We all want to look our confident best while staying safe underwater. Whether you are a beginning scuba diver or if you’re looking for tips to refresh your memory, you’ll enjoy the following tips and techniques, which we have assembled to help you become a more effective diver. Let’s get started!
Reduce Air Consumption and Save Energy
Have you ever had to end a dive early because you were running low on air? It’s a scary feeling, and it can cause frustration for dive buddies who always have more air than you, too. Use these five tips to reduce your air consumption and increase your bottom time.
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Dive a lot. The more you dive, the better you will become and the more relaxed you will feel underwater. The more comfortable and relaxed you are, the less air you will ultimately use.
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Take deep, slow breaths. Instead of taking a lot of shallow, short breaths, breathe in slowly and deeply, and use the same slow, measured technique on exhale. Do not hold your breath in an effort to try to decrease the amount of air that you are using; it can lead to a lung overexpansion injury, which in turn can land you in the hospital or even kill you.
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Move intentionally. Move only when you need to. The more you move, the more oxygen your muscles require, and the more air you will use. Concentrate on making intentional movements while diving, using just your fins to propel you forward and keeping your hands out of the way. The more you focus on this, the less energy you will expend.
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Streamline Everything. Streamline your gear and streamline your body position in the water column. By being streamlined, you decrease the amount of drag your body is causing, and you also decrease the amount of movement you must make to propel yourself through the water.
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Stop Leaks in Equipment. If any of your equipment is leaking air, even a tiny bit, it can cause a noticeable amount of air usage. Checking your O-rings, connection points, and inflator hose should be part of your standard pre-dive check, and keeping these items free from leaks will help to conserve precious breathing gas.
Improve Buoyancy Control
If you’re having trouble remaining steady while diving, you probably feel frustrated. Not only does adding air to your BCD and then letting it out waste breathing gas, it also means that you’re using more energy than you have to during your dives, so you are less efficient than you really could be. In addition, having to constantly adjust buoyancy just to remain at depth can take quite a bit of the pleasure out of your dives; you won’t be able to relax and enjoy yourself quite as much as you could if you didn’t have to make adjustments frequently. The five tips below will help you to achieve better buoyancy control.
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Weight yourself properly. Many novice divers are overweighted, which causes the need for increased BCD inflation as you change depth. You’ll know that you are properly weighted when you are at eye level with the water while on the surface without air in your buoyancy compensator. If you need more weight, start by adding just one to two pounds. See if that’s enough, then add small increments if you need more.
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Use Patience with your BCD. When adding or releasing air from your BC, be sure that you give it a little time to take effect; perfect buoyancy control is not going to be instantaneous. Wait several seconds after adding or releasing air to see whether you have achieved the desired effect. When adding air, use a short shot (quick release) of a small amount of air. If that’s not enough, add another short shot. This will prevent you from overinflating the device and causing damage.
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Stay Horizontal in the Water Column. Maintaining a horizontal profile will help you to enjoy better buoyancy control. You’ll know that you’ve achieve a horizontal position when all of your kicks propel you forward rather than slightly upward or slightly downward. If you are having trouble with this skill, adjust the position of your weights and see whether it helps. Don’t give up if becoming horizontal seems difficult; it’s a skill that comes with experience.
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Learn Breath Control. While you do not want to hold your breath, you can add air to and subtract air from your lungs in order to move up and down slightly in the water column. Once you master this essential skill, you’ll be able to ascend or descend very easily without using your BCD.
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Relax. Relax and enjoy your dives. Relaxing will help you with breath control, and it will help you feel more comfortable. It will also help with buoyancy control. When you relax, your muscles require less energy to work, and you’ll discover that you tire less easily while diving, too.
Finally, remember that diving is a practice that can be improved over a long period of time. Expert divers didn’t get that way overnight; in fact, many will tell you that they went through some of the same trials you might currently be experiencing. Overcoming challenges will help increase your confidence and comfort level, and no matter where you are, you’ll find that there are usually at least a few helpful people around who are more than willing to help you to improve your skills. Another important way you can improve your scuba diving skills is to take additional classes. When you do this, you’ll gain even more confidence and additional skills which you can use while diving recreationally and which you may elect to put to use in other ways; cave diving, wreck diving, and other specialties are fascinating pastimes that will enable you to use your spare time enjoying healthy recreation. So practice those dive skills! Not only will you become a better diver who uses less breathing gas, you might also become just like one of the experts you admire now.