Scuba Diving

Scuba diving lets you breathe underwater and explore a whole new world of coral reefs, shipwrecks, and amazing sea creatures. It's an incredible adventure, but like any adventure, it has some risks.

The good news is that diving has a strong safety culture. Through training, careful planning, and using the right gear, divers can manage these risks very effectively. This page has interactive tools to help you understand two of the key risks: Decompression Sickness (a unique risk to diving) and the overall annual risk of a fatal accident. Use the dropdown menus below to see how different factors can change the risk.

Decompression Sickness (DCS)

Decompression Sickness, or "the bends," can happen when a diver comes up to the surface too quickly. It's a serious condition, but very rare on typical recreational dives. Your choices can make a big difference.

What is your age group? [{"Age_Selector":"Under 40 years old","DCS_Age_Multiplier":"1.0","Fatality_Age_Multiplier":"1.0"},{"Age_Selector":"40-49 years old","DCS_Age_Multiplier":"1.34","Fatality_Age_Multiplier":"1.5"},{"Age_Selector":"50-59 years old","DCS_Age_Multiplier":"1.81","Fatality_Age_Multiplier":"2.5"},{"Age_Selector":"60+ years old","DCS_Age_Multiplier":"2.43","Fatality_Age_Multiplier":"4.0"}]

What is your biological sex? [{"Sex_Selector":"Female","DCS_Sex_Multiplier":"1.0"},{"Sex_Selector":"Male","DCS_Sex_Multiplier":"2.11"}]

What kind of dive profile are you planning? [{"Profile_Selector":"Stayed within No-Decompression Limits","DCS_Profile_Multiplier":"1.0"},{"Profile_Selector":"Required mandatory decompression stops","DCS_Profile_Multiplier":"10.0"}]

Annual Fatality Risk

This is the average risk of a fatal incident over a full year of diving. It's based on data from a large group of active, safety-conscious divers. Unlike the DCS risk per dive, this risk is not affected by the choices you made above.

See the data page for all of the details on how these risks are calculated.

Initially created by Gemini 1.5.