Will 4 (2 tank) dives in 4 days be too much for a fairly new Scuba Diver?

I am a new diver. I will have 8-10 dives completed before I leave for the Caribbean in May but need to book vacation dives now (before I’m licensed). Will I be able to manage 1 (2 tank) dive per day for 4 days. Ear soreness, nitrogen level, etc? Thanks

We have no way of answering this question in anything more than the most general terms.

Only you will be able to decide whether you are physically fit enough to cope with 8 dives over 4 days. If so, and you dive sensibly (see below) then you shouldn’t experience any problems in doing so. If not, then consider planning a ‘beach day’ partway through, to give yourself some recovery time (this is anyway a good idea — see below).

Here are some more tips for comfortable/safe Vacation Diving

(1) Make sure you’re correctly weighted, rather than over-weighted. I cannot stress this enough. Getting this right will make everything else easier / safer / more comfortable. It will vastly simplify your buoyancy control, allowing you to make much more controlled descents and ascents (reducing the risk of both ear and nitrogen problems), stretch your air (i.e. dive-time) a lot further, and leaving you less tired after a dive.

(2) Your ears won’t get sore if you remember to equalise early and often during each descent. Do your first equalisation right after you dump your surface buoyancy to begin your descent, and every 2-3 ft (0.5-1.0 m) during the descent (i.e. before the sensation of pressure turns into a sensation of pain!). Descend in a head-up position, and try to avoid ‘sawtooth’ dive profiles with lots of depth (i.e. pressure) changes, and you should be able to minimise or avoid ear problems.

(3) Regarding nitrogen, so long as you keep your dives within the no-stop limits of whatever table or computer you’re using, then there shouldn’t be any issues. If you have the time for it, a beach day partway through your diving will also help to reduce your nitrogen loading. However, like a previous answerer says, you should make sure you have at least 24 hours out of the water before you fly home, because you will have done ‘multiple dives over multiple days’.

(4) Regarding the potential for both equalisation and nitrogen problems, try to avoid getting dehydrated. Primarily that means making sure to drink plenty of (bottled) water, fruit juices or non-cola soft drinks while you’re on vacation. Caffeine and alcohol are both diuretic (make you pee), so drinking coffee, tea, cola or beer/wines/spirits has little net effect on body fluid levels, and (especially with e.g. espressos and liquor shots) may even cause you to lose water.

(When I was working as an instructor in the Red Sea, I aimed to drink 3-4 litres of water per day in the winter months, and 4-6 litres per day in summer. This is probably excessive for the Caribbean, which is a lot more humid than Egypt, but 2-3 litres — 60-90 fl.oz, or 8-12 tall beakers’ worth — would be a reasonable target.)

Getting wasted in the hotel bar the night before diving is also a bad idea (for lots of reasons!). So is running your hotel room A/C at full blast while you’re in the room, because most A/Cs have a ‘dehumidifier’ effect which will dry out your middle ears and sinuses, making it more difficult to equalise the next day. If you have to run your room A/C to make the room cool enough to sleep in, either leave it on at full blast while you’re eating dinner, then turn it off when you get back to the room, or run it at the lowest possible setting (i.e. highest possible temperature) overnight.

If you have any further questions, feel free to email me via Y!A. Otherwise, enjoy your vacation.

The Best Caribbean Dive Trip, The Utila Lodge: Utila Bay Islands, Honduras

Caribbean reef sharks feeding at a popular dive resort $39.99 Brian J. Skerry Caribbean reef sharks feeding at a popular dive resort – Photographic Print

Vacations $34.99 Amelia Winter Vacations – Giclee Print