How Can A Scuba Diver Go Missing At Sea?

Posted by Bruce Iliff Feb 6, 2009

For a scuba diver, being left behind at a dive site is an extremely frightening experience. Unfortunately, this is not an uncommon event, and probably happens more times than what is reported in the media. The ones we hear about are when the divers die or spend many hours drifting in the water.

But it is so easy to happen. Many people have difficulty believing this the situation can occur. In my article Missing Scuba Diver At Sea I explore some of the reasons behind this scenario.

I have had the experience a number of times, both as a recreational diver, and while working as a divemaster.

The worst time for me was on my honeymoon. My wife and I were staying on Dunk Island and went out for a dive to Beaver Reef, one of the many reefs on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. The set-up was a day trip on a large boat with around 100 people to big pontoon permanently anchored on the reef.

My wife and I were then taken a short distance away on a small boat to a dive site. The divemaster tied the dive boat to a buoy and we entered the water with another couple. The dive plan was to explore the reef around the buoy anchor.

We split from the other dive pair and did our own thing, keeping an eye on the buoy anchor all the time. I heard the sound of boat motors throughout the dive, but didn’t think anything of it as there were boats buzzing around on the surface taking divers and snorklers on their activities.

At the end of our dive we ascended and the boat was gone! I could see the pontoon and it was just a short swim away, but it was quite disconcerting to have no boat at the end of the dive.

We simply waited at the buoy, and in about ten minutes the divemaster came back and picked us up. The other dive couple had surfaced earlier and he taken them back to the pontoon.

This had a good ending, but could have easily turned bad. The divemaster could have forgotten us, we knew no-one else on the day trip and there was no way they could do a successful head count on the main boat.

We could have swum to the pontoon, but the entire episode once more reinforced the fact that scuba diver is a dangerous sport and safety vigilance by everyone concerned is extremely important.