Can You Drink the Night Before Scuba Diving?

“Are you for scuba?” While you may or may not have seen the internet meme, chances are you’ve heard of scuba diving.

Imagine you’re on vacation, enjoying the bliss of not having to worry about chores or deadlines when you realize that you might have indulged in one too many Mai Tais by the beach. The next morning, you’re left reaching for a couple extra hours of shut-eye and some painkillers to shake off the nagging headache. But if you’ve got a scuba dive on the agenda, those lingering effects of alcohol pose even greater risks. 

The haze of alcohol can impair our coordination and judgment, making it harder to stay safe and fully enjoy our underwater adventure. Before we dive in, let’s gear up with a better understanding of how drinking the night before can jeopardize our health and safety underwater.

Drinking and Diving: How Alcohol Affects Your Body

Tanning is our body’s natural response to ultraviolet (UV) exposure. UV rays from the sun penetrate the outer layers of our skin, triggering cells called melanocytes. 

Melanocytes produce melanin, which is the pigment responsible for giving our skin its color. So, we might think we’re just getting a sun-kissed glow from tanning, but it’s actually our body’s way of protecting itself from further damage.

Excessive exposure to UV rays damages skin cells, accelerates aging, and increases the risk of skin cancer. So, although we might be seeking that golden glow or that sun-kissed radiance that says “I just came back from vacation,” it’s important to understand the long-term effect tanning can have on our skin’s health. 

Drinking and Diving: How Alcohol Affects Your Body

Alcohol and scuba diving is a risky mix due to drinking’s effects on our body. Here are some effects that interfere with a safe dive.

• We’re at risk of getting “the bends.” When we dive, there’s a change in the pressure around us. Excess nitrogen builds up in the blood, and if the pressure changes too quickly, it doesn’t have a chance to dissolve and causes decompression sickness or “the bends.” Consuming alcohol before scuba diving increases risk of the bends by contributing to nitrogen narcosis, which is an impairment in function due to excess nitrogen in the nervous system. The nitrogen overload is caused by breathing compressed air during deep dives. 
• It’s harder to warm up. Alcohol can cause the body to lose heat, and diving can, too. Drinking before diving (and even after diving) makes it harder for the body to warm up and could lead to hypothermia.
• It strains the heart. Diving is hard on the heart as is, and when we add alcohol to the mix, our heart has to work extra hard. So, unless you meet an octopus down there offering to lend you one of its three hearts, it’s best to take care of the one you have and avoid the booze!
• We’re more dehydrated. Alcohol is a diuretic, meaning it increases urine production, causing our body to lose water. This dehydration impairs circulation, increases fatigue, and clouds mental clarity, making diving a lot more dangerous. It also affects our ability to eliminate nitrogen that builds up during a dive, raising the chance of decompression sickness. Decompression sickness happens when nitrogen bubbles form in our bloodstream and tissues, causing pain, weakness, and other health issues. 
• We’re unsteady. Alcohol throws off our balance and coordination, both of which are critical for diving. Divers need precise control to manage buoyancy, handle diving equipment, and maneuver through the water safely. Alcohol-induced unsteadiness can throw us off course, jeopardizing the safety and enjoyment of our dive. 
• We’re slower to respond. Alcohol is a depressant that dulls the communication between our brain and body. This makes it harder to react to unexpected situations. Sudden changes in underwater conditions are common when diving, and the ability to respond quickly and consciously is key to staying safe. 
• We have brain fog. Beyond slower reactions, alcohol also impairs our cognitive function, impacting judgment and decision making. This can affect everything from checking dive conditions to monitoring air supply and adjusting to pressure changes.

Now that we see how alcohol undermines our safety underwater, understanding the timeline of its effects helps explain why drinking the night before scuba diving could be a bad idea.

Can You Drink Before Diving? A Timeline of Alcohol’s Effects

To understand when it’s safe to dive after drinking, let’s break down how alcohol’s effects unfold over time. 

