One of the most important things to decide is the goal of the dive, and consequently the most suitable buddy or buddies to come with you. If you have no particular goal for the scuba diving other than to enjoy yourself, it is best to choose a friend first and then choose on an objective together. To guarantee safety and enjoyment, you should only carry out just one practical activity on the dive. As dive guides well know, it is not simple to keep all the people in a group happy: a “hunter” of big fish has a completely different idea and attitude towards the “dive” to a diver who want shoot photos underwater.
Once it has been decided what to do and with whom, you have to choose together where the dive is going to take place. In this case you should choose the best area for your planned objective, as well as a plan B. The most important characteristic of a plan B site is that it should allow you to dive if the sea and wind conditions at the first choice of site make diving impossible. Hence, if you know that the first choice of site is exposed to a prevailing north-west wind, you should choose an alternative site that is sheltered from this wind. Another important factor to consider when selecting an alternative area is that it should be near to your first choice of site so that when you arrive in the area it is not too difficult to move from one site to the other.
You must also get information about the site and the diving environment (type of sea bed, water temperature, currents, etc.), particularly if you do not know the area well. You can ask the local diving center, which you may also arrange to go diving with, you can ask divers who have experience of diving in that particular area, read magazine articles, study nautical materials (charts, almanacs, etc.) or get information on internet. When doing this search it is important to make sure that the origin of information is good. One of the problems may be that the information is not up-to-date. However, the information that you must check with attention is that related emergencies (oxygen kit, transport to hyperbaric facilities and hospital, emergency telephone numbers, etc.).
On the basis of the type of dive you are planning and its objective you can decide on the equipment you will need, both your normal diving accessories and the extra equipment you may need for any particular tasks being planned.
It is always a good idea to keep a complete list of the dive equipment you own. By checking items off the list it is easy to see what you will need for the dive without having to get everything out each time. If this list also notes the servicing and maintenance that has been carried out on the equipment, it will be simple to see which pieces of equipment need to be serviced. ultimately you should carefully analyze each piece of equipment (also any spares) and make sure it is all in good status. In case something is broken or doesn’t work, it should be sent for replacement.
It is therefore obvious that this phase of the preparation should take place well in advance of the planned dive so that it is accomplishable to get equipment serviced or replaced in time. Not all repair facilities will carry out on-the-scene repairs, particularly if it is servicing regulators.
The first control of the long-range weather forecast, using the sources described previously, concludes this phase of planning.
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