Descent difficulty, even overweighted

[tomfcrist]

This insistence of always staying horizontal is quite disturbing to me: one should stay in the position which mininimzes drag , allowing to swim with minimum effort.
If you are swimming horivontally, then of course your body should be horizontal. But when swimming up or down, the body should be vertical, either head up or head down.

We disagree. But I don’t “swim” up or down…nor do I use my BCD as an elevator. I find that it is easy to control buoyancy horizontally, and much more comfortable.

 

[lexvil]

If you have to swim down just do it, a 7mm suit has a lot of float as does the jacket b/c, keep working on it.

 

[Wibble]

The problem isn't you, it's your instructor. You shouldn't have been certified without being able to control yourself underwater.

There are a bunch of UTD instructors in California. Find one and take an essentials or an extreme scuba makeover. I'm pretty sure one of those can be done in your current kit.

Basic Scuba. OP mentions they're doing PADI and possibly PPB -- which is the right course for novices that need to sort out their core skills: buoyancy, trim and finning. Some experience will also resolve this.

You mention UTD. Why not push fun-dies too?

 

[rmorgan]

We were diving with an Experienced diver last fall who had a new Greenprene, probably a 5mm. well-experienced 20-year diver, very slim, and could not manage with the wetsuit. And YES, her legs were very floaty. She rented a wetsuit at the resort and was fine. bubba, maybe want to try a rental.

 

[BRT]

If you have to swim down just do it, a 7mm suit has a lot of float as does the jacket b/c, keep working on it.

Swim down at the start of a dive, when you are at your lowest bouyancy??

 

[lexvil]

Swim down at the start of a dive, when you are at your lowest bouyancy??

If that’s what he needs to do yes, there are a host of possible reasons he can’t sink, not a one of us is there to gather clues, if his next post is the inability to hold a safety stop, that’s a clue that we don’t yet have, others can Devine all sorts of info that doesn’t exist or hasn’t been provided, I try not to do that.

im thinking more along the line that his instructor holds the answers, that person actually being there.

 

[rx7diver]

Swim down at the start of a dive, when you are at your lowest bouyancy??

Yes. The suit will compress.

rx7diver

 

[rx7diver]

Deleted by rx7diver. (Duplicate post.)

 

[Aura]

Suggesting ways for a novice diver to force themselves down to wetsuit compression depth while they seem to be underweighted seems like an excellent way for this diver to cork to the surface at the end of the dive.
There clearly is an issue with buoyancy going on. That's what needs to be fixed, before brute-forcing depth with no way to control the ascent.

 

[Boarderguy]

Flood your suit at the surface. It may be too baggy in spots and too tight around your chest/abdomen causing an air bubble. In my semi-dry I often would have to wait for air to migrate out or break the seal at my face and let it out faster to descend easily.
Cross your ankles to prevent inadvertent kicking up and hold your inflator above your head while venting until your hand is under. If these steps don't work then it needs to be addressed 1 on 1 with an instructor.