Alcohol can do that to you. Beginner divers , take note , in the 1st place , do you remember your instructor informing you or cautioning you on the dangers of going scuba diving with alcohol in your system Dont drink and dive !!
Well , at the same token ,it is also not a good idea to drink alcohol after diving. Dont drink immediately after diving!
Thats is not to say you should not drink at all . Actually it shouldn't be a problem if you have a drink or two or three if you
put in a period of about a minimum of 3- 4 hours. before you hit the booze. You wanna tank up , that's fine .but it will be more prudent to let more of the nitrogen gases out of your system 1st. If you remember your dive theory , then you will recall the decompression sickness warning. How divers can get DCS , but the manual doesn't cover the topic of boozing after scuba diving.
The thing is, if you have been doing multiple dives in one day , your body would have absorbed some residue nitrogen during the dives. Remember your dive theory when you learnt about the 21 % / 79% mix of the atmospheric air us humans breathe. And how that is compressed into the scuba tank. So essentially scuba tank air is the same air we breathe to live.
21% being oxygen which is not a problem but the other 79% being nitrogen gas which is a problem , especially when we breathe it in a pressurized environment , namely underwater. Well , to make a long story short , divers absorbed the excess N2o in their bodies and need time to let it out-gas when they are back on land. If managed properly , no problem at all, but if there is insufficient knowledge to minimize the risk, it is very likely risking DCS. (decompression sickness) in mild cases , can be excruciatingly painful like dislocated joints , and in extreme cases can be fatal causing heart attacks or brain embolism.
And drinking alcohol immediately after diving , especially if the amount of absorbed N2o is substantial , can cause DCS.
And so simple to avoid this DCS condition. Among the other stuff beginners learnt in the dive theory about this and how to minimize the risks , another element here is dont drink immediately after diving . Also not a good idea to do any strenuous activity after diving. Common sense will tell you that that will speed up your circulation rate and again accelerate the absorbed N2o. How showers are a big NO.! Warm is OK but really immersing yourself in a tub full of really hot water, that's just asking for trouble!Common sense again ! Hot water ! Thats heat on you body , especially steaming hot ,on your body , the gas may evaporate into bubbles . DCS !It is all so simple to avoid , just give yourselves a decent time interval of at least 3 hours or more and then you can do what you like. Except flying in a plane. That needs at least 18 hours of rest time before you can be fairly certain there is no more N2O in your system before you can board a flight with a lower pressure environment. Well, you should know that already during your dive course.
Just remember immediately after diving..No Booze .. No heavy sports ...no hot baths or hot showers and Hmmmm should i mention NO SEX !!( Heck this is strenuous activity , isn't it ? Of maybe if you insist , then go slow and easy,that is probably a prudent idea)
The point is , just anything that makes your blood pump faster and heats up your body , try not to do it ,especially if you have been doing a lot of scuba diving in that day.
Above is my opinion, but the experts in Dive Medicine have different opinions. General consensus of course is that it is risky but others maintained there is not as yet enough data to support the conclusion that alcohol is dangerous to divers.
What the Experts say!
DAN and Alert Divers and Dive Research: Different experts opinions on Alcohol and Scuba diving
