Can You Dive With Multiple Sclerosis?

Courtesy Nicole KrassNicole Krass helps a diver with cerebral palsy
Eight years ago, after a long diving hiatus while life’s other tasks took priority, I booked a dream trip with my best buddy. My friend, an experienced diver, and I were in full anticipation of our two-week vacation to beautiful Bali. The planning was done, flights and hotels booked, and I’d refreshed my diving skills, which were a bit rusty after 20 years. I was ready for some well-deserved me time.
But things turned out differently. My body suddenly went crazy. After a medical odyssey, the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis—an incurable disease of the central nervous system, probable progression, outcome uncertain—was confirmed, turning my life upside down.
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Courtesy Nicole KrassNicole enjoys Bonaire by DPV
“Can I dive despite MS?” I asked the doctor on the day of my diagnosis. “Don’t limit yourself,” he answered, which was as simple as it was terrific.
That was eight years ago. And I won’t let myself be restricted! I want to dive. Now more than ever. Since then, I have traveled a lot, dived a lot, dealt a lot with the topic of diving with disabilities, started a blog about it, given several interviews, and have been a guest in podcasts and on stage. In April 2024, at over 50 years old, I became a PADI Instructor, specializing in adaptive diving.
In case you’re wondering, nothing came of the planned Bali trip. Mount Agung, which was grumbling at the time, forced us to rebook at short notice. We instead flew to the Philippines, where my passion for diving was rekindled. All my worries, fears and even pain, which I had experienced since my MS diagnosis five months earlier, evaporated during the diving trip. Just gone. Left at home.
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Courtesy Nicole KrassNicole in Bonaire at Buddy Reef, enjoying her favorite form of therapy: scuba diving.
Scuba diving helps me to find the balance between job, family, doctor’s appointments and recreation. It helps me to keep my MS symptoms under control and is the best therapy for me.
My mission is to encourage disabled people to benefit from the healing powers of diving and to inspire other diving enthusiasts to open up to people with disabilities so that we can all enjoy the wonderful underwater world together—without barriers!
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