Safety stops and decompression stops are both important procedures in scuba diving that help decrease the risks of Decompression Sickness and ensure safety ascent to the surface. 

Although they sound similar, every stop has different purposes and is conducted at a specific depth while diving. Read this article to know the mean differences of both two stops.

What is a Safety Stop in Diving?

A safety stop is regarded as an essential procedure in scuba diving. Briefly, it is a pause in shallow water that a diver makes while ascending to the surface after a dive.

Divers make this pause at 5 to 6 meters (15 to 20 feet) deep. It usually lasts for 3 minutes. There are some dive training agencies teaching more complex protocols of safety stops, for example, 3 safety stops at 9m, 6m and 3m (30, 20, 10ft respectively). This ads more safety than decompression stops, especially when deeping recreational diving.

What is the Purpose of Safety Stops? 

Scuba divers make safety stops in order to add an extra layer of conservatism by releasing more nitrogen from their bodies while ascending to the surface. This in turn help prevent Decompression Sickness.

No-Stop Limits are calculated using dive computers and tables to keep most of the divers safe in the whole dive, however, they don’t guarantee safety from decompression sickness.

It is also recommended to add additional conservatism besides the no-deco and no-stop limits because the physiology of your body can differ from day to day and the predisposing factors of DCS can occur.

How Safety Stops Work

It is a fact that your body absorbs nitrogen while diving and that comes with certain risks, particularly if you don’t manage it properly.

• When you ascend promptly to shallower depths that creates supersaturation of nitrogen within your body.
• Due to the higher pressure of nitrogen that exceeds the pressure surrounding your body, nitrogen is released.
• The difference in pressure fosters nitrogen release.
• When you surface immediately, this causes a high pressure difference and that in turn leads to creating bubbles inside your body.
• When you do a safety stop, you will provide your body with the time needed to gradually release nitrogen which helps in preventing Decompression Sickness.

 Dive experts recommend safety stops as a standard practice for all scuba divers whether their dive remains within the boundaries of no-decompression limits or not. They add an extra layer of precaution which safeguard divers against potential health complications.

Are Safety Stops Mandatory?

No, safety stops are considered mandatory but they add an extra layer of insulation from the risk of decompression sickness when the diver remains within his no-stop/no-deco limits of the dive.

When there are more pressing, safety related factors, divers don’t have to conduct safety stops as surfacing immediately is the most prudent choice.

What is a Decompression Stop in Diving?

Unlike safety stop, decompression stop is considered a mandatory pause while a dive is ascending to the surface.

The job of this stop is to allow a calculated release of inert nitrogen from the body of the diver to be able to surface without any risk of DCS. If a diver didn’t perform a decompression stop, he may suffer from a DCS injury.

What is the Purpose of Decompression Stops?

The purpose of decompression stops lies in reducing the percentage of nitrogen or any energy gas (helium when trimix gas is used) absorbed in your body.

The decompression stops are considered a mandatory step because a diver’s body has absorbed too much inert gas so there is a higher risk of DCS.

Who can Perform Decompression Stops?

Decompression stops are usually used by technical divers, as technical diving demands specialized training that highly exceeds that of recreational diving in both challenge and complexity. Decompression stops aren’t certified to be conducted by recreational divers.

Why shouldn’t Recreational Divers Go into Decompression?

Decompression stops are considered mandatory and if a diver can’t ascend immediately to the surface it’s regarded as an emergency.

Recreational divers aren’t equipped to deal with emergencies without immediately surfacing. If a diver suffers from an equipment failure (for example a free flowing regulator), running out of gas or does not complete the decompression stop/s that increases the risk of DCS injury.

Safety planning decompression stops is considered more complex than that of the non-stop/no-deco limit on a dive computer.

What Training is Needed to Do Decompression Stops?

Technical divers should go into an advanced training in decompression techniques and procedures. Because decompression stops are regarded as a mandatory step, a scuba diver must be able to deal with any problem that face him without immediatly ascent to the surface.

Immediately ascending to the surface isn’t possible, so the diver must be skillful in addition to having sophisticated dive gear to keep himself safe.

Technical divers are also trained to plan dives in meticulous detaisl to decrease and manage any predictable risks. This includes gas management, contingency planning, drilling emergency skills and protocols for Gear failure.