Essential Safety Knowledge for Scuba Diving: The Boat Dive Briefing Is Critical — Always Listen to Your Dive Guide's Instructions!

the Editor says: As scuba diving grows ever more popular, divers increasingly prefer boat dives to reduce physical exertion and reach mysterious dive sites that shore diving simply cannot access. That said, boat diving involves far more variables. In addition to mastering basic boat-diving skills, divers need to pay close attention to the specific characteristics and rules of each vessel to avoid unfortunate incidents. That makes the all-too-often-overlooked dive briefing even more critical! We'd like to thank The Siren Athena for their professional insights, which help us understand how the international diving community views the importance of the boat dive briefing.

Safety Briefing Before a Boat Scuba Dive

A pre-dive safety briefing matters enormously — yet how many divers actually take it seriously? As a matter of policy, for every group that checks in, we insist that all divers sit down and listen to Coach Athena's nearly one-hour briefing covering dive safety and procedures (separate from the dive-site briefing). A condensed version of the content is presented below.

What We Call the "Arrival Briefing" Overseas

1. Introduction to the dive vessel and its facilities
2. How to board and disembark the liveaboard's tender (rubber dinghy)
3. Space usage and personal-item storage — for example, sunglasses, face masks, and towels must be secured so they don't fly overboard
4. Locations of life jackets, fire extinguishers, the CO₂ room, and the emergency oxygen cylinder (just like an airline, a demonstration of how to put on the life jacket should be provided)
5. Do not flush toilet paper — dispose of it in the bin provided
6. How to use the stairs on larger dive vessels — a demonstration should be given to all passengers
7. Seasickness management: never stay in the toilet (the smell will make seasickness worse), and never go to the stern alone in case you fall overboard
8. During night passages on a liveaboard, never stand alone at the stern or along the side rail (in the worst case, a missing passenger might not be noticed until morning roll call)
9. Location of the camera rinse tank and important reminders (never use the same bucket to rinse your mask — photography enthusiasts will object)
10. Fresh water is limited; if you shower between dives, please conserve — you'll shower again in your cabin anyway
11. No smoking near the compressor; the designated smoking area will be indicated, and cigarette butts must never be thrown into the ocean
12. Daily schedule: dive times and meal times — Dive–Eat–Sleep–Repeat
13. Coach Athena's self-introduction
14. Introduction of the full crew and the dive team

(During the briefing, all divers, the dive team, and the entire crew — including the captain — are present throughout.)

Conduct the Briefing as if Every Diver Is a Complete Beginner — Boat Dive Briefing

Our Ukrainian operations manager always says: No Briefing. No Diving. If you haven't attended the boat-dive safety briefing, you don't get in the water. This briefing is usually held on the first morning of the liveaboard, before diving begins. Like the Arrival Briefing, it takes close to an hour. If anyone is late, the whole group waits — after all, a dive trip spans several days, and everyone must respect the group's schedule. No one gets to be the boss just because they paid money. It all starts with punctuality.

1. Notification of national marine park regulations and penalties for violations (for example, in Thailand's Similan Islands, tickle sticks and gloves are prohibited)
2. Marine conservation education: how to interact with marine life
3. Geographic introduction to the dive sites
4. Compensation policy for lost rental weights and scuba equipment
5. How to assemble scuba gear and confirm the cylinder is at 200 bar or 3,000 psi
6. Completing the enriched air nitrox (EANx) log
7. Review of the PADI (certification agency) buddy check
8. Entry method from the dive vessel (liveaboards typically install a monitor on the dive deck connected to the wheelhouse — the captain gives the signal, and divers enter when they hear the horn); descent procedure and air consumption awareness
9. Buddy distance and dive guide positioning
10. Photography etiquette (watch where your fins are)
11. Air check hand signals (unified signals); begin the return ascent below 100 bar
12. NDL (no-decompression limit) hand signals; start moving to shallower depth when 10 minutes remain
13. The decompression signal; divers are informed that once they enter deco, they are required to rest for 24 hours before diving again
14. Air changes during ascent and how to respond
15. Five-metre, three-minute safety stop
16. Protect your head during ascent; the first thing to do upon surfacing is to fully inflate your BCD
17. All divers cluster near the surface marker buoy (SMB) so the captain can clearly see where everyone has surfaced
18. Technique for climbing the ladder in full scuba gear: hand the camera up first, then remove fins
19. Hold the railing and return to your original seat; weights should be stowed under the seat
20. Underwater hand-signal review (current signals are almost never covered in Taiwan)
21. Emergency one-minute procedure
22. Emergency recall signal while underwater (three knocks on the ladder, pause, three more knocks, repeated three times)
23. Drinking alcohol between dives is treated as forfeiting all remaining dives for that day
24. No jumping, freediving, hot springs, or strenuous exercise within 24 hours after diving

(The briefing content is extensive and adjusted according to local regulations — the above is a partial list of examples. If you'd like to hear the full version, you're welcome to join one of our dive trips.)

Some dive operators in Taiwan feel that following Athena's approach is not cost-effective time-wise. But as lead instructors, if something hasn't been covered and an incident occurs, the responsibility falls on us. We therefore prefer to spend extra time making the rules crystal clear — and enforcing them strictly.

