True or False a dive can continue with partial communication loss?

• A. True
• B. False
• C. Only if trained
• D. Depends on equipment

Answer: (B)

Clear, reliable two-way communication is essential to track divers’ status and coordinate actions on the surface and underwater. When communication is partially lost, you can miss critical updates about air supply, depth, decompression status, or an emergency from a diver or the support team. That uncertainty makes it unsafe to proceed, because you can’t confidently manage ascent profiles, decompression obligations, or a rapid response to problems. The safe approach is to halt the dive and restore full communication, or switch to an agreed fallback method and follow contingency procedures until you can confirm everyone’s status and messages are clearly exchanged. Training and equipment help manage comms, but they don’t justify continuing when communication is not fully reliable. So, continuing with partial communication loss is not acceptable.