sharks in the keys??
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philter4
New member
There is a charter boat out of West Palm Beach called Narcisis Dive Charters, they are off of Blue Heron Blvd, on sat morning they do a more experienced dive tour, the dives are a little deeper then 100 ft, but one of those sites is shark canyon, I've dove the site 50 or more times and seen sharks on most trips. There are no guarentees, but if I was looking I would start there.
While most reputable dive shops should remind you of this, I think it's worth repeating - you should not fly in any pressurized commercial aircraft for at least 18 hours after any dive activity, varying with depth and length of dive- and i personally prefer to wait at least 30 to be safe. It was a little unclear from your post, but it sounds like you have one day before you leave, and you want to dive and see sharks. If you are flying home, make sure you allow enough surface time to prevent decompression injury.
SeaJayInSC
New member
Unhpian, that's great advice. 
All of the major agencies used to agree to wait 24 hours after diving before getting on an airplane. Recently they changed that to 12 hours.
The latest from Diver's Alert Network (DAN) is that 12 hours is plenty sufficient... Very new information.
I was a part of the Flying After Diving study that came up with that information - the bottom line is that we found no reason to believe that you couldn't fly immediately after diving.
The "24 Hour Rule" was something based on whimsy from Jacques himself, when asked in the 1950's. Actual recent case studies supported that there was no significant cases of even Type 1 DCS even when given NO surface interval, and then brought to an altitude of 10,000 feet... The highest commercial airliners pressurize their cabin to.
...But to be conservative, they told the industry to cut from the standard 24-hour rule to 12 hours.
More information can be had on the Flying After Diving (FAD) study directly from DAN at Duke University's Hyperbaric Facility.
Yes, it's prudent to wait... But nobody's ever been bent from not waiting.
Use this information at your own risk.
All of the major agencies used to agree to wait 24 hours after diving before getting on an airplane. Recently they changed that to 12 hours.
The latest from Diver's Alert Network (DAN) is that 12 hours is plenty sufficient... Very new information.
I was a part of the Flying After Diving study that came up with that information - the bottom line is that we found no reason to believe that you couldn't fly immediately after diving.
The "24 Hour Rule" was something based on whimsy from Jacques himself, when asked in the 1950's. Actual recent case studies supported that there was no significant cases of even Type 1 DCS even when given NO surface interval, and then brought to an altitude of 10,000 feet... The highest commercial airliners pressurize their cabin to.
...But to be conservative, they told the industry to cut from the standard 24-hour rule to 12 hours.
More information can be had on the Flying After Diving (FAD) study directly from DAN at Duke University's Hyperbaric Facility.
Yes, it's prudent to wait... But nobody's ever been bent from not waiting.
Use this information at your own risk.
RicksReefs
New member
I never sweat the sharks usually, but a few years ago I was diving under the north end of the 7 mile bridge in about 20-25 feet of water, and I was concentrating on a little patch of rocks watching some gobies for about 10 minutes. some BIG tarpon came flashing thru, and I thought 'cool', and went back to checking the gobies.
a few minutes later, I was literally surrounded by hundreds of bull sharks. some a few feet over my head.
apparently, they congregate there every tide change for the snacks that come swimming thru from the bay/ocean and the tarpon where getting out of dodge.
after I got out of the water (I think my brown, octopus like ink jet confused them
), I went back to the dive shop that recommended the spot and 'asked' why he didn't let me know about the sharks. all I got was a 'oh, they do that at every tide change, I forgot to mention it, oops'.
I still dive the bridge, but now I stay a bit more aware of the tides.
a few minutes later, I was literally surrounded by hundreds of bull sharks. some a few feet over my head.
apparently, they congregate there every tide change for the snacks that come swimming thru from the bay/ocean and the tarpon where getting out of dodge.
after I got out of the water (I think my brown, octopus like ink jet confused them
), I went back to the dive shop that recommended the spot and 'asked' why he didn't let me know about the sharks. all I got was a 'oh, they do that at every tide change, I forgot to mention it, oops'.I still dive the bridge, but now I stay a bit more aware of the tides.
SeaJayInSC
New member
Don't be a smack.
MY dive computer has a "no fly" symbol for 12 hours after a dive. It's a brand new Suunto D6.
PADI's official stance on flying after diving can be found here: http://learntodive.co.uk/faq Number 16 addresses the flying after diving question.
Of course, I'm not a subscriber all of PADI's doctrine, and I don't feel that they're the end-all for information... So I recommend calling Duke University's Hyperbaric Facility (the most experienced and respected hyperbaric facility on the planet) and asking them for yourself. They are the ones that come up with the information that PADI uses to develop a stance on any hyperbaric issue... So calling them is like going directly to the source.
They'll tell you exactly what I just did - how do I know? Because I'm one of the ones that did the study.
...So why does your computer say not to fly for 24 hours? I don't know, my friend... I have no idea what the manufacturer based that decision on, and I'm pretty sure that they weren't there the day that we went from 60 fsw for 60 minutes to 10,000 ft in two minutes, with no resulting cases of DCS - in literally thousands of people.
