Scuba diving is a sporting activity regulated by the Royal Decree 550/2020, of June 2, 2024, determining the safety conditions for diving activities.
Documentation required for diving in Spain
This regulation states that the documents for diving, common to all autonomous communities within Spanish territory, are:
Medical certificate or responsible declaration
Only medical examinations performed by specialist doctors with official certification in hyperbaric medicine are valid for recreational diving. They are the ones with the deepest understanding of how the physics of diving affects our physiology and, consequently, are the only ones qualified to certify that our condition is suitable for the safe practice of this sport.
Official diving certification
The minimum qualification for scuba diving, whether on your own (always with a buddy) or through an authorized diving center, is the Open Water Diver qualification, which qualifies you for diving to depths of 18 meters.
Diving-specific medical assistance insurance
Having diving insurance is mandatory from the moment you obtain your Open Water Diver certification and become a diver, and as we mentioned, it is the diver's responsibility to update it and keep it current when diving, even if no one asks you to.
For more information about the necessary documentation, you can access our article “What documents do you need to dive?” from this link:
Importance of diving training and certification:
To enjoy diving safely and ensure that the experience is always satisfying and exciting, beyond simply complying with regulations, it is essential that divers understand that there is specific training for each diving level and type of dive, and that it is their responsibility to always dive within their own limits and capabilities.
Despite what may be the case with other activities, experience isn't everything in diving. There are specific training courses without which it's impossible to acquire the essential knowledge and skills to enjoy different forms of diving and more demanding environments.
So, although there are still people who don't recognize the value of proper training because they want to save a few euros or because they think they already know everything, the reality is that it's legally mandatory to have a diving certification appropriate for the dive you've completed. Here are some examples of the certifications required for different diving options.
- Open Water Diver: : Enables you to dive autonomously (not solo) up to 18 m in uncovered environments.
- Enriched Air Nitrox: Specialty course that qualifies you to dive with Nitrox up to 40%, allowing you to enjoy more bottom time at medium depths (not to be confused with more time at greater depths, which is a common mistake).
- Deep Diving: Specialty course that qualifies you to dive below 18m and up to 40m, taking into account, in theory and practice, the effects of depth such as nitrogen narcosis and increased consumption.
- DPV: Specialty course that qualifies you to operate an underwater propulsion system while diving.
If you want more information about our diving courses, You can consult them by clicking here
Risks of diving without training
The risks are mainly twofold: You compromise your safety and enjoyment. Added to this is the fact that if you dive beyond your training and aren't certified, it doesn't matter if you have the best insurance on the market or are diving with a dive center—in the event of an accident, you won't be covered.
For example, if your Open Water Diver certification is valid, your training must enable you to dive to depths of 18 meters. If you still ignore your training level or dive with centers that don't respect it, you risk, at the very least, a negative experience and seriously jeopardize your safety due to your lack of knowledge of the specifics of deep diving.
We know of many cases of people who, even after a diving experience of this type, give up forever, forgoing the other fascinating experiences they could have had simply by being prepared and having received the proper training.
Of course, dive centers are required to provide information about the level of each dive and/or adapt it to the divers' level, but as certified independent divers, the ultimate responsibility lies with them.
Dangers of diving with uncertified mini-tanks and surface compressors
In the last year, devices have become popular that, when used for their intended purpose and by trained personnel, are very interesting. However, in the hands of unqualified individuals or those without knowledge of the risks of diving, they could cause injuries as serious as lung overexpansion or ruptured eardrums due to barotrauma.
The most alarming thing is that its purchase does not require any kind of qualification, and we have even seen advertisements that encourage unsupervised use by children.
We're talking about the famous mini diving tanks and we're going to be very clear about this:
Diving is a safe activity when you have the knowledge and certification to do it, but without it, it poses a high risk that can lead to very serious health consequences.
