain skills.
You have a few minutes and it makes sense to hone your skills but, remember that you re
still decompressing even on a safety stop so, if you practice s-drills or something that can
lead you to panic and bolt to the surface, don t. And after your computer gives you the all clear,
don t just bolt to the surface. You still have to ascend slowly so take it nice and slow,
use that deflate button and exhale to slow yourself down and if you re holding a spool,
wind that in fast so your buoy is still standing upright and you don t have loose line floating
around you and your buddy. Plan The Stop
Include the safety stop in your dive plan and gas management. Safety stops are that
extra safety buffer to allow some more dissolved gas to flow out of your tissues,
bloodstream and lungs. But, too many divers look at their gauges during the dive and wait until the
gauges are in the red zone before ascending. You have to account for travel time because
you re still breathing gas as you ascend to the safety stop and in a perfect world you
should end the dive completely and back on the boat with 50bar in your cylinder,
not just starting your safety stop. It s all a matter of just in case because it will be that
one dive where you re down to 30bar and your buddy Stephen s regulator fails and now you both have to
breathe from your single 12l tank Stop Look & Listen
I ve already told you to take a look around during a safety stop to keep yourself occupied but, as
you re ascending after your stop, it s important to turn around and look and listen to the surface.
Just because you have a surface marker buoy on the surface doesn t mean that you re safe. Not all
boat owners are good and observant boat owners. When you re ascending look for boat traffic
heading your way and be prepared to stop the ascent to avoid a bump on the head and terrifying
propellor. You will hear a boat first, but you won t be able to discern which direction it is
coming from so you have to look around to see if you can see that hull coming and avoid it.
Those were ten tips that I could think of but, do you have any handy tips or things to do during a
safety stop? Let us know in the comments below. Remember to subscribe to the scuba
diver magazine channel for more scuba diving content. Thanks for watching and safe diving.