Personal obligations and commitments, illnesses and injuries, global health and travel hazards, and many other reasons and circumstances may keep divers out of the water. The main steps for returning to diving will be the same regardless of the reasons for not diving, but the focus may vary.

While acute illnesses are not compatible with diving and even the common cold could keep you out of the water temporarily, some illnesses may affect your physical activity for a prolonged period or even permanently. If you were severely ill, had COVID-19 or have a chronic illness, consult your physician about your plan to return to diving. DAN is available to consult with your physician about the health requirements of diving, or we can refer you to a doctor trained in diving medicine. 

Diving requires special skills learned during training and maintained through practice. “Use it or lose it” is especially true in diving. While skills will degrade somewhat with as little six months of inactivity, most dive educators and instructors consider inactivity of one to two years sufficient to warrant refresher training. 

If you have not been diving in a long time, consider how much you may have changed and what changes may have occurred in the diving world. You may need to take action in multiple areas and should thus devise a personalised return-to-diving plan. Even if you are an experienced diver , you should not skip these steps. And keep in mind there’s more to this than just diving skills; you may need to refresh your first aid skills, too.

* If your physical fitness is not optimal, you should devise a plan and begin exercising to achieve adequate fitness for diving.

DAN’s Prepared Diver course is available to everyone at no cost. This informative and engaging video-based course, which reinforces proper diving behaviours and safe diving practices, is suitable for divers of all levels.

DAN’s Prepared Diver course is available to everyone at no cost. This informative and engaging video-based course, which reinforces proper diving behaviours and safe diving practices, is suitable for divers of all levels.

When planning an effective fitness program, it is important to separate fact from fiction. Fitness folklore spreads quickly because many people are drawn to promises of magical quick fixes.