Diving health decision checklist: when should you pause?

A dive plan should begin with a truthful health check. It should not begin with a promise to continue. Ask whether your body feels normal today. Ask whether you can think clearly and communicate calmly. Ask whether any symptom could affect breathing, equalisation, stamina or judgement.

This is a decision tool, not a diagnosis. It cannot replace a physician’s examination or a training organisation’s screening process. It also cannot guarantee that a planned dive remains suitable. The instructor needs current information before deciding whether training can proceed.

Use the table below as a first gate. A green entry means no obvious change. It does not mean automatic clearance. An amber entry means pause and disclose. A red entry means postpone and seek appropriate advice.

Write the date beside each answer. Health status can change between booking and arrival. Tell the operator if your answers change. Do not hide a symptom to protect a deposit or a holiday itinerary.

A cold can affect the nose, throat, sinuses and Eustachian tubes. Those structures help you equalise pressure. Congestion can therefore change a routine descent into a painful problem.

Read how long after drinking alcohol can you scuba dive as a separate decision question. There is no universal hour count that proves readiness. DAN says alcohol impairs judgement, reaction time and coordination. It can also contribute to dehydration.

Ask is it safe to scuba dive with a cold or congestion when symptoms affect breathing or equalisation. Postponing is safer than forcing a descent. A mild label does not make a symptom irrelevant.

For medicines, ask can I scuba dive after medication or alcohol before relying on a product. A medicine can cause drowsiness, dizziness or other effects. Its benefit can also wear off during a dive.

The narrower question can I scuba dive with a cold still needs an individual answer. Do not use a decongestant as a booking workaround. DAN advises speaking with a doctor before using decongestants before diving.

Ear symptoms deserve a firm stop signal. Pressure changes challenge the eardrum and middle-ear spaces during descent. A healthy, working Eustachian tube must move gas into the middle ear.

Use scuba diving with an ear infection to frame the conversation. DANSA explains that diving before symptoms disappear can lengthen healing. It can also worsen the original injury and risk eardrum rupture.

Pain, fullness, discharge, reduced hearing, ringing or vertigo should not be treated as normal discomfort. DAN advises stopping when ear symptoms occur after diving. A doctor should evaluate pain, hearing loss or tinnitus.

Do not force equalisation. DAN recommends stopping descent when pain appears. Ascend slightly until pain stops. Abort the dive if equalisation remains impossible. Seek medical assessment when symptoms persist.

Ear drops are not a cure for a middle-ear pressure injury. The eardrum separates the ear canal from the middle ear. Use only treatment recommended for your diagnosed condition. Avoid putting objects into the ear canal.

Pregnancy changes the risk decision even when the diver feels well. The safest practical choice is to avoid scuba diving during pregnancy. This applies to recreational dives, training dives and introductory experiences.

For the local question, read can you scuba dive while pregnant in Hong Kong. The answer should not depend on a provider’s confidence or a calm sea state. Discuss personal questions with the pregnancy-care team.

The broader issue is scuba diving during pregnancy medical advice. DAN notes limited human evidence and possible fetal risks from hyperbaric exposure and decompression stress. It recommends the prudent course of avoiding diving.

ACOG also says scuba diving should be avoided during pregnancy. Its explanation concerns the fetal circulation’s inability to filter bubbles through functioning lungs. This is why ordinary dive-table compliance does not remove the concern.

If you dived before learning that you were pregnant, do not panic or assume the outcome. Stop further diving. Contact your obstetric clinician and describe the timing, depths, gases and symptoms. DAN says inadvertent exposure is not a reason to terminate a pregnancy.

A useful disclosure is specific, dated and easy to verify. State the symptom or diagnosis first. Then state when it started, whether it is improving and what treatment you used.

Include relevant diving details. Mention the planned depth, environment, number of dives and whether this is a course or a fun dive. Mention recent flights, alcohol, illness, ear problems and any previous diving injury.

Do not ask the instructor to interpret a diagnosis beyond their role. Do not ask a physician to approve an incomplete story. Share the full medicine name and timing. Bring screening forms and existing medical records when requested.

Use the second table as a handover worksheet. It separates information to disclose from the decision that should follow. A blank line is a reason to ask, not a reason to guess.

The instructor can explain operational options. A physician can assess personal medical risk. The two roles support safer decisions, but neither role should be bypassed.

Use a simple sequence. First, complete the health handover. Second, ask whether a physician should review your answers. Third, tell the instructor about any restriction or uncertainty.

Fourth, confirm the training format and supervision. Ask whether the activity is pool-based, boat-based or open water. Ask what happens if symptoms return before the session.

Fifth, read the written terms. Ask about illness, weather, missed sessions, deposits and replacement dates. Never assume a health-related postponement creates an automatic refund.

Sixth, decide without deadline pressure. A course date is replaceable. Hearing injury, impaired judgement or an unassessed medical risk deserves a pause.

For a Hong Kong enquiry, send the instructor your experience, current status, preferred dates and questions. Ask what information the team needs before confirming suitability. Keep the response with your booking record.

A health checklist works when it changes behaviour. It should make postponement easier, disclosure clearer and medical questions more precise. It should never become a reason to self-clear.