San Salvador

• Get a site-specific briefing covering wall edge, current, boat pickup, surface marker buoy, depth and no-decompression limits. Never enter overheads or extend a technical profile solely because an operator advertises deeper courses. Runway 10 source.
• Check the operator's medical screening, emergency oxygen, working radio, staff first-aid training, boat evacuation plan and how a doctor or chamber would be accessed. These were not independently audited.
• Schedule flying conservatively. DAN suggests at least 12 hours after one no-decompression dive, at least 18 hours after repetitive/multiday no-decompression dives and substantially longer after decompression profiles; longer buffers lower risk and no interval guarantees safety.
• Freedivers require trained, attentive buddy support and a rescue-capable course or operator, not a solo blue-hole or deep-wall adventure. A scuba initiation at a pool is not equivalent to freedive training.
• For symptoms of decompression illness or serious injury, summon local EMS first, provide oxygen where medically appropriate and trained, and contact DAN for dive medical coordination. Do not self-transport by air without medical advice.

The Bahamas Department of Public Health lists Cockburn Town Community Clinic as walk-in weekdays, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM, with phone (242) 331-2105. Only Blue says San Salvador has a hyperbaric chamber, and Club Med claims an on-site dive doctor and nurse. These are operator/resort claims, not independent evidence that a chamber will be staffed, medically certified or available for treatment 24/7. The Bahamas DRM Authority lists nationwide medical evacuation and hyperbaric-center contacts. Ask the operator for a named medical referral facility and weather-aware evacuation route before deep or repetitive diving.

Bahamas National Trust designates West Coast Marine Park, Pigeon Creek and Snow Bay National Park, Green's Bay, Graham's Harbour and Southern Great Lake. The BNT bylaws bar unauthorized harvesting, wildlife harassment and feeding, removal of shells and natural materials from parks, and anchoring likely to damage coral or seagrass. Access to signed nesting zones may be restricted. Check exact park boundaries and permitted entry with BNT or an authorized operator, use approved moorings and maintain no-contact buoyancy. Bahamas tourism's fishing FAQ requires written authorization for spearfishing and prohibits spearguns; recreational freediving is not an exemption from fishing law. Do not promote shark feeding, touching wildlife or guaranteed encounters.