New to scuba diving and have a general question.

[Dauntless]

To help with buoyancy, I added some plumbing insulation sleeves to the flex arms of my LED light tray. It looks like this..

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The smaller insulation sleeve is plenty buoyant enough and it requires just a small amount. You can trim it with scissors to adjust the buoyancy. It fits very snug as you slide it on to the arms. I have them positioned just below where the LED lights would be. The insulation resembles neoprene. I'm bringing extra to account for compression at depth just in case. The cost is soooo cheap.

---------- Post added January 29th, 2015 at 11:07 PM ----------



This is reassuring. Thanks for posting.

If you go down very far, the foam will crush.

---------- Post added January 31st, 2015 at 12:29 PM ----------

Ask yourself, is your underwater posture horizontal or do you swim with feet down. When you can keep a horizontal or even head down slightly posture, then you are OK.

 

[Mantra]

Hi Joe. I am an underwater photographer who also dives in the Philippines.

When people are talking about buoyancy they are talking about YOUR buoyancy skills, not your camera. Can you already float perfectly in place neither rising or falling without moving your fins or arms? Please try to be that good before you take a camera underwater. I think cameras should not be considered until you have fifty dives or so and even then they can complicate things.

Why? Because a camera requires a lot of concentration. When you are beginning it is wise to place your concentration on building buoyancy skills, skills with different styles of kicking, and also safety skills. You should practice things like mask removal and so on every dive to begin. Having a camera in your hand or dangling from your hip makes this more difficult. Your priorities are in the wrong place.

Imagine you have a camera and encounter dive conditions you are not familiar with - heavy current or poor visibility or even big waves at the surface. Having a camera makes all these things much harder to manage. You need to be comfortable in different conditions first before you make your diving more complicated. This is a safety issue for you.

Even more importantly - it is also a safety issue for the reefs and animals you will encounter. In the Philippines you will see many inexperienced or badly trained divers holding on to coral or kneeling on the reef to try and get a photo. To get a single photo they can be happy to kill twenty years of coral growth. They need to hold on to things because their diving skills are not good enough for photography without doing harm to the underwater world. It is very delicate. If you cannot frog kick even flutter kicking too close to the reef or bottom can injure small animals by pushing the water down onto them too hard with your kicks. Please do not become one of those people. They do great harm and many of us wish they were not under water. The only times I have gotten angry underwater is with people like this.

The philippines is so cheap for you. Why not visit and build your skills and go back with a camera next time? Be a good diver first and a photographer second.

We always hire a private guide to avoid the crowds. It's not much more expensive in the Philippines. Tip generously.

 

[Subcooled]

What's the etiquette

You discuss in advance.

A professional will try to make a customer happy, if safely possible. Safety goes first, though.

 

[The Chairman]

Subcooled nailed it: ask. Communicate what you want out of the dive before you get there. Other than that, a modicum of flexibility might be worth your while. I try to keep my diving as diverse as possible and that often entails me going with the flow.

 

[charlier]

Subcooled nailed it: ask. Communicate what you want out of the dive before you get there. Other than that, a modicum of flexibility might be worth your while. I try to keep my diving as diverse as possible and that often entails me going with the flow.

Great points, communication is key. Many DM's and guides in SE Asia will ask about your experience, your interests, time since last dive, concerns/anxiety while diving, equipment, gas mix, et al. After the first dive, groups can be easily changed. The DM's job is to provide a safe and enjoyable underwater experience. If I was the DM, I might gently suggest that you leave your camera on the boat for your checkout dive. 😄