Going in for my final OW cert dive

[fisheater]

I agree with LigersandTions, but I equalize on each breath, from the surface until I'm well below 30'. Lots of little equizations is easier, on you and your ears, than fewer, stronger ones.
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[rawls]

You should be floating at eye level holding a normal breath...not a full breath. But holding a full breath and floating eye level would mean you are a bit negative as far as your weighting. So that would not explain your languishing at 2-3 feet UW. It would seem in that case that you are on the positive side...Hmmmm. I am thinking you need to do another buoyancy check before the dive. Another real possibility is nerves. Nervousness will mess with your buoyuancy. So try your best to relax. As far as equalizing....try every breath or every other breath.

Some questions I have for you. Where are you doing your ow dives? If you are doing a descent without a line, what is your reference point that you are using to descend....a rock jetty....shore dive? A free descent without a reference....well, I hope your instructor is not doing that. If this is the case then something is wrong, because a new student should not be doing a free descent without reference. You need to have some way of doing a controlled descent, especially being a new student.

 

[TSandM]

One thing to remember is that you probably don't need to let ALL the air out of your BC to descend. If you are properly weighted, you should be negative by the amount of gas in your tank, which is plenty to get down. If you are finning yourself up (any fin movement in a vertical position pushes you up) or holding a big breath, you may find yourself letting too much gas out of the BC, and when you let that breath out, or stop kicking, you'll sink fast.

Another thing that happens is, if you are wearing thick neoprene, it will begin to compress as you descend, and your descent rate will increase. Your first means of defense is to inhale, and then to puff a small amount of air into the BC to slow you. With practice, it is quite possible to slip under the water, get immediately horizontal, and stop 2 or 3 feet underwater, and then totally control the descent.

 

[dwhthediver]

I would recommend start equalizing as soon as your head is under water, and every foot or so as you descend, remember though to add a little air to the BC as you descend to slow down your descent. If you are getting PADI certified on dives 3 and 4 you can't use a line, dive 3 you can look but not touch, dive 4 back to a line if there is one."I seem to be weighted correctly, eye level with full breath and when I exhale I do go down but then I just languish there 2-3 ft below the surface bobbing up and down as I breathe. If I had a grip on the line I used that to descend slowly but in the absence of the line my instructor had to forcefully push me to go down, something that I don't want to repeat." The instructor having to pull you down isn't good, either I would add another 2 lbs, or better yet, make sure you aren't breatheing to fast and having your lungs too full and stopping your descent, breathe slow and even and if you are still having trouble getting down once you are just under the water, add the 2 lbs.

 

[lord.harshil]

Try descending upright and keep your eyes on the depth gauge. You can control your descent rate easily. To sink, exhale all the way, to rise a little just kick with your fins.

Personally I descend in a horizontal position and I descend like a rock since I don't have any problems equalising. Just watch your depth gauge. Since you're new to diving, it won't be apparent when you're rising or sinking just by feel or by keeping an eye on the bottom. If the seabed in 10m down and you look at it for reference while sinking, you might just be rising without knowing it. Trust your depth gauge. They're sensitive and accurate ( at least to recreational depths ) and kick with your fins to slow descent or to rise a little to be able to equalise.

 

[k374]

thanks for all the responses! I'll keep this info in mind next time.

Some questions I have for you. Where are you doing your ow dives? If you are doing a descent without a line, what is your reference point that you are using to descend....a rock jetty....shore dive? A free descent without a reference....well, I hope your instructor is not doing that. If this is the case then something is wrong, because a new student should not be doing a free descent without reference. You need to have some way of doing a controlled descent, especially being a new student.

The dives I did were in Catalina along the isthmus. It was complicated by the fact that there was a strong current so I was being pulled horizontally as well. Infact the moment we jumped off the boat we started drifting off away from the boat and had to struggle to swim to the anchor line at the front of the boat. The descent for the dive was with a line that was attached to a float but the instructor told me not to touch it. I guess I must have been finning a bit to keep from being pulled away from the site by the current...that could have been why I wasn't going down.

 

[boulderjohn]

The dives I did were in Catalina along the isthmus. It was complicated by the fact that there was a strong current so I was being pulled horizontally as well. Infact the moment we jumped off the boat we started drifting off away from the boat and had to struggle to swim to the anchor line at the front of the boat. The descent for the dive was with a line that was attached to a float but the instructor told me not to touch it. I guess I must have been finning a bit to keep from being pulled away from the site by the current...that could have been why I wasn't going down.

Good, helpful information in this. I assume you were still somewhat winded after the swim? If so, you would have been breathing very hard, and that will make it hard to get down. Back when I was getting my divemaster rating, I had to do a very hard surface swim into the current while towing a "victim." It was very strenuous. I then had to swim hard over to where the class I was supposed to be observing on that dive was starting their descent. I was breathing heavily when I arrived, and I could not get down. I had to wait until I caught my breath before I could descend.

You have been advised to descent horizontally, but you may want to reconsider that. That is how I descend myself, but there are people who argue that it is easier to equalize in a feet-down position. Others disagree. I know that if I am descending horizontally and start to have an equalization issue, I usually just have to tip to vertical somewhat to take care of the problem. Additionally, once you do get going down and your wet suit compresses, you will start to drop quickly, perhaps too quickly for your ears. You may prefer to have your feet under you in that situation.

Your instructor may also want you to descend feet first, in which case you must follow directions.

I agree that in the future a horizontal descent is best, but perhaps you might want to wait until you are on your own getting more experience to do so.

 

[k374]

Completed my final dive today and I am CERTIFIED :banana: Todays dive was absolutely perfect, I did not have any equalization issues at all, thanks to the Doc's Pro Plugs that worked like magic. Today's dive could not have been more perfect, low surf, water temp 70+, and viz 25+ ft, it was FUN!

 

[boulderjohn]

Congratulations, and welcome to the world of diving!

 

[JMdiver]

Congrats & maybe I'll see you out there diving sometime. I DM the Spectre sometimes & are aways beach diving.

John