pnoemichen
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Deepsky62 - experience is the key. My wife and I have lots of that in both fresh and saltwater. While there are lots of variables, here are 4 important ones in our opinion.
1. Be weighted correctly and make sure your wt belt is centered.
2. Make sure your BCD fits well. It should secure the tank firmly in the center of your back. Your BCD should not be loose on your body so the tank can move right and left. This often requires adjustments to your BC as you go deeper and your body squeezes down. If your tank can move right, you will tilt to the right and will affect how you move until you can wrestle it back to center. This is even more important if you're using a weight integrated BC. The constant hassle of adjusting your BC is tiresome.
3. Scuba diving is not a race. Stay relaxed, move slowly and deliberately and breath so you get a full breath of air. Shallow breathing will tend to build up carbon dioxide in your lungs and you'll start to pant and it will mess up your buoyancy karma.
4. You have a comfortable mask, its not fogging up, it doesn't leak, its not to tight.
My experience with #1 is you have to be flexible. The rule of thumb - you are properly weighted when your BC is empty and your eyes are at water level - doesn't really work for me which I have discovered through experience. I have tried it multiple times and I consistently have problems staying down at the 15ft safety stop - salt or fresh water - doesn't matter. So, I add enough weight to make me sink very slowly - thats plus 2 lbs in fresh water and plus 4 lbs in salt water with aluminum tanks and no extra weight and plus 2lbs in salt if steel tanks. Ya, I'm a little heavy at depth. At say 80ft, I do need to add air to my BC to neutalize. I go to the bottom then add just enough air in short bursts to just lift me off and I'm ready to go. I have to make small adjustments as I ascend during the dive. This is a trade off I happily make to have stability on my safety stop. I settled on this approach through years of trial and error.
As for #2. In the early days of my dive life I was thin and had trouble finding a BC that would fit me snuggly. I was all over the place, swimming with my hands to keep from tipping side ways. What a pain. When I finally found a BC that fit me well (back buoyancy was the key there), it changed my life. The tank stayed where it was suppose to and wallah I could swim without tipping. It's hard to describe how much more relaxed I became on a dive.
As for #3 staying relaxed well thats the key to a comfortable dive. You'll expend less energy, use less air and be more aware of the environment. It makes the entire experience more rewarding. So always take the time on your descent to police yourself. Make sure the things I've talked about are squared away before you start exploring. Stay relaxed, recheck your gear, make sure the BC is nice and snug, your weights are centered. Watch the bottom, check your breathing, can you slow your decent with a deeper breath before you start to add air to your BC. That's the kind of stuff I do. I'm a better dive buddy when I'm squared away.
What you learn through experience is that all the little stuff PADI teaches you is indeed important stuff. So, when you dive pay attention to the details and the accumulation of the experiences will pay off.
1. Be weighted correctly and make sure your wt belt is centered.
2. Make sure your BCD fits well. It should secure the tank firmly in the center of your back. Your BCD should not be loose on your body so the tank can move right and left. This often requires adjustments to your BC as you go deeper and your body squeezes down. If your tank can move right, you will tilt to the right and will affect how you move until you can wrestle it back to center. This is even more important if you're using a weight integrated BC. The constant hassle of adjusting your BC is tiresome.
3. Scuba diving is not a race. Stay relaxed, move slowly and deliberately and breath so you get a full breath of air. Shallow breathing will tend to build up carbon dioxide in your lungs and you'll start to pant and it will mess up your buoyancy karma.
4. You have a comfortable mask, its not fogging up, it doesn't leak, its not to tight.
My experience with #1 is you have to be flexible. The rule of thumb - you are properly weighted when your BC is empty and your eyes are at water level - doesn't really work for me which I have discovered through experience. I have tried it multiple times and I consistently have problems staying down at the 15ft safety stop - salt or fresh water - doesn't matter. So, I add enough weight to make me sink very slowly - thats plus 2 lbs in fresh water and plus 4 lbs in salt water with aluminum tanks and no extra weight and plus 2lbs in salt if steel tanks. Ya, I'm a little heavy at depth. At say 80ft, I do need to add air to my BC to neutalize. I go to the bottom then add just enough air in short bursts to just lift me off and I'm ready to go. I have to make small adjustments as I ascend during the dive. This is a trade off I happily make to have stability on my safety stop. I settled on this approach through years of trial and error.
As for #2. In the early days of my dive life I was thin and had trouble finding a BC that would fit me snuggly. I was all over the place, swimming with my hands to keep from tipping side ways. What a pain. When I finally found a BC that fit me well (back buoyancy was the key there), it changed my life. The tank stayed where it was suppose to and wallah I could swim without tipping. It's hard to describe how much more relaxed I became on a dive.
As for #3 staying relaxed well thats the key to a comfortable dive. You'll expend less energy, use less air and be more aware of the environment. It makes the entire experience more rewarding. So always take the time on your descent to police yourself. Make sure the things I've talked about are squared away before you start exploring. Stay relaxed, recheck your gear, make sure the BC is nice and snug, your weights are centered. Watch the bottom, check your breathing, can you slow your decent with a deeper breath before you start to add air to your BC. That's the kind of stuff I do. I'm a better dive buddy when I'm squared away.
What you learn through experience is that all the little stuff PADI teaches you is indeed important stuff. So, when you dive pay attention to the details and the accumulation of the experiences will pay off.
