My Garmin Descent Dive Computer is Stuck in Dive Mode

There might be a few circumstances where the Descent™ dive computer could start a dive erroneously. Large pressure changes, such as during a flight, can cause the watch to automatically start a dive activity. If this occurs, the watch will no longer show the watch face but instead display only the dive screens and disable the back button.

Resetting Surface Pressure on Any Dive Computer

If the dive computer starts a dive activity incorrectly, you can reset the surface pressure by connecting it to a personal computer. The dive computer must connect to the computer and show the USB symbol on the face in order to reset the surface pressure. After unplugging from the computer, the surface pressure will be reset as the dive computer reboots.

If you do not have access to a computer, you can reset the surface pressure manually. Select your device below for instructions for your specific model.

• Descent™ Mk1 dive watch

• Descent™ Mk2 | Descent™ Mk2i | Descent™ Mk2S dive watches

• Descent™ Mk3 | Descent™ Mk3i dive watches

• Descent™ G1 | Descent™ G1 Solar | Descent™ G1 Solar - Ocean Edition dive watches

• Descent™ G2 dive watch

• Descent™ X50i dive computer

Adjusting Auto Dive Settings

Some Descent dive computers also offer the ability to snooze or turn off the auto dive setting on the watch. If you know that you are going to be in a situation when the watch might enter a dive, such as swimming without starting a swim activity or flying in a plane, you may want to adjust the auto dive setting to avoid the watch erroneously starting a dive.

1. Hold MENU (middle-left button).

2. Select Dive Setup.

3. Select Auto Dive.

4. Select an option:

   • Mode: Choose for auto dive to use either the last dive or the last scuba type profile accessed on the watch.

   • Snooze: Choose to temporarily disable auto dive for 1 hour or until tomorrow. Snoozing until tomorrow will count down until midnight. After the snooze timer ends, auto dive will automatically reengage. If you have snoozed auto dive, you can also choose to end the snooze early from this menu. 

Resetting Surface Pressure on the Descent Mk1 Dive Watch

1. Hold LIGHT (upper-left button) until the watch powers off.

2. Hold UP/MENU (middle-left button) and press LIGHT (upper-left button) to power on the watch.

3. Release UP/MENU (middle-left button) once the message "Reset surface pressure?" appears.

4. Wait on the prompt for 60-90 seconds.

5. Select Yes to set the current pressure as the surface pressure.

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Resetting Surface Pressure on the Descent Mk2 or Descent Mk3 Series Dive Watches

1. Hold LIGHT (upper-left button) until the watch powers off.

2. Press LIGHT (upper-left button) to power on the watch.

3. When the Garmin logo appears, hold UP/MENU (middle-left button).

4. Release UP/MENU (middle-left button) once the message "Reset surface pressure?" appears.

5. Wait on the prompt for 60-90 seconds.

6. Select Yes to set the current pressure as the surface pressure.

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Resetting Surface Pressure on the Descent G1 Series Dive Watches

1. Hold LIGHT (upper-left button) until the watch powers off.

2. Hold LIGHT to turn the watch back on.

3. When the Garmin logo appears, hold UP/MENU (middle-left button).

4. Release UP/MENU (middle-left button) when the message "Reset surface pressure?" appears.

5. Wait on the prompt for 60-90 seconds.

6. Select Yes to set the current pressure as the surface pressure. 

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Resetting Surface Pressure on the Descent G2 Dive Watch

1. Hold LIGHT (upper-left button) until the watch powers off.

2. Hold LIGHT to turn the watch back on.

3. Hold MENU (middle-left button) when the Garmin triangle loading screen appears.

4. Continue holding MENU until the "Reset Surface Pressure?" prompt appears.

5. Wait on the prompt for 60-90 seconds before selecting Yes. Waiting allows the watch to calibrate the correct surface pressure.

6. Choose Yes to set the current pressure as the surface pressure. 

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Resetting Surface Pressure on the Descent X50i Dive Computer

1. Hold BACK/PWR (far-left button) until the dive computer powers off.

2. Hold BACK/PWR (far-left button) to turn the dive computer on.

3. When the Garmin logo appears, hold NEXT (inside-right button).

4. Release NEXT (inside-right button) when the "Reset surface pressure?" prompt appears.

5. Wait on the prompt for 60-90 seconds.

6. Select Yes to set the current pressure as the surface pressure.

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Once these steps are completed, depth will go to 0 and the dive will end after the normal end-of-dive timeout.