BETTER BUOYANCY
IF YOU WANT to make sure that your dives leave the underwater world as intact as you found it, you need to be sure that you have total control over where you are in the water and what your fins are doing! This means mastering your buoyancy – one of the most important skills in diving.
Most of us have no intention of doing damage when we descend, but poor buoyancy means that divers all too often make contact with the reef, breaking corals that then take hundreds of years to regrow, or stirring up sand with their fins that then settles on coral, “suffocating” (insulating it from the sunlight it needs for food) and killing it. And never mind the other tiny, delicate life forms that are simply no match for 80-plus kilos of diver and kit!
Good buoyancy also confers a whole heap of personal benefits – easier, longer, more stress-free dives, as well as the kudos you get from looking like a total boss beneath the waves, however malcoordinated you may be on the surface!
No matter how long you’ve been diving, or how many dives you’ve got under your weight belt, there is absolutely no shame in taking positive steps to fine-tune your buoyancy. There is nothing more encouraging for a dive instructor or guide than a diver who comes in requesting a course to better their buoyancy, and the region’s two heavy-hitting certification agencies both have a course that will set you on the way to being an underwater Zen master. Here’s what they have to say on their websites: PADI PEAK PERFORMANCE BUOYANCY
Excellent buoyancy control is what defines skilled scuba divers. You’ve seen them underwater. They glide effortlessly, use less air and ascend, descend or hover almost as if by thought. They more easily observe aquatic life without disturbing their surroundings. You can achieve this, too. The PADI Peak Performance Buoyancy Specialty course improves the buoyancy skills you learned as a new diver and elevates them to the next level.
DURING TWO SCUBA DIVES,
YOU’LL LEARN HOW TO:
• Determine the exact weight you need,
so you’re not too light or too heavy. • Trim your weight system and scuba gear so you’re perfectly balanced in the water.
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• Hover effortlessly in any position – vertical or horizontal.
Streamline to save energy, use air more efficiently and move more smoothly through the water.
Get credit! The first dive of this PADI Specialty Diver course may credit as an Adventure Dive toward your Advanced Open Water Diver certification – ask your instructor about earning credit.
No matter how long you’ve been diving, or how many dives you’ve got under your weight belt, there is absolutely no shame in taking positive steps to fine-tune your buoyancy
Next steps:
Visit your local PADI dive shop to enrol in the course and get your PADI Peak Performance Buoyancy Manual and Peak Performance Buoyancy video. By reading the manual and watching the video before class, you’ll be ready to get in the water and start practising your buoyancy skills when you meet with your PADI Instructor.