1. Moments After

Within 10 to 60 minutes after we drink, alcohol gets absorbed into our bloodstream. It travels quickly to our central nervous system (CNS), which is known as the body’s control center. 

Since alcohol is a depressant, it slows down communication within the CNS, leading to physical effects like reduced coordination and slower reaction time. It also leads to cognitive effects such as impaired judgment and lowered inhibitions. This is when we feel alcohol’s peak effects, making it the most dangerous time for diving. 

The effects of alcohol can seriously compromise our ability to dive safely. Impaired motor coordination and delayed cognitive function make handling scuba equipment and responding to underwater challenges more difficult. But that’s not all. Alcohol also disrupts our body’s oxygen and nitrogen absorption.

This can lead to serious complications such as hypoxia, where our body doesn’t receive enough oxygen, resulting in symptoms like difficulty breathing, confusion, and bluish skin. On the flip side, alcohol increases nitrogen absorption, increasing the risk of decompression sickness, and resulting in symptoms such as dizziness, pain, and fatigue. In short, drinking shortly before diving is a recipe for danger, affecting both our body’s physical responses and the way we handle pressure changes underwater. 

2. A Couple Hours Later

Roughly 1 to 6 hours after our last drink, blood alcohol levels start to drop as our liver works hard to break it down. Since the liver can only process about one standard drink per hour, alcohol can linger in our system for far longer than we realize, even when the initial buzz fades.

While the more apparent effects like feeling off-balance, euphoric, or disoriented may wear off, the subtler but equally dangerous aftereffects such as drowsiness, dehydration, and mental fog begin to creep in.

At this stage, even though we might feel more “sober,” our ability to properly manage our scuba equipment, respond to unexpected situations, navigate underwater environments, and follow safety protocols is still compromised. These lingering effects can reduce our ability to dive safely and respond to potential hazards underwater. 

3. The Hangover Hours

As our body processes more of the alcohol, about 6 to 12 hours after our last drink, the apparent effects of drinking like feeling tipsy and disoriented may fade.

That’s when hangover symptoms such as dizziness, nausea, headache, and dehydration can start to kick in. Even if we crash quickly after a night of drinking, alcohol disrupts our normal sleep cycle. That’s why we might end up tossing and turning, waking up way too early, and still feeling exhausted, no matter how long we slept. 

Even if we’re up early, we won’t exactly be ready to conquer the day. Lack of sleep and dehydration amplify hangover symptoms, making even simple tasks a challenge. Throw scuba diving into the mix, and those hangover symptoms can escalate, putting us at serious risk underwater. 

4. The Next Day

By about 12 to 24 hours after our last drink, alcohol can still be detected in some tests such as blood and breath tests, even though we’ll likely start to feel normal again. Everyone metabolizes alcohol differently, however, and those of us who are more sensitive to alcohol may still feel lingering effects.

Even if the majority of the alcohol is gone, the remnants of a hangover — such as brain fog, low motivation, and general lethargy can persist, affecting our daily activities. Scuba diving demands full alertness and physical fitness, so any lingering effects of alcohol can seriously impact our safety. This is why drinking the night before diving is not recommended. 

5. Twenty-Four Hours and Beyond

After 24 hours, most of the residual effects have most likely subsided. However, alcohol’s disruption of our sleep patterns and hydration levels might leave us still feeling off. For activities like scuba diving, which require optimal physical and mental performance, it’s crucial to listen to our body and gauge how we’re feeling. 

To ensure a safer and more enjoyable diving experience, it’s best to wait at least 24 hours after our last drink. This helps minimize risks and enhances our overall diving safety. 

From the initial effects that impair coordination to the lingering hangover symptoms that compromise our mental and physical state, the risks of drinking before diving are clear. With this in mind, it’s important to consider safer alternatives to prepare for a dive.

What About Drinking After Scuba Diving?

