I completed my Divemaster Course on Gili Trawangan at Manta Dive and one of my biggest interests while completing this internship was learning how to keep myself and other divers safe before, during and after a dive. Recreational scuba diving is of course about having fun and enjoying what the ocean has to offer, but it is just as important to make safety a priority.
Here are a few useful and simple tips to maximise safety while scuba diving on Gili Trawangan:
Make sure you take an accredited diving certification course before you go diving. At Manta Dive they offer many dive courses from the beginners Open Water Dive Course right through to the Dive Instructor Course and Technical Diving Courses offered by Manta Dive Tech. In all of the courses you'll learn everything about safety and minimizing risk while scuba diving. If you are particularly interested in dive safety, I recommend the SSI Stress and Rescue course. The Stress and Rescue course is great for knowing how to look after yourself and others. It teaches you how to handle a wide range of situations from small stresses leading up to panic diver and even what to do if you come across an unconscious diver.
Never dive alone! It is extremely important to always have someone with you in case of an emergency. When fun diving in Gili Trawangan you will always have a dive buddy as well as either a dive guide or instructor with you. Of course, they are there to show you the best Gili Islands dive sites and point out awesome sea creatures, but they are also there to make sure your dive is just as safe as it is fun. Diving with a buddy also means you should always complete a buddy check with each other before the dive and ensure your buddy knows your dive set up and you know theirs.
It is always good to have a general idea of your air consumption before scuba diving so you and your dive professionals can plan for the dive safely. However, external factors during a dive may also affect your air consumption, like a strong current for example. It is therefore important to regularly check your air guage and keep track of how much air you have in your tank to make sure you ascend as a group with a sufficient air reserve.
Dive within your diving skill level and never push yourself beyond your capabilities. Knowing your limits is very important when it comes to scuba diving, this does not only mean don’t dive beyond your diver certification level, but it also means to pay attention to your body and mind. Before a dive if you are feeling unwell, sick, stressed and/or nervous, you should consider postponing your dive, after all, you are going to enjoy yourself a lot more when you are feeling comfortable and healthy.
Avoid touching or disturbing marine creatures and be mindful of your surroundings to prevent accidents. Practicing and improving your buoyancy control is very important to ensure you can be close to marine life without harming it or yourself. Some marine life can be harmful so be sure to look and not touch. If we respect marine life, it will respect us.
Hopefully, you have found these safety tips useful and are feeling a little more confident going into your next dive knowing that if you dive within your limits and follow these tips you are bound to have a great time. If you want to improve your diving skills, we recommend the SSI Stress and Rescue Diver Course or even to have a look into our technical diving courses, where you learn more about decompression theory and you'll definitely improve your diving skills.
Now what are you waiting for? Book you next course today!
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