hi, I completed my OW course couple weeks ago and went for my first dive with my buddy last weekend and it was a good dive, however i really want to master neutral buoyancy and i know that diving frequently will help improve but does anyone have any tips or techniques they use ?. normally when diving i will do a fin pivot first to get neutral buoyant but this means if i need to surface or dump some air then im back where i started. thanks bobby
You will find some good advice in the General Scuba Diving forum here http://ukdivers.com/community/threads/fine-tuning-buoyancy-control.10822/ Welcome to UKDivers
Wot 'e said, just descend, then when you are near the sea bed just slowly add air to your bcd, stop finning and try just half a breath in and see if you can hover, then just add very small amounts of air to fine tune your bouyancy, it's just practice, good luck
As you say, bouyancy will come with experience. The biggest thing you can do though to give yourself a head start is to take the time to do a proper weight check. Do this at the end of the dive with almost empty cylinder and you need just enough lead that you can descend with empty lungs - that will be enough lead to let you hold a safety stop. Less lead, means less air to compensate which makes tweaking your bouyancy far easier. As JB says short squirts of gas and wait afew seconds for them to take effect before you add more - same with dumping air, little and often. Also try to get horizontal in the water - if you are dragging your legs, you feet will be constantly pushing you up so you will need to be negative to stay down. That means whenever you stop kicking you will sink downwards. Again horizontal trim takes practice and may involve adjusting the position of your weights. After a while you will find fin pivots unnecessary (they stir up the vis!) as you will be able to feel if you are floaty or heavy in the water.
I found having an instructor that could dive and teach me bouyancy/trim and frog finning from the first word of instruction made sure I wasnt left in the OP's position. Honestly there some scumbag instructors out there! This is one reason I detest the hole dive industry!
I was never taught how to frog fin, it's annoying when I try to do it as I don't seem to be able to get it right, I also need to try and keep up with the group
Sod the group, the slower the better, your buddy should hang back and stay with you. Come on, you're a woman, you should DEMAND these things!
Shaky fists is the new signal for I DEMAND whilst underwater I did try slowing a little but my buddy at the time was extremely selfish and went on ahead... Needles to say that I'm never diving with that person again! I have mentioned it before but if a few people are interested in meeting up for a steady dive I may be able to pick up some frog finning tips.
this is because your instructor was crap or couldnt do it themselves, a good instructor will take the time to show you. sod the goup dive solo,
We'll mostly be in quarries of NW England over winter, other than that I can recommend Garfs GUE day. That'll definitely help.
Dive solo... not just yet, I only have 12 dives under my belt. Thanks Suggsy, anything at this stage is a great help.
You may have already done this, but there are loads of clips you YouTube which demonstrate various skills. This one for example http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFBmZ1g16H8 I was never taught to Frog Kick, I think I just started doing it without even realizing it. You'll know when you're getting there when you can fin along a foot or so above the bottom of silty lakes (Stoney for example) and not leave any indication that you've been there. EDIT: I should say that you should be happy with your buoyancy before trying the above
Ok, I may as well join in ,but dont go running to the MODs whining about cliques and being bullied now! Hmm, someone going diving? But wait, who's tins are those and what do those stickers say? SN, hmmm! But those stickers, what do they say? Ah! A PADI fan, well good for you, whoever you are! I wonder who owns those cylinders then? Yesssssssssssss, BIG (medium after a concensus of opinion) Si! Oh how we all giggled like kids