A recent example: when divers collected their equipment, each one was reminded to check that their BCD pocket contained a surface marker buoy (SMB). The reminder was repeated again when everyone assembled their gear on board. Yet at the end of the trip, one diver reported never having received an SMB and was therefore unable to return it. Regrettably, we still had to charge a loss fee. The briefing had made everything perfectly clear — if the SMB was never received, why wasn't that raised immediately? The other divers all heard the briefing, and we were indeed short one SMB.

Real Incidents That Occurred During Instructor-Led Boat Dives:

1. On the surface, divers habitually press down on the dive guide's surface marker buoy (SMB) — this happens both in Taiwan and abroad, and it leaves Coach Athena deeply frustrated. While the boat is moving to pick up divers, if our position isn't spotted immediately, everyone ends up waiting longer on the surface. In the worst case, this creates a serious safety hazard: the risk of being struck by the hull. A reminder: when your BCD is fully inflated, you won't sink — so please do not push down on the SMB. And touching the water won't cause hypoxia or drowning — so please do not press down on the SMB.
2. When moving around the boat in full gear, always hold the railing — and we mean properly hold it. We demonstrate the correct technique for divers. Never carry a camera while moving around the vessel; ask a crew member to carry it for you. One diver from Dubai, excited after his very first dive, was walking toward the stern holding his brand-new camera housing when he lost his footing, fell, and tragically broke his leg. He had to receive immediate medical attention. On what was supposed to be his first-ever liveaboard, he didn't complete a single dive — the next day he flew back to Dubai for surgery.
3. The giant stride entry is something we stress over and over again. During the briefing we demonstrate it time and again, and we repeat the reminder at the dive deck: "BCD half-inflated, right hand securing the mask, palm protecting the regulator, left hand securing the hose and weight belt, lean forward and down, take one big stride out." And yet, some divers still don't follow through — entering with their mask coming off, or spreading both arms like a skydiver and jumping in, dramatically increasing the risk of entry.
4. A dive instructor is not a doctor. Divers frequently approach instructors with questions like: "Can I dive with a detached retina?" or "I have epilepsy but I've dived before without any problems — why do I need a doctor's note?" Some people have a persistent tendency not to leave professional medical questions to qualified doctors… and when a professional (an instructor) does offer advice, the response is as shown in the next incident.
5. During a boat dive at Kenting, divers were repeatedly reminded not to walk around the boat while wearing their weight systems, to avoid accidentally dropping a weight belt on their foot. Unfortunately, those warnings went in one ear and out the other. At least the reminder was heard by everyone present — it can't be said the instructor never mentioned it.
6. Divers were reminded that before deploying a delayed surface marker buoy (SMB), they should run through the steps with the instructor first to make sure everything looks correct before adding air — this prevents line-reel tangles and avoids rocketing to the surface. Somehow, one diver decided to deploy the SMB on their own from a distance away, and shot to the surface at dolphin speed.
7. When exiting the water and climbing the ladder, never position yourself directly below another diver on the ladder — there were still divers who couldn't follow the instructor's directions. If someone's head gets struck by a falling cylinder, how on earth could Coach Athena compensate the mother who worked so hard to bring that person into the world? Every single time, the instructor takes on personal risk to pull people out of danger.
8. On one trip at Green Island, despite being told repeatedly that divers must never hug the ladder to remove their fins when there is surge, one particular diver was convinced this was perfectly safe and would actually help them stabilize while removing their fins. Then a wave surged through — the violent change in water level brought the ladder crashing toward the diver's shoulder. Acting on instinct, Athena pulled the diver back, and in doing so suffered a pelvic injury. What made it worse was that the diver never said a word of thanks. Instead, they criticized Coach Athena for having insufficient boat-diving experience and knowing less about exit procedures than they did — claiming that was why she got hit by the ladder.
9. Propellers are dangerous — and yet there are still divers who, upon hearing a vessel passing overhead, have no sense of urgency whatsoever and don't even think to vent a little air from their BCD to descend slightly. Just watching makes you break into a cold sweat.

Overseas, a dive guide is neither a babysitter nor a bodyguard — they are a guardian of the ocean leading divers on an underwater tour. If a diver's skills are not up to standard, that is the responsibility of the certifying instructor. If a diver starts drifting toward the surface, the guide deploys the SMB to prevent the diver from being struck by a boat — the guide has no obligation to race up after the diver and physically pull them back. This matter prompted one British liveaboard manager to write to PADI (certification agency) QA asking why an instructor had issued certification to a diver whose skills did not meet the required standard. This article is not meant as criticism; rather, it is a call for everyone to reflect together on how Taiwan's diving culture can catch up with international standards, how to manage risk on boat dives, and how to minimize danger and losses.

Special thanks to the liveaboard operators in the Philippines, Thailand, and Palau for giving Coach Athena such invaluable professional experience, and to all the divers and dive shops who could tolerate our insistence on skill-based grouping for boat dives and who understood that attending the safety briefing is mandatory before entering the water. With everyone's cooperation and shared commitment to following dive guidelines, we dive with confidence.

Related links:

• The Siren Athena Facebook Page
• Understand the Advanced Open Water (AOW) Certification in 3 Minutes