Scuba Diving Tips, Scuba Diving

Scuba diving is a real joy for the people who like to lead extreme and interesting lifestyle full of fearful and dangerous moments. Scuba diving has gained a great deal of popularity in recent years, but not many people are aware of the secrets of scuba diving.

Scuba Diving Gear

Always go for a perfect fitting scuba gear. The mask you wear must be comfortable and check that there is no scope for water leakage. The BCD must be snug enough and it should not ride around in the water. Booties and fins should be comfortable and should not cause discomfort or blisters.

Don't lose your dive mask

Losing your dive mask is a costly endeavour and can mean the end to diving if there's no spares. Here's a couple of schoolboy errors and how to avoid them.

Hold on tight when entering. Whether you're going feet first or backward off the boat with a classic roll, take care to grip your mask tightly when getting in the water.

Remember it's a mask and not a pair of fashion sunglasses. It may look cool up there on the top of your forehead as you bob on the surface but the movies have got it all wrong. Even a small wave will wash it right off, so pull your dive mask down around your neck when your head is above the water.

Check your eyesight

As a Scuba diver you will need to be able to see well. If you are short-sighted you may be missing out on the beauty of the intricate marine life around you and, indeed, if you are very myopic it can even be dangerous. Likewise you must be able to discern small objects at proximity, in order to read dive computers and other important gauges. There are a number of solutions for scuba divers with less than perfect eyesight.

Prescription Dive Masks can be tailored to your requirements. Usually made out of scratch resistant glass, they are bonded to the screen of your dive mask. Check that your dive mask is big enough to take insert before you splash out.

Contact lenses are a good choice but can get washed away if your dive mask floods. A good way of avoiding this is closing your eyes when flushing water from the mask.

Scuba Suits etc.

Choose neoprene for your diving suit. If your wetsuit or dry suit lets in too much cold water, discard that immediately. Go for a fairly tight fit but make sure you can expand your chest fully. Repair broken zippers and split seams and pay special attention to the neck opening. Use wetsuits in shallow water because they compress in proportion to the depth. Compression flattens the bubbles, which are the suit's only insulation. Also, breathing air under less pressure chills you less. If you do not want to suffer from huge heat loss then go for a full length suit in an area where the water is too cold. Remember to wear a hood. It should be the first piece of thermal protection you consider because up to 40 percent of your heat loss is through your head.

Diver Courtesy ac-nancy-metz.fr

Beginners and if you haven't dived for a while, it's a good idea to have a checkout dive. Assemble your scuba gear and go diving off the beach or in some controlled circumstances, before going off on a scuba diving trip. Check all the equipment, and make sure they are working properly. You should be properly weighted and comfortable in the water. Then practice your scuba breathing and buoyancy. Always remain within the no-decompression limits and ascend slowly on every dive. Do not swim directly to the surface from depth. Rather, on each and every dive you make, pause your ascent for a minute or two at 20 feet, and again at 10 feet to make preventative decompression stops.

Breathe Deeply and Slowly

You should not be taking lots of short, shallow breaths. You should breathe in deeply and slowly and slowly exhale. Do not hold your breath to try and decrease air consumption. This is a no-no as you learned when you were getting your scuba diving certification.

Stop Moving. You should use a minimum of movement. The more you are moving around underwater, the more air you will use.

Keep your hands out your side or held in front of you. You don't need them to swim for the most part so don't use them. Just move forward with your fins. If you are on a drift dive you usually don't even need those.

Look at the experienced divers and dive masters. They just float along and barely move. That is what you are aiming for. Concentrate on your movements while underwater - and then stop those movements. No fidgeting allowed. You scuba air consumption will improve.

Streamline Everything. Make sure you have nothing dangling from your gear setup. This will create drag and increase air consumption. So get rid of those scuba accessories you don't use and have everything clipped and close to your body. This has the added benefit of not damaging the coral from dangling equipment.

Dive Compass Courtesy UKDivers.net

Get good at underwater navigation

Underwater navigation is one of the first skills that a scuba diver should work on. It is important at all levels of scuba diving and life saving in many situations. Underwater navigation can be made more or less challenging according to the nature of the diving spot.

Read up on wrecks. Many shipwrecks have a common shape and configuration. Learning about them will help you both recognise and navigate them upon encounter.

Always use your compass but be wary of magnetic interference from nearby shipwrecks.

Don't rely on currents to tell you in which direction you are heading. Currents can twist and turn around undersea objects thereby leading you astray.

Listen out for sounds. In water it is impossible to pinpoint the location of a sound but you can tell if it is getting louder or quieter. The sound of your diving boats motor could be a welcome indicator!

Read it in the lines of sand ripples. These will lie parallel to the shore line. The deeper imprint of the ripple is nearer to the shore.

Swim underwater as that is what your kit is designed for. Avoid swimming anywhere on the surface although being just under it means that you can use your snorkel.

Trust your instruments. If there is a discrepancy between what you feel and what your dive compass is telling you, go with the compass. Be sure that it is working properly before the dive and that there is no interference from undersea objects however.

Underwater Navigation, UKDivers.net

This site contains a wealth of information relating to the many aspects of scuba diving.

Well Worth reading - How to measure the distance swim, How to swim accurately on a bearing, Understanding the compass, Night dives, Dive Marshalling and Diving in Cold Water.

Avoid too much lead as part of your dive kit. Too much lead will require that you put a lot of air in your BCD, adding unnecessary weigh as you swim. However, less lead will have you constantly working to stay down. Therefore wear just enough scuba diving weight. Monitor your air supply. You should always practice to control and reduce your air consumption. Try to swim slowly and efficiently and don't waive your arms around or make rapid body movements. Take long slow inhalations and exhale equally long. Don't hold your breath. For safe scuba diving and slow ascends, you need to have air in your tank. Therefore always check for air consumption.

If you want to go for a boat dive, then arrive early at the dive boat, find a good spot, and set up your scuba dive gear before the boat even leaves the dock. Keep mask, fins, and other loose scuba diving equipment in a mesh bag under your seat so that you can easily reach them and they remain unharmed. Always wear sun block. Drink plenty of water and while planning your dive entry know how to get back on board after the dive.

Between dives, always towel off the suit and wear a parka or a windbreaker, or take off the suit and dry off. Also, dry your hair and wear a hat. Get a vest or step-in jacket, preferably with a hood attached, to add warmth to a full-length wetsuit. If you have uncontrollable shivering in water then immediately come up and get warm because this is the warning sign of hypothermia.

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