The Editor says: Many people have been asked by friends whether scuba diving is actually safe. The truth is, diving is a series of SOPs — as long as you follow the guidelines, it's a perfectly safe outdoor activity. While the grass isn't always greener on the other side, by understanding Australia's highly regarded Lookout system, I believe we can significantly raise the standard of diving safety in Taiwan.
My previous articles focused on dive travel and life in Australia. This time, I'd like to look at diving from a different angle.
I still remember watching the instructional videos during my Open Water Diver course — a foreign instructor speaking in perfectly clear, articulate English, telling us to give an OK signal when we entered or exited the water so the crew on board would know we were alright. Back in class, I dutifully followed along. But most of my subsequent dives were in Malaysia, mostly boat dives on small vessels, and over time I started thinking nobody was really watching anyway — so I gradually stopped making that little gesture. It wasn't until I started working on a boat in Australia that I truly understood just how important that signal was.
When working on the boat, one crew member would be assigned as the Lookout, standing watch from the top deck. When I first started, it was the Australian winter, and I thought the Lookout had the easiest job — no braving the cold to get in and out of the water, just watching over everyone and waiting for divers to return. It seemed like you didn't have to deal with filling tanks, making small talk with passengers, or taking on the responsibility of leading a dive. But after the captain explained the importance of the role, my entire perception of it changed.
On a clear day, you can see the divers' silhouettes perfectly beneath the surface
One time while I was on watch, I struck up a conversation with a passenger who hadn't gone diving. About two minutes in, the captain spotted us and sternly told me to stop — and asked the passenger not to chat with me either.
On this boat, the most important person isn't me, and it isn't the supervisor — it's the Lookout. The Lookout is the first line of defence for diver safety. If something happens to a diver, the Lookout is the first person to be held responsible, before anyone else — including the captain.
The captain told me this with complete seriousness, and instructed me to walk a full circuit around the boat every minute or so to check on the divers. Later, after the dive session ended, he pulled me aside again to emphasise how seriously he took the role. "I've had a diver get into trouble right under a Lookout's watch — and we didn't get them back. That kind of thing leaves a lasting psychological scar on the person who was on watch. That's why, whenever a new crew member joins, if they can't do the Lookout's job properly, it doesn't matter how talented they are — I won't have them on my boat. Because if an accident happens, it causes enormous harm to both the diver and the Lookout themselves."
What Is a Lookout?
When standing watch on deck, we are required to wear sunglasses, a high-visibility vest, sun-protective or thermal clothing, and to carry a pair of binoculars, a radio, and a whistle at all times. We walk a full circuit around the boat every minute or so — and even the side furthest from the reef must be monitored, because divers can surface in the most unexpected places.
If a lost diver is spotted, the first step is to use the whistle to get their attention and check on their status. Then observe their condition — if they don't signal OK, or if after five minutes they're not swimming back, or if they appear increasingly fatigued or are clearly being pushed by a strong current, the Lookout radios the crew in the equipment area to send out the tender to retrieve them.
Standard kit for a professional Lookout
During my training, I took part in several drills — two of which had the most direct relevance to the Lookout role: the separated dive buddy drill and the unconscious diver on the surface drill.
The Lookout Training Experience
A separated dive buddy will normally follow standard procedure and spend no more than a minute searching underwater before ascending to the surface to reunite. What most people don't realise is what to do if your buddy isn't on the surface when you get there. If you surface and your dive buddy is nowhere to be seen, you should immediately inform the Lookout. The Lookout then radios the crew, and once the supervisor gives the command to initiate a search, all crew members begin preparing for a search-and-rescue operation and readying emergency equipment.
When a separated buddy situation occurs, the Lookout must redouble their focus in searching for the missing diver. While volunteering with Mike Ball Dive Expeditions, I happened to be there for a separated buddy drill. The captain played the lost diver — he and one of the instructors went in together, and then without warning the instructor surfaced and told the crew the captain had gone missing. The supervisor deployed one crew member for an underwater search (the instructor held a solo diving certification), one crew member for a snorkelling search, and one crew member for the tender. The remaining crew on board were tasked with helping the Lookout scan for the missing diver's bubbles. In the end, we found the mischievous captain not far from the boat.
One drill during my training that left a particularly strong impression on me was the unconscious diver on the surface scenario. The captain told us a drill would be happening that day but didn't tell us which dive it would occur on — on a liveaboard, you typically do five dives a day. I was on watch at the top of the boat as usual. About halfway through the dive, I spotted a diver lying motionless at the bow. I immediately recognised it as the drill, and reached for my radio to notify the instructors in the equipment area — only to find my radio had switched itself off. I quickly restarted it and successfully continued with the unconscious surface diver rescue protocol. From the top deck, I had to help the tender operator navigate toward the unconscious diver, relay the rescue status to the supervisor and captain on board, and — since the dive session hadn't ended — continue monitoring all the other divers still in the water at the same time. After the drill, the captain debriefed us together and pointed out that I had taken too long — over two minutes — to notify the equipment area about the unconscious diver. That alone spoke volumes about how critical the Lookout's role truly is.
During a night diving watch, you can track the position of every group of divers — and you get a surprisingly clear sense of what might be happening beneath the surface. The light from divers' Flash Lights filters up through the water column and glows on the surface; looking down from the top deck, it's like staring at an oil painting. If you see a torch spinning frantically in circles, you know: "Uh oh — someone's lost their dive buddy." If you see a blue UV light and a regular night dive light converging, you know: "Ah — someone's snuck into the wrong group and crashed the fluorescent night dive." If the boat happens to be anchored at an unfamiliar site, the occasional lost diver will need to be picked up by the tender. Night watch is generally easier in terms of keeping track of divers because you can actually see where they are, and people tend to dive more conservatively at night — but when something does go wrong, the tension is that much sharper.
The Lookout is usually also the first person to see — or feel — changing weather conditions. A few weeks ago, a tropical cyclone moved into the area near our boat. Before conditions fully deteriorated, divers were allowed in the water, but midway through the dive the wind picked up to 30 knots. I stood watch in heavy rain and gusting winds, struggling to keep my footing, but I kept making my rounds around the deck with professional dedication. The captain, watching from the bridge as I got pushed around by the wind, was grinning ear to ear.
The storm rolling in
The Lookout's duties may seem straightforward, but the responsibility is enormous.
Next time you're on a dive and you spot the Lookout watching over you, make sure to give them a big OK.
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