Have you been to the beach perhaps on a holiday and you see a lot of people going for a swim, diving, or surfing.

And they have beautiful tattoos on their body, and you say to yourself this looks nice?

And you think to yourself why don’t I get myself a nice tattoo as well, or maybe you want to add more tattoos to the ones you already have? 

This is not a bad idea, I mean if you love tattoos then go for it.

However, you have to be aware that as someone who loves to go diving or surfing once you get a tattoo, you have to stay away from water for a particular period.

So unless you do not mind spending the rest of your holiday out of the water and held up under a shade then you can go ahead to get a tattoo or add a new one to your collection.

Now the question remains, how long do you have to wait after getting a new tattoo before you can go diving?

That is a good question, let's answer that question, shall we?


How Long To Wait After Tattoo Before Diving

You have to wait at least three weeks before you go diving, this has been said by many experts. However, some divers who have tattoos said they waited for two weeks.

The thing is there is a general rule, the bigger the tattoo the longer it takes to heal. 

If the tattooed site is still itching or pealing or has not fully healed this is an all-out sign that you are not ready to get into water.

After getting a new tattoo and getting into water the ink would leak and begin to fade.

You can not keep a tattoo dry when you go for a swim it is impossible.

If you got a lot of new tattoos you might even have to wait longer than three weeks, but the standard time to wait before you get in the water is three weeks.

After you have gotten a new tattoo, the skin surrounding the tattooed site will be open to irritation that can cause dermatitis which has no cure. 

So it is best to avoid getting in the water until the site is fully healed.


Additional Information

Tattoos are prone to infections, you have to take care of the tattooed site like it is an open wound, because in a sense it is an open wound. 

There are usually tiny injuries all over the tattooed site.

There is an organ that keeps you from being exposed to the open world that the tiny injuries on the site have endangered the coherence of, so this makes diving with a new tattoo a terrible and dangerous idea.

It matters not how clean and clear the ocean is, there are always thousands or even millions of microorganisms that can be very harmful to humans if they come in contact with an open wound on the body no matter how tiny.

If some of these microorganisms get in through the open wound, they can easily leave you with a skin infection that can become a permanent scar, this is one of the best outcomes.

In a worse scenario if some sort of bacteria gets into the wound and enters your bloodstream this would likely lead to a serious infection of your nervous system which could become a life-threatening infection.

With this you must be wondering how to protect your tattoo when you go swimming, the thing is you can not protect your tattoo when you go swimming. 

You can be able to protect your tattoo in the shower yes, but while swimming? It is just impossible.


Conclusion

A new tattoo site is easily prone to sunburn, as fresh ink fades when severely exposed to UV rays.

Using sunscreen on a new tattoo is also a terrible idea.

So if you plan to go diving or plan on getting exposed to a lot of sun you should hold off on getting a tattoo, or just stay away from the beach until your new tattoo has fully healed.