First Ocean Dives

Hello,
I am a newly certified OW diver but will not be doing any ocean dives unitl the end of March..I plan to do a refreasher course before going to Caracao and perhaps a trip to Crystal Rivr in Florida...I am some problems with bouyancy on the four quarry dives..What would be the best course of dives and practices to follow now to prepare for the vacation in March and waht would be the best dives to do while in Caracao..I really want to become skillfull in a safe logical way and enjoy the sport...Thanks

I don't know about Alabama but up here there are a few instuctors that teach the peak performancy bouyancy class. It really helps divers and builds self confindence too.

A GUE fundamentlas class would be another option

I would suggest learning everything from your husband. He's the best!

it sounds like your husband is right there with you. why dont both of you go back to Bluewater and make more dives till it gets to cold this winter and just stay around the platforms working on your skills. if you need more help than that, get your instructor or divemaster to work with you on your skills.

steve

Roadrun,
Almost all newly certified divers have problems with buoyancy. This is a skill that you acquire by practising. So I recommend you make some more dives and on every dive spend 10 minutes or so practising buoyancy.
I think that will be more effective than additional training at this stage.
ScubaRon

THe first step is don't lose confidence. It is not as easy as some make it out to be. Also, if those quarry dives were shallow, that increases the difficulty markedly if you were wearing a wetsuit. Remember that the suit compresses and loses buiyancy as you descend, and it compresses to half volume by 33 ft. I remember having great difficulty with my buiyancy in a winter quarry dive in FLorida (3mm and 7mm hooded vest) at depths of 10-20 feet. Soon after in 60 fsw, I had little difficulty and was very encouraged.

The most important thing is to inflate your BC so you are neutral with half a lungful of air. Only make inflation changes when you really need them, and keep them small. Then you can use your breathing to "fine-tune" your buoyancy. Whatever you do, DON"T HOLD YOUR BREATH! Remember, this is NOT an intuitive technique and will take time to develop. However, as you get comfortable, you will find yourself automatically breathing with fuller lungs and only relasing about half the air to rise just a bit, and will tend to breathe from the "lower half" of your lung capacity to descend. Remember that at shallow depths, BC's, wetsuits, etc (anything with a non-pressurized gas in it) will have a much greater change in buoyancy per one foot change in depth. THis is an important reason for using the minimum weight necessary, since more air in your BC causes more buoyancy fluctuation with depth, and of course it works against stability, since rising a foot will make you MORE buoyant and tend to push you shallower even faster.