Diving is quite safe as long as you know how to follow certain safety precautions that are usually imparted by guides and dive masters before an open water dive. One of them is to forego diving when you are not comfortable with the parameters of the dive or having some problems with your respiratory tract or nasal area. This makes equalizing difficult. You should also be aware of the hand signals of your dive master or guides. They could be warning you of a potential danger in the form of an obstacle or a poisonous marine creature. You should also remember to ascend slowly while breathing normally. After a dive, head to the hospital immediately if you feel any unusual symptoms like tingling or numbness in any part of your body. Also, when packing for the trip, always include a first aid kit. With these things in mind, diving does not have to be dangerous.

Although diving is a very calm activity that does not require a high fitness level, one must always be aware that the water is not a safe area to be in. One can encounter marine creatures that contain poisonous spikes. Aside from such forms of marine life, there are some medical conditions that one must watch out for.

Inner ear barotrauma, for example, is a condition you may encounter if you have some problems with equalizing. This is accompanied by dizziness and loss of hearing. Another medical condition that you should be aware of is pulmonary barotrauma which can happen because of improper breathing while ascending to the surface. Symptoms of this are chest pains, shortness of breath and hoarseness. You can also acquire arterial gas embolism if your ascent is too fast. Symptoms of these are numbness or tingling of the skin. Weakness or paralysis may follow so you'd better head to the nearest hospital if you end up with any of these symptoms. You should also watch out for decompression sickness which can cause the dysfunction of the spinal cord, brain and lungs.

Remember that all of these conditions are very serious and require immediate medical attention. You should also make sure that you listen to your diving instructor or guide to avoid such problems.

Diving is a fairly safe recreational activity. It is a very relaxing recreational activity that does not need a high fitness level. Like other sports, there are some medical problems associated with diving. The most common are ear squeezes. Because of the difference in pressure between your ear spaces and the atmosphere around you as you go deeper. Sometimes, these squeezes can also affect the inner ear and sinus. These incidents are very rare though. Because of poor buoyancy control and unnoticed obstacles, cut, scrapes and other injuries to the arms and legs are possible, especially for people who are not wearing a wetsuit. Contact with some marine life can also cause itching and swelling. For this reason, you must refrain from touching formations and marine life that they may found under the sea. Always pay attention to your guide’s hand signals. When he’s fingers are curled into a fist, stay away from what he is pointing at or you might end up ascending while itching and scratching.

Diving is not like a trip to the golfing range or the tennis court. It cannot be a spur of the moment activity. Planning should several days before your dive. You should be tuned in to weather reports before your dive. Also, you need to call up the dive resorts in order to know the work schedules of their expert divers and dive shops as well as the charter availability. Having an alternate dive location is also very important. This way, unfavorable conditions in one diving site would not impede you from pushing through with your dive. Keeping these pointers in mind will make it easy for you to plan a successful dive.

Runaway ascents happen because the lungs expand as a diver ascends. Since going up too fast can be detrimental to a diver, slowing down your ascent is very important. In order to release the expanding air in your lungs, keeping your airway open is very important. You should also let out some air from your BC. During the last 30 feet, flaring your body and arching your body like a sky diver will also slow down your ascent. If you experience any numbness or tingling, you should report this incident because both are signs of DCS.

Buoyancy control is very important in diving. Knowing how to do this can save a lot of coral formations from being destroyed. This can be a little bit tricky because our lungs tend to expand as we go up. A little push of the button can take us higher than we expected. And, when we push the button for descending, we may end up crashing on the corals.

Before entering the water, you should do some buoyancy tests at the surface. With your BC completely deflated, try to hold an upright and motionless position. If the weights on your weight belt are properly distributed, you will float in the water at eye level. You can also try inhaling and exhaling in that position. You will notice that you'll descend every time you exhale and ascend every time you inhale. Once you've achieved the proper breathing pattern, you don't need to depend on ascending and descending with your BC too much.

Equalizing can be one of the most the challenging skills that a diver should develop. In order to stand it better, you should know what goes on when a person is equalizing. This involves opening up the eustachian tubes in order to allow the high pressure in the throat to travel to your middle ears. By doing this, the pressure in your middle ears will equal the pressure around you, preventing you from experiencing immense pain and encountering potential damages to the delicate mechanisms of your ear.

The most popular method for equalizing is the Vasalva Maneuver which involves pinching one's nose and blowing gently, forcing the tubes to open with air pressure. You can also try swallowing every few minutes before entering the diver. This will allow you to get used to the "popping" that you feel in your ears whenever you swallow. This is the feeling that you are looking for when you try to do the Valsalva Maneuver under water. During your descent, do this feet first because it makes it easier for you to open your Eustachian tubes. You should also try looking up when you do your Valsalva Maneuver because extending your neck can help in opening your eustachian tubes.

You can join one of the tours in the Bahamas where you will get to spot some Hammerheads and Reef sharks. You will also get to view some Spotted dolphins, caves and wrecks during this tour. Of course, the best experience you’ll have in this tour would be viewing a Tiger Shark up close in the safety of a cage. You will also be accompanied by a safety crew that would ensure your safety as you view and film the mighty beasts gliding in the water.  If you feel like getting a bigger scare, you can also have a date with a Great White, you can take a trip to Isla Guadalupe and go cage diving. Nothing can be more exciting than viewing this powerful beast from a cage. Best of all, you don’t need to be certified to go cage diving. 

When diving with sharks, you should always be alert and aware of your surroundings. Also, just like all dives, you should know what you're getting into before diving into the water. You should take some time to research on the depth and visibility of the water as well as the types of sharks that frequent the place. When you see a shark, you should make sure that you always know where it is before it leaves the vicinity. Try to stay crouched down on the sand and be as motionless as possible while it is there. Sharks tend to be very agitated when there is a lot of movement. These are some of the precautions that you should follow when diving with sharks.

Unlike the vicious, man-eating monster that was popularized by the movie, Jaws, sharks don't usually attack humans. As a matter of fact, in 2006, only 62 shark attacks were reported worldwide. Among these 62 attacks, only 5 were fatal. Most of the recorded shark attacks happened in the United States. Among the 360 species of sharks, divers should keep an eye out for the great white, tiger, oceanic whitetip and bull sharks. These four sharks have caused most of the recorded, unprovoked attacks. The other sharks, however, are considered to be very shy. Some of them, however, have been involved in unprovoked attacks which are caused by mistaken identity. Sharks sometimes mistake humans for seals. Because these sharks do realize their mistake after one bite, they usually end up swimming away from a human. For this reason, sharks like the blacktip reef shark do not cause fatal wounds that may lead to death.