...But you're welcome to believe what you want. After all, conservatism is always better, right? My grandfather thinks so... Perhaps you've seen him doing 45 mph in the left lane on I-95... He truly thinks he's the safest car on the road.
By the way... When you call Duke (you'll probably get the offices of Diver's Alert Network), ask them why everyone believes that they're supposed to wait 24 hours. It's a riot.
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SeaJayInSC
New member
Prior to his death in 2004, I asked Dr. Ed Thalmann the same thing as I was preparing to go into the chamber there at Duke. He had told me that there had never been a "Flying After Diving" study done before, and that there was no data published other than the data gleaned from the study that we were doing.
Naturally, I asked, "Then why do all of the agencies teach '24 hours' as the right amount of time to wait?" At that time (2002-2003), agencies like PADI, NAUI, SSI, YMCA, etc. all had been teaching for decades that a diver should wait 24 hours before diving, which naturally had caused millions of people to miss diving the last day of their vacation for many years.
The Good Doctor then told me that during the early 1960's Jacques Cousteau himself was interviewed by American military personnel who were developing a special ops team that would later be known as Navy SEALS. Since special ops personnel were often injected into a target area via diving yet airlifted out minutes later, there was concern as to the effects of lowering atmospheric pressure (altitude) on a person who is nitrogen-loaded (just been diving). Obviously, this would be an even bigger concern for these individuals than it would be for you, today, since many times they weren't flying in a cabin pressurized to 8,000-10,000 feet.
When pressed, Jacques reportedly said, "I don't know how long someone should wait before flying. We should do some research and find out the answer."
When told to 'venture a guess," he thought about it for a moment and said, "Waiting a day or two before getting into an airplane would probably be a good idea..."
...And the 24-hour myth was born, based on nothing but pure speculation. It was then taught by scuba instructors the world over... The more it was taught, the more the idea became accepted.
The truth is that there has never been a flying after diving study done (and therefore no factual data) until this one was done by Duke from about 2000 to 2005.
The data suggested what most experts already suspected - that flying even immediately after diving would have little, if any, effect on the body... Especially as compared, say, to a rapid ascent from depth.
Duke's official stance is to wait 12 hours, only because the medical industry has a very difficult time admitting it was incorrect and considers going from 24-hour wait times to 0-hour wait times a bit too aggressive. PADI has added that in some cases, six hours more should be added - but again, that's them being conservative. There is no data to support ANY wait time - in fact, the data suggests (as do thousands of cases of military personnel who were airlifted after diving - sometimes still dripping) that no wait time is necessary.
Naturally, I asked, "Then why do all of the agencies teach '24 hours' as the right amount of time to wait?" At that time (2002-2003), agencies like PADI, NAUI, SSI, YMCA, etc. all had been teaching for decades that a diver should wait 24 hours before diving, which naturally had caused millions of people to miss diving the last day of their vacation for many years.
The Good Doctor then told me that during the early 1960's Jacques Cousteau himself was interviewed by American military personnel who were developing a special ops team that would later be known as Navy SEALS. Since special ops personnel were often injected into a target area via diving yet airlifted out minutes later, there was concern as to the effects of lowering atmospheric pressure (altitude) on a person who is nitrogen-loaded (just been diving). Obviously, this would be an even bigger concern for these individuals than it would be for you, today, since many times they weren't flying in a cabin pressurized to 8,000-10,000 feet.
When pressed, Jacques reportedly said, "I don't know how long someone should wait before flying. We should do some research and find out the answer."
When told to 'venture a guess," he thought about it for a moment and said, "Waiting a day or two before getting into an airplane would probably be a good idea..."
...And the 24-hour myth was born, based on nothing but pure speculation. It was then taught by scuba instructors the world over... The more it was taught, the more the idea became accepted.
The truth is that there has never been a flying after diving study done (and therefore no factual data) until this one was done by Duke from about 2000 to 2005.
The data suggested what most experts already suspected - that flying even immediately after diving would have little, if any, effect on the body... Especially as compared, say, to a rapid ascent from depth.
Duke's official stance is to wait 12 hours, only because the medical industry has a very difficult time admitting it was incorrect and considers going from 24-hour wait times to 0-hour wait times a bit too aggressive. PADI has added that in some cases, six hours more should be added - but again, that's them being conservative. There is no data to support ANY wait time - in fact, the data suggests (as do thousands of cases of military personnel who were airlifted after diving - sometimes still dripping) that no wait time is necessary.
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yousmellsfishy
New member
Wow. Great pics. Thanks.
jdhuyvetter
SWFMAS Event Coordinator
I've been out to Looe Key a couple of times at the end of the day when the head boats leave. After all the tourists are gone, but before the sun sets, I have always seen sharks. Lots of nurse sharks and a few gray reef sharks.
jdhuyvetter
SWFMAS Event Coordinator
Technically, I'm a tourist too. I don't live in the Keys. I have a friend that does and we take his boat out. According to him, I was in the water with a Lemon shark a couple of weeks ago, but I never saw him!!
