One problem that many scuba divers run into is being unable to fly after scuba diving. This can make fitting scuba diving difficult in your vacation plans if you’re only visiting for a short time. Snuba diving, on the other hand, requires far less wait-time to fly. You typically only need to wait four hours to fly after snuba diving.
The reason behind this is because you’re not traveling to deep depths like you are when you’re scuba diving. Snuba diving is done only a few feet below the water’s surface. It’s a step between snorkeling and scuba diving.
To ensure you’re able to reach higher altitudes safely, you should wait to get on a plane, ride a helicopter, or go to a higher altitude at least four hours after snuba diving.
Does Snuba Cause The Bends(Decompression Sickness)?
One problem you have to contend with when you’re scuba diving is the bends or decompression sickness. To avoid this sickness, it’s essential for scuba divers to slowly ascend to the water’s surface. Luckily, snuba diving doesn’t cause the bends.
The bends occur when certain gases bubble up in your body’s system due to the change in pressure. There’s a lot of pressure that you expose yourself to the deeper you dive into the ocean. Your body changes in order to deal with the pressure.
As you return to the surface, the pressure lightens, and your body changes again. Yet one of the changes that occur is the bubbling of nitrogen gases. These bubbles can affect any part of your body–even your heart.
The excess of nitrogen that you receive is from the oxygen in the air tank. Because the body doesn’t use nitrogen, it starts to build up in the body. It can block blood vessels which can keep blood from reaching your heart and other critical organs.
Snuba diving is at no-risk of the bends because its tank sits on the surface of the water. It’s never subjected to the same kind of pressure that scuba diving tanks are.
What Happens When You Fly Immediately After Normal Scuba Diving?
If you choose to fly immediately after scuba diving, then you’re going to increase your chances of developing the bends. This is because you’re forcing your body to drastically change from a high-pressure setting to a low-pressure setting. Airplanes do pressurize their cabins, but even that pressure isn’t as high as the pressure you experienced deep in the water.
As a result, the nitrogen is likely to bubble quickly in your body. This may lead to the bends. Your blood will be unable to reach your heart. You could face a fatal heart attack or other problems.
How Long Do You Have To Wait After Normal Scuba Diving Before Flying?
Deciding on how long you wait to fly after scuba diving depends on a few factors and whose advice you wish to follow. The Divers Alert Network suggests waiting at least 12 hours. The US Air Force suggests waiting 24 hours. The US Navy suggests waiting 2 hours. Finally, the Professional Association of Diving Instructors suggests waiting 12 hours if you only dove once, 18 hours if you dove multiple times, and 24 hours for an ideal wait time.
The depth that you dive also determines how long you’ll need to wait until you can fly. Using dive tables can be especially helpful in this regard. Dive tables help you determine how long you can stay at a certain depth without needing to slowly ascend to prevent the bends.
60 feet dives, for example, means that you can stay under the water at 60 feet for 55 minutes. If you choose to dive again, however, you’ll need to consult the table and add in the residual exposure of nitrogen that your first dive gave you.
Essentially, the more that you dive in a single day, the longer you’ll have to wait to fly. This also includes diving at deeper depths or shallower depths. The more time you spend under the water, the more time your body needs to remove the excess nitrogen bubbles within your bloodstream.
At 40 feet, you can stay under the water for 130 minutes.
At 50 feet, you can stay under the water for 80 minutes.
At 70 feet, you can stay under the water for 45 minutes.
Stay any longer or go on multiple dives, and you’ll need to wait at least 12-24 hours before flying.
How Long After Snuba Do You Have To Wait Before Flying?
The risk of developing DCS is extremely minimal when you snuba dive. However, to ensure you give your body its best possible chance of being healthy, you’ll want to wait at least four hours before you fly.
This also goes for taking helicopter rides. If you plan on taking an aerial tour of an area after diving, then you should schedule it at least four hours after the dive. To ensure your body doesn’t experience DCS at all, then you can always play it safe and wait to fly or take a helicopter ride the next day.
Many people also make the mistake of hiking to high altitudes after snuba diving. The same caution should be shown with hikes as with flying. Before you start ascending to high altitudes, you should first let your body rest for four hours. This will ensure that if any nitrogen accumulated in your body, it should have been removed by then.
You should also consider the compounding on snuba diving. Just like scuba diving, if you snuba dove for several hours or for several consecutive days, then you may need to add a few more hours to your wait time.
Even if your flight seems like it’s at a low altitude, you should take extra safety precautions and delay the flight until four hours have passed.
Doing so will ensure you limit the risk of DCS and can enjoy the rest of your vacation without any problems.
