Boat Diving Etiquette

Be considerate to other divers as well as boat personnel by following these suggestions:

Tips on Boat Diving Etiquette

  • Arrive early. Be on the dock in plenty of time to board the boat. Don’t keep everyone else waiting. We’ve learned in the past that the boat personnel knows Grady and they arrive earlier than he tells them.
  • Have your C-card and waivers filled out and ready to hand in. Better yet, stop by the dive shop and turn these items in ahead of time.
  • Be prepared. Have all your equipment in your mesh bag and ready to hand to the boat personnel. Don’t come dragging your equipment to the boat piece by piece. That’s not to say some pieces won’t fit in your bag, but don’t bring a BC then go back and get your fins and then go back etc, etc. Have it all with you and ready to go.

  • Listen to boat personnel when they want you to board the boat. Most of the time they want to load all equipment before boarding divers. Just listen to their ques and follow them.
  • Board the boat. Then find/locate your equipment and store your gear close to you. Keep all your stuff together. This is especially helpful when you have a boat of divers whose gear all looks alike.
  • Rinse tanks on board. Only put your camera in camera tank. Some boats have extra buckets for your mask.
    Camera in rinse bin
  • Follow directions. Listen to directions while on board. Not all dive operations are the same.
  • Equipment assembly. Some boats may prefer to assemble your equipment – that’s great. But always check your equipment. Check your air. Check your set-up. Breathe off your regulator. Keep everything together. Know where your mask, fins, boots, wetsuit, etc are.
    Getting gear ready to go
  • Be ready to enter the water on time. Have your wetsuit donned, fins on, mask on, air on, and ready to enter the water when the boat stops at the dropoff point.
  • After your dive, locate all your equipment. Prepare for the next dive or break down your equipment and store it to exit the boat.
    Gear packed up and ready to leave

Finally

Boat diving is so much more enjoyable with everyone being on time and taking care of themselves.

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