We can’t talk about drinking and diving without addressing the post-diving situation. We’ve talked about avoiding alcohol before scuba diving, but what about after? It’s best to wait at least a few hours after your dive, as alcohol can mask symptoms of decompression sickness even hours later. Heavy drinking should be avoided at all costs

Scuba Diving Safety Staples

Scuba diving is more than just a chance to explore the ocean — it’s an underwater adventure that takes us beyond a trip to the aquarium. With the help of specialized equipment, we can breathe underwater and explore the depths of the ocean. But this thrilling underwater experience comes with its own set of safety challenges because our body responds to the underwater environment and depth changes in unique ways.

Ever brought a bag of chips on an airplane and watched it puff up with the change in pressure? Something similar happens to our body when we dive, which is why preparing in advance and following safety guidelines are so important. Even though scuba diving certifications cover essential safety training or we’re diving with a certified instructor, it’s always good to brush up on the basics. Here are a few key tips:

• Check dive conditions. Before diving, check sea conditions and water temperature to make sure it’s safe to dive.
• Don’t hold your breath. Holding your breath might seem natural when going underwater, but you should not do it while descending or ascending because it prevents equalizing the air in your lungs. 
• Get familiar with the diving gear. Each piece of diving gear plays a crucial role in our diving safety. Understanding how they work and where everything is helps us respond quickly in an emergency situation. 
• Consider medical conditions. Scuba diving is taxing on the body and may not be safe for those with specific medical conditions.
• Stay hydrated. Dehydration affects the body’s ability to eliminate nitrogen, increasing the risk of decompression sickness, fatigue, and poor temperature regulation, so be sure to stay hydrated.
• Keep an eye on the air supply. Making sure we have plenty of air left prevents emergency ascents, which can be extremely dangerous and cause decompression sickness. 
• Descend slowly. It takes time to adjust to the change in pressure. Go slow to prevent issues like sinus pain, ruptured eardrums, and decompression sickness. 
• Avoid alcohol after the dive. As we mentioned earlier, it’s best to avoid alcohol for at least a few hours after a dive to avoid dehydration and masking symptoms of decompression sickness, and to avoid excessive drinking altogether.
• Wait before flying. When we dive, nitrogen builds up in our body. To avoid decompression sickness, our body releases nitrogen slowly to adjust to changes in air pressure. The Professional Association of Diving Instructors suggests waiting 12 hours after one dive or 18 hours after two dives before flying to prevent any risks. 

Now that we’ve covered the basics of scuba diving safety, let’s dive into how drinking and diving go against these safety rules.

Thinking About Drinking Before Scuba Diving? What To Do Instead

Before we reach for that pre-dive tropical cocktail, let’s explore some smarter ways to prepare for our underwater adventure — without the risks that come with alcohol. Consider these alternatives: 

• Make a hydrating mocktail. Dive into the fun with creative mocktails using electrolyte drinks or coconut water. Staying hydrated is essential for a successful dive. Just note that it’s best to avoid carbonated beverages to minimize gas buildup.
• Learn more about the dive site. Scuba dives are all about exploring the depths of the ocean, which we’re normally not able to see. Aside from checking dive conditions, research different coral or marine life to look out for. 
• Get a good night’s rest. Adequate rest ensures we have enough energy to get through this underwater adventure and make sure we’re clearheaded to respond to any emergency situations. 
• Do some light stretching. Loosen up with some light stretches to improve flexibility and prevent cramping.
• Practice breathing techniques. Deep breathing exercises can make underwater breathing feel more natural, keeping us calm and focused during our dive. 

By swapping out alcohol for healthier alternatives, we’ll feel more energized, clearheaded, and ready to fully enjoy our scuba diving experience.

Clear Waters Ahead

If you’re thinking about drinking before scuba diving, remember that the effects of alcohol linger long after the last drink. Just as a single misstep on land can lead to a tumble, a night of drinking before diving can compromise our safety underwater. Prioritize health and safety by steering clear of alcohol up to 24 hours before diving to ensure you’re ready to navigate the depths with clarity and confidence. Here’s to making every underwater adventure as thrilling as it is safe!