Can you get motion sickness scuba diving?
Hi, I'm considering buying my boyfriend a 'learn to scuba dive' holiday to the Red Sea, but have one concern - he gets severe motion sickness. He gets it in the car, and from playing computer games like the Wii, and got it really bad last year from floating in the waves on holiday. So, for anyone that also tends to suffer from motion sickness and has been diving, would this be an issue? The problem is I can't quite imagine what it's like when you are so far underwater - i.e. is it completely still as you are under the waves, or does the tide still push and pull you around a bit? Sorry for sounding thick! Cheers for any help...
He has my sympathy.
While I'm always happy to encourage people to learn to dive, signing him up for a boat-based course is probably not a good idea. If your boyfriend is that sensitive, then he will most likely start feeling ill on the journey to the dive site, or bobbing around at the surface before his dive (while his group enters the water and assembles at the descent line).
Even though (to answer your question) there is very little below-surface wave movement at most Red Sea dive sites (and especially not the ones habitually used for basic training), if he's already feeling nauseous at the surface it would not be sensible to then ask him to submerge wearing unfamiliar life-support gear. (Although it is possible to vomit underwater through a regulator mouthpiece, doing so requires some presence of mind, and is not recommended if it can be avoided).
That said, it is possible (and indeed, common) to do a completely shore-based SCUBA course in many parts of the Red Sea. Basically, anywhere other than Hurghada is good, but Na'ama Bay in Sinai and Makadi Bay on the mainland are particularly well-suited (Dahab is also a possibility for shore-based training, but the training sites are pretty well hammered, and the nicer sites are around 20-30 minutes' jeep ride from most of the dive centres.
The basic skills training will be done either in a hotel/dive-centre pool, or in shallow water off a sheltered beach, and the qualifying dives are done from a jetty out over the 'house reef', or simply by venturing out a little deeper from the same beach. Although this will still require some bobbing around at the surface for the surface-based skills (e.g. tired diver tows, equipment removal/ replacement), it will be in relatively shallow, sheltered water rather than the open sea.
It's common practice for dive centres to include a 'boat-day' for the last 2 dives of the Open Water course (and the really high-class ones do all 4 qualifying dives off a boat), but if you specifically request a fully shore-based course, then a good centre will be happy to oblige (and the really good centres might even give you a discount--if you ask nicely!).
If your boyfriend really wants to go out on a diveboat, he's going to need some form of anti-seasickness treatment. There are various over-the-counter medications that can reduce the symptoms (provided one takes them in good time, i.e. before getting on the boat), which aren't contraindicated for SCUBA diving. He would need to to speak to a doctor about this though, especially if he's already taking medications for anything else. There are also various non-medicated methods for dealing with seasickness--acupressure bracelets, and fresh (or tablet) ginger can work for some people.
Hope it all works out for you. If you have any more questions about diving in general, PADI dive training, or the Red Sea, feel free to email me through Y!A.
Red Sea Diving Movie 2010 part 2
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