DIR for Recreational Divers: What Transfers to a 60-ft Reef Dive

People sometimes ask whether DIR is "overkill" for a recreational reef dive. The easiest way to answer is to dive one. Here is an illustrative 60-foot reef dive, comparing a vague plan with an explicit UTD team plan. A well-trained buddy pair from any system may already use many of these habits.

Before: an incomplete plan

• The plan: "follow the guide, be back with 500 psi."
• The gear: a jacket, an octopus clipped somewhere on the chest, a few extra pounds of lead to be safe.
• The descent: feet first, kicking to stay down, adding air on the way.
• The dive: slightly head-up, bicycle kicking, hands sculling to stay off the reef. The buddy is somewhere behind.
• Gas: checked now and then. The dive ends when someone hits the number.
• The ascent: up the line, a three-minute safety stop bobbing at 15 feet.

It works. It's also hard work, and it leaves little margin if something goes wrong.

After: the same dive, DIR style

The plan

The team runs a quick plan review before getting in: goal, leader, gas, depth, duration, ascent, direction and distance. Everyone states their numbers.

With an aluminum 80, our simplified 60-foot calculator profile gives 800 psi rock bottom under its stated assumptions. If returning to the start is preferred but not essential, a 3,000 psi start leaves 2,200 psi of usable gas. Spending half outbound sets a 1,900 psi turn pressure for this example. See Gas Management for Recreational Divers.

The gear

A single aluminum cylinder on a backplate and wing. A long-hose primary routed down the right side and around the neck, a backup on a necklace under the chin, a pressure gauge at the left hip. Weight set by an end-of-dive check, so there's nothing extra. Everyone on the team is configured the same way.

The descent

The team descends together, horizontal, at the same level, using the wing to compensate for suit compression and breathing for fine control. Nobody touches the bottom.

The dive

Flat trim, knees bent, fins up. Frog kicks with a glide, modified frogs near the reef. Hands still, holding a light. The team swims side by side, close enough to signal and donate gas, checking in with a light circle every few minutes.

Gas is checked regularly, and the team turns when the first diver reaches 1,900 psi.

The ascent

The ascent starts on or before rock bottom. Following UTD's Min Deco strategy, the team ascends to half its average depth, or half maximum depth if it finishes deeper than average. In this square-profile illustration, the first stop is 30 feet; the team then uses one-minute intervals every 10 feet to the surface, with travel included in the following minute. For a 60-foot dive, UTD's table gives a total ascent time of about four minutes. The leader deploys an SMB from depth so the boat or the shore knows where the team is.

What actually changes?

Does it make the dive less fun?

No. It makes it more relaxed. When you're not working to stay level, not wondering when to turn and not worried about your buddy, you have attention left for the dive itself. Most divers who make the switch say the reef got more interesting, not less.

Start with the foundations

Everything in the "after" column is taught in Essentials of Recreational Diving, the UTD entry course for certified divers. For the full picture of the system, read What Is DIR Diving?