Diving community: Diving during the COVID-19 period
It’s hard in this period to imagine a way of being together and diving. Diving activities are undoubtedly aggregation activities‚ where physical contact is natural. The joy of sharing the same passion‚ the fun of the boat trips‚ the light-heartedness of a diving holiday‚ all characterize diving activity.
Teaching to dive‚ where a student literally relies on you‚ the diving instructor‚ is an activity that highlights the need to establish close contact between people. The emotion‚ the satisfaction of leading a beginner by the hand to discover the underwater world‚ seems to become in sharp contrast to the condition in which we are forced to operate today.
We are faced with a difficult choice: to wait for the general situation to return to normal or to start thinking about a new way of diving.
For days we discussed whether it was appropriate to resume activities considering many factors‚ from economic convenience to anti-COVID-19 regulations and lack of tourist flows. But at the same time the more the days passed the more everyone was in a hurry to pick up their dive equipment‚ lift the cylinders and get back underwater!
In the end this desire to return to do what we love most prevailed. We have taken steps to make our activity safe and we have carefully put into practice everything necessary to start a new way of diving.
Although no business can guarantee zero risk‚ we have adopted a proactive policy to manage and reduce the threat of COVID-19 infection as much as possible. We are adopting the guidelines and recommendations issued by the organizations in charge of preventing corona virus infection‚ DAN and the Italian government.
We have equipped ourselves and implemented all the necessary prescriptions. All the staff of the dive center has been trained to better manage the routine activities of our dive center in order to mitigate the COVID-19 infection risk.
CUSTOMER ACCEPTANCE.
We recommend booking any diving activity at our dive center in advance. Before arrival at our dive center‚ it is recommended that the necessary forms are completed remotely / online. Access to the dive center will be regulated‚ respecting distances and avoiding gatherings.
Divers will be allowed access to our dive center only if equipped with personal protection devices (surgical mask and gloves) with the recommendation not to touch anything except what is strictly necessary.
Disinfectant gel will be available inside. In addition‚ the distances to be maintained will be marked with separation lines on the floor and areas where access is not allowed will be clearly indicated.
We would like to remind our divers not to visit our dive center if they have one or more symptoms of COVID-19 infection (fever‚ cough‚ tiredness or muscle pain‚ difficulty breathing‚ sore throat‚ lung infections‚ headache‚ loss of taste‚ diarrhea).
To avoid gatherings‚ non-participants (non-divers‚ non-snorkelers) will not be allowed to enter our dive center.
Payment methods will be preferably through the use of online methods (bank transfer)‚ or by debit or credit cards.
MANAGEMENT OF YOUR DIVING EQUIPMENT.
The storage of personal diving equipment inside our dive center will not be allowed. The diver will take care of the safekeeping and sanitization of his diving equipment.
The use of rinsing facilities for personal diving equipment in our dive center is prohibited.
We recommend disinfecting the mouthpiece of the second emergency stage before the dive begins.
RENTAL DIVE EQUIPMENT MANAGEMENT
Rental dive equipment will be disinfected as indicated by the sanitization recommendations‚ after each use. The areas of used dive equipment will be kept separate from the areas where the already disinfected equipment is stored. Access to customers in the area where the already disinfected equipment is stored is prohibited.
The rented material will be put in individual bags‚ marked with the diver';;;;;s name and sanitized after use. The delivery of the equipment will take place directly to divers.
After sanitation‚ the dive equipment will be safely stored‚ protecting the diving mask‚ regulators and snorkel in closed bags‚ to be removed exclusively by the costumer before use.
We would like to remind divers to sanitize their hands before touching the taps of the cylinders and valves‚ and the first stage connections during assembly and disassembly.
MEASURES ADOPTED ON THE ZODIAC DIVE BOAT
On the zodiac dive boat a safety distance of at least 1 meter between divers will be taken and the staff of our dive center will make sure that this recommendation will be respected by all divers.
For safety reasons‚ it is forbidden to take unnecessary and non-fundamental equipment on board.
The scuba kit (cylinder‚ BCD‚ regulator) will be loaded on board only when completely assembled. The staff of the dive center that will handle the dive equipment will be wearing gloves and a mask.
It is recommended to protect diving masks‚ snorkels and second stages of the regulators with bags or a protective layer that will be removed only shortly before use.
The use of saliva to defog a diving mask is not recommended and an ecological defog spray will be available on board.
All divers must wear the anti-COVID-19 protection mask before and during navigation. It is forbidden to touch the equipment of other divers.
There will be hand sanitizer gel on board
The safety distanced must also be respected during entry and exit procedures and gathering should also be avoiding in water at the surface.
BUDDY CHECK AND AIR SHARING
Buddy Check: avoid touching the equipment of other divers‚ especially items that come in close contact with the diver';;;;;s face and mouth. It is recommended for divers to perform a visual check on their diving buddy‚ with self-demonstration and verbal confirmations.
Air sharing: in case of emergency‚ it is recommended to use the partner';;;;;s alternative air source‚ properly sanitized before diving. Avoid donating the regulator from which you are breathing (e.g. Tec diving equipment set-up).
These are in summary some of the operational changes that will be adopted in our diving center. We hope we can give a minimum of tranquility and light-heartedness to all our friends and diving customers who want to resume diving.
Let';;;;;s try to start again in some form of new normality. These are our current "Evasioni Blu"‚ our current blue escapes. This is our way to escape from heaviness and the difficulties that we have experienced during this period and during these days of lockdown. Our daily dosis of vitamin SEA.
References:
Ministero delle Infrastrutture e dei Trasporti
