Can You Snorkel With Epilepsy?

Water sports, including swimming, snorkeling, jet-ski riding, windsurfing, and sailing, are risky for people with epilepsy. However, with the right safety measures, they can be made safer for children with epilepsy. Swimming can be a good form of exercise, but other water sports, such as water skiing, snorkeling, scuba diving, and boating, may require special precautions depending on the individual’s condition.

Recreational scuba diving is a popular sport for people with epilepsy, and it is important to consider all factors of their condition before going underwater. Seizures during swimming can lead to drowning and other physiological problems due to exposure to gases at depth. Any medical condition that causes alteration in consciousness or sudden onset of neurological symptoms without warning is not compatible with diving, as the risk of drowning is too high.

In the United Kingdom, the Sport Diving Medical Committee advises that someone with epilepsy must be seizure-free and off medication for at least five years before diving. Swimming in water is dangerous due to the risk of drowning, so swimmers with epilepsy should never go unsupervised.

Generally, diving is a no-go unless a person has gone five years without a seizure and is not on medications. Most diving authorities will not allow diving for a person with epilepsy, regardless of how long it has been since a person last dived. The general medical opinion is that anyone with epilepsy should not dive, but individuals who have been seizure-free and have not experienced seizures in water should not dive.