Lung overexpansion and decompression sickness
The main serious problems that can arise in diving when a proper dive plan is not planned or followed are lung overexpansion and decompression sickness.
A common misconception is that these can't occur at shallow depths or during short dives, but the reality is that they can, and if you don't have diving knowledge, the chances of suffering from them are very high.
Lung overexpansion is a barotrauma, a tissue injury caused by a pressure change that compresses or expands the gases contained in various body structures.
Decompression sickness is a disorder in which nitrogen, dissolved in the blood and tissues due to high pressure, forms bubbles when the pressure decreases.
The risk of running out of air when using mini tanks while diving.
In addition to the direct risk of running out of air underwater, triggering stress or panic that lead to irrational behavior, if you inhale compressed air and hold your breath during ascent, your lung volume will exceed the natural space of your rib cage, and in just a few meters you can suffer lung overexpansion, causing a pressure injury to the lungs.
Reckless use of mini-bottles due to lack of experience in divers
Mini scuba tanks are not toys, even though they may look like one. They are very small pressurized air containers, but they function exactly like standard scuba tanks and carry the same risks despite their smaller size.
Therefore, they must be used under the same conditions, by qualified and certified individuals, and taking into account a diving plan.
They can be very useful, for example, for cleaning boat hulls, for short dives for inspection work on conservation projects, as a safety element in emergencies... for anything you can think of as a diver, considering their limited air supply.
They should not be used as an air repertoire for freediving (if you are a qualified freediver you will understand why, and if you are not and are curious We will be happy to tell you) and much less as a beach toy for children.
The importance of checking diving equipment
The term "good, beautiful, and cheap" doesn't always apply to products we buy online without professional advice. This is especially true because, without the necessary experience and training, the choice we make is likely to be unsuitable for our needs, leading to a negative or even risky experience.
Furthermore, in many cases, if you only consider the good marketing of almost all diving equipment sales platforms, you are not really considering whether that product fits your personal expectations or the specific use you are going to give it, so it is very likely that you will have to invest again in a more suitable product later, which will mean a waste of time and money.
For example, if you're very sensitive to cold and search online, you'll find that the best diving suit for this is a dry suit, and you can buy it without having to prove your fitness. It's not the cheapest suit, but you decide you can afford it and so you buy the suit with the greatest technical insulation. Imagine that you finally buy one and don't consider the specific training to learn how to wear it comfortably and safely (SSI Dry Suit Specialty Course). We guarantee that despite being an item that offers great advantages, the first time you use it, it won't be a positive experience since you probably won't know how to configure it correctly, and you won't know how to operate it underwater. This, in addition to being stressful, will mean you won't know how to establish neutral buoyancy with the extra buoyancy that it entails, and you end up making an uncontrolled ascent, with the consequent risk that this entails.
If you had consulted us, we would have given you two options:
- If you choose to purchase this suit, we will include the necessary training in your budget so you can safely enjoy all its benefits.
- We will advise you on all the products and combinations that can be adapted to your thermal needs without the need for additional training.
In either case, you're guaranteed a pleasant, warm, and safe diving experience.
Legislation and regulations on diving tanks
Royal Decree 550/2020, of June 2, determining the safety conditions for diving activities.
The purpose of this Royal Decree is to regulate the safety conditions for diving activities carried out in maritime waters located in areas where Spain exercises sovereignty, sovereign rights or jurisdiction.
The new safety regulations aim to ensure that the expansion of this activity is accompanied by the necessary precautions to prevent accidents and, thereby, continue to take advantage of the potential that all diving modalities offer our country.
Diving certification and course centers in Gran Canaria
In our center we offer the op
opportunity to learn to dive safely and professionally, always ensuring safety and well-being. That's why we are always so strict about this matter, and we absolutely refuse to take divers on dives for which they have not received training. Our priority is that they can always enjoy this world that we love so much, always safely. If you want more information, For information about diving in Gran Canaria, just contact us. and we will be happy to advise you.
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