Let us be clear about what this article is before you read it: we are dive professionals, not physicians, and nothing here is a diagnosis or medical clearance. What we can do — and what too few diving articles do — is tell you honestly how health screening actually works on a dive boat, which conditions rule diving out entirely, and when the only correct answer is the one your own doctor gives you. If you take one sentence away, take this one: when in doubt, consult your doctor and go through the standard diving medical form together — before your holiday, not on the morning of the dive.
The rules we never bend
Some conditions exclude diving on our trips, full stop, with no case-by-case discussion:
- Pregnancy — no diving at any stage.
- Severe asthma.
- Heart conditions.
- Serious respiratory conditions.
These are not our inventions; they reflect how pressure, exertion and breathing compressed air interact with the body. A dive centre that waves these through to make a sale is not one you should dive with — we wrote more about safety standards in /blog/is-scuba-diving-in-side-safe.
What the standard diving medical form actually is
Before diving you complete a standard medical self-declaration — a structured list of yes/no health questions covering the lungs, heart, ears, medications and past conditions. A form of no answers means diving can proceed normally. Any yes answer does not automatically end your diving holiday — it means that item needs a doctor's assessment before you dive. The form is not bureaucracy and it is not there to protect us from you: it exists to catch, on paper and in advance, the conditions that matter under pressure. Which leads to the golden rule: answer it honestly. A hidden condition does not disappear at 12 metres; it just meets the water without a plan.
Asthma: it depends — and not on us
Asthma is the classic it-depends condition. Severe asthma rules diving out on our trips — no exceptions. Milder or historical asthma is a different conversation, but it is a conversation for a doctor, not a dive centre: how your airways respond to exertion, cold and dry breathing gas is a genuinely medical question. If you have any asthma history, see your doctor with the medical form before you travel and let them make the call. We will never diagnose you at the boat — in either direction. That cuts both ways: we will not tell you that you cannot dive because of a condition we are not qualified to judge, and we will not tell you that you can.
Heart conditions: the strictest category
Diving raises the heart's workload — immersion shifts blood toward the chest, swimming adds exertion, and cool water adds its own load. That is why heart conditions are a hard exclusion on our trips. If you have any cardiac history and still hope to dive one day, the path runs through a cardiologist, not through a booking form. Please have that conversation at home, with your records on the table, before you plan a diving day.
Diabetes: an individual medical assessment
Diabetes is not on our short list of automatic exclusions, and we will not pretend it is simpler than it is: whether a person with diabetes can try-dive depends on factors only a doctor can weigh — treatment, stability and how their body handles exertion. So the honest guidance is exactly the golden rule: consult your doctor with the standard diving medical form and let them decide. If your doctor signs you off, bring that conversation's outcome with you and tell your instructor openly. If your doctor says no, the sea has other gifts — see the last section.
Why honesty costs you nothing here
Here is a practical detail that removes any temptation to gamble: with us you reserve free, pay on the day, and cancel free up to 24 hours. There is no financial penalty for asking your doctor first and cancelling if the answer is no. Nobody loses money by being honest — which is exactly how it should be. And a rule that applies to every diver regardless of health: no flying within 24 hours after diving — we explain why in /blog/why-no-flying-after-diving.
If the answer is no: you still get the sea
A no from your doctor does not cancel the holiday. Every one of our five full-day boat trips welcomes visitors and snorkelers at a reduced rate — the same boat, the same fresh lunch cooked on board, the same bays, watching the divers from the surface. Many guests who cannot dive tell us the boat day was a highlight anyway.
The bottom line
Pregnancy, severe asthma, heart conditions and serious respiratory conditions rule diving out — no exceptions. Everything else that gives you pause deserves one honest step: your doctor plus the standard diving medical form, before you travel. If you are cleared, we would love to show you the underwater world — browse trips at /tours or ask us anything through /contact. We will answer honestly, including when the honest answer is: ask your doctor, not us.
