Entering the water without resurfacing

[Lulubelle]

I'm a newer diver than the rest of you, and only dive with a buddy, but in NC we typically do negative entries. Mother ocean can be a bit moody here. The chop at the top can drag you away from the boat rather quickly not to mention eating up all of your air getting back to the line. We generally meet on the hang line at 15 feet, do our buddy checks, and then descend.

But certainly if I was diving with an op I have not been out with before, I will ask for their preference and follow it.

[navyhmc]

So far, all of my solo dives have been from shore and I usually have a short surface swim to the entry point. I when I do head down, I stop at 20' and do a bubble check and gear check before heading any deeper.

[cmburch]

Originally Posted by ReefHound

He means a hot drop - go in neutral or slightly negative and immediately start the dive. I have done that a few times when buddy diving, like in rough seas where we don't want to bob in the waves and get tossed around. We agree to meet 15' down the line.

What is the purpose in surfacing after entry other than to wait for your buddy to enter so you can descend together? Although some charter boats like you to signal Ok after entry which is hard to do from below the surface.

Thanks!
I do not submerge and then surface. I guess most of my entries are normally on the surface not where I immediately submerge. At the surface, I always do some adjusting (compass, gun, weight belt, flashlight, etc.) and checking before submerging especially after a long surface swim or kayaking. I use a snorkel at the surface. The poor Vis and kelp may have something to do with my performing this on the surface rather than consuming tank air to do it underwater.

So, unless agreed upon before entering water, I would be one of those out of stater's even when diving solo - checking and adjusting on the surface to conserve tank air. But I would never descend and then surface.

This is not always true. If I see a fish while on the surface or during the swim, I will upend and go after it.

[comet24]

Originally Posted by Lulubelle

I'm a newer diver than the rest of you, and only dive with a buddy, but in NC we typically do negative entries. Mother ocean can be a bit moody here. The chop at the top can drag you away from the boat rather quickly not to mention eating up all of your air getting back to the line. We generally meet on the hang line at 15 feet, do our buddy checks, and then descend.

But certainly if I was diving with an op I have not been out with before, I will ask for their preference and follow it.

I go negative all the time in NC but the boats down there rig a nice line at about 15 feet from the anchor line to the stern. Makes getting to the anchor line in a current easy. Your right surface conditions alone the East coast are rarely calm unless your in Florida.

I think it really depends on the conditions and how the bow is rigged.

BTW I never had a DM have an issue with going negative as long you let them know before splashing.

[DMWiz]

It's all relative to where you need to go once you're in the water and the conditions. There are times when you need to do negative entries and other times when you can leisurely wait around. As some of you have said earlier if it's communicated and planned before hand there should not be any problems with a negative entry.

If you're solo diving, (I assume that's why this was asked here) you would most likely have a redundant air source and should be able to reach the valves on your main tank so having your air off should not be a concern. Not to mention that throughly checking your gear before entry would also take care of that.

[Lulubelle]

Recently, we did have a solo diver with doubles stride and sink like a rock to the bottom because his air was not on and he was quite negative upon entry. I'm sure that popping to the surface was not an option, but it is too bad he couldn't ditch his equipment or turn his air on.

I'm all for redundant safety checks in any way that my buddy and I agree to. There are divers lost every year here from my understanding. Some from errors like this, some due to an inability to handle the currents, etc. All I know is that I will never solo dive in NC! Or anywhere else for that matter. Not for me. Redundant equipment certainly makes it a reasonable choice for some, but I prefer a trusted buddy with a brain as my backup.

[ReefHound]

Originally Posted by RonFrank

Seems like a cowboy move, and most OPs prefer divers signal OK at the surface. I see no point in this. If the boat is crowded, than the op has to track who intends to not resurface once in. If not most OPs still prefer to see you enter, surface, and then descend.

One such diver did exactly this with his air off, went in negative, and died at the bottom before his buddy could get to him. He was featured in "Lessons for life".

I see no purpose in doing this. If you are in current, you are either drift diving, or descending on a line. In the case of a line, it's generally on the surface, and in current one wants to hit a line or ball, and follow that down. When drift diving it matters little if the diver surfaces first and then goes down, they are drifting either way, and it is courtesy to make sure the DM on the boat sees that you are OK before descending.

Can anyone explain the rationale for doing this, other than the cool factor?

I think calling it a "cowboy move" is a little unfair. Different condition call for different measures. I already gave you one rationale - rough surface conditions. I'm not sure what you will be checking at the surface that you couldn't have checked before the jump, but it might be a lot easier to check it at 15 feet than in choppy water on the surface.

I mentioned boat DM requirements as one drawback and of course you should honor the charter op requested procedure. But you never truly know if you are Ok until after you descend. So should you jump, surface, signal ok, descend, resurface and signal ok so the DM knows your mask isn't leaking and your reg works at depth and you could equalize ok? Surface checks won't tell you.

If that example you gave is the one I recall, that was a cowboy move. That was in NC and he and his buddies were racing to see who would be first on the wreck. Not only did he rush through gear setup and blow off pre-dive checks in his race to hit the water first, he likely went in as negative as possible for a fast descent. The whole qualifier of a direct descent was that you have properly checked everything before entering the water. Just because someone misuses or botches a procedure doesn't mean the procedure itself is unsafe.

[Tekdivr]

Drift diving in Mexico, we don't hang at the surface. The longer you sit there the further away you are from your group. None of the operations there have a problem going in negative,same with NC wreck diving and a couple of the liveaboards I've been on. Maybe it's the operators discretion, but I haven't come across one that makes it mandatory.

[Lulubelle]

Bottom line is if you communicate appropriate with your charter op and buddy, then either approach is appropriate and can be selected for your particular conditions!

[inventor]

Newb here, Just heard about solo diving two weeks ago, when a tek diver in our group went out alone while us rec divers buddied up three to a dive. I was really shocked to learn that my dive buddy (just topped 100 dives), will be getting solo diver certified. Had no idea this was allowed, much less encouraged. Still a newb, but don't think I'll be diving solo. This thread's title says it all;

'Diving without resurfacing', I'd rather not have the 'without resurfacing' part be permanent.