Dive Briefing

The pre-dive talk covering the site, entry and exit, depth and time limits, signals, hazards, and emergency procedures for the group.

A dive briefing is the structured talk before a dive, usually delivered by the guide, divemaster, or boat crew, that gives everyone the same picture of what is about to happen. A complete briefing covers the site layout and expected conditions, entry and exit techniques, the planned route, maximum depth and time, buddy assignments, hand signals in use, local hazards from current to boat traffic to fire coral, and emergency procedures including recall signals, lost buddy protocol, and where the oxygen kit lives.

Briefings matter because most of a dive's decisions are made in them. Listening actively is a skill: note the depth of key features, which shoulder the reef should be on, where the current usually runs, and what the guide does if the group gets separated. Ask questions on the boat, not at 20 m. On self-guided dives the buddy team gives itself the briefing, which is really just the dive plan spoken aloud.

Good guides tailor briefings to the group and the site, and famous sites often have famously elaborate ones, complete with whiteboard maps and resident-creature introductions. If anything in a briefing conflicts with your training or your comfort, raise it before the dive: a briefing describes the default plan for the group, and you always retain the right to dive a more conservative version of it.