Skills to practice in shallow water

[Orestis82]

Hey all! New to diving, did my OW a month ago in Greece/Alonissos and subsequently joined a local club here in Denmark/Copenhagen.

The club goes diving once a week, mostly shore dives in fairly shallow waters, max 4m, at a place called Havheksen which is an artificial construction of hoops etc that you can swim through. There’s also boat dives but they are not as often.

We have some pretty experienced people helping and leading the dives but they are not instructors nor do they want to “instruct” people (but they do give out advice and are extremely supportive and friendly).

In my first dive there I struggled a lot with my buoyancy and shot up to the surface a few times. All the gear was new, I was wearing gloves for the first time and I just couldn’t find that damn dump valve!

Second dive was much smoother, figured out my buoyancy, saw a bunch of lion mane jellyfish and crabs, swam through the hoops and also managed to help my buddy who was struggling to stay down (dumped her valve, she wasn’t taught to use them).

So I’m quite happy so far with my progress, managed the transition from warm clear waters to colder, not so clear - and without any staff to lug and clean the gear

My question is - what are some skills I could practice during these shallow dives? Any drills or tasks that I could do solo, without losing the leader/buddy? I’m thinking buoyancy and trim are still the main areas, but unsure about specifics.

Thanks!

 

[happy-diver]

buoyancy buoyancy buoyancy

conquer it now man and once you have it working for you you have it for life

 

[bowlofpetunias]

Watch the other divers. Identify divers that you think are good in the water and mimic them. Situational awareness and bouyancy are important but they only come with bottom time. Bottom time should be fun. If you are too focused on practicing skills and you aren't enjoying yourself you are missing the whole point

 

[Orestis82]

buoyancy buoyancy buoyancy

conquer it now man and once you have it working for you you have it for life

Nice link, thank you!

 

[Orestis82]

Watch the other divers. Identify divers that you think are good in the water and mimic them. Situational awareness and bouyancy are important but they only come with bottom time. Bottom time should be fun. If you are too focused on practicing skills and you aren't enjoying yourself you are missing the whole point

Good advice -- I've already noticed that our dive guide is using his fins in a different way (frog kicking? can't say for sure) and he doesn't stir up the bottom, so I'm trying to do that more. I do have a blast anyway, just being in the water and floating around is one of the best things I've ever experienced!

 

[jlcnuke]

I like to say that a dive should be 95% fun, 5% practice. Decide one skill to work on at the end or beginning of the dive for a few minutes, then do that as planned and spend the rest of the dive enjoying yourself. That said, all diving is a constant practice of buoyancy and trim, so you are working on those skills but more passively (hopefully you'll get those down to where you don't have to think about them much after a few more dives). Practice a skill you may need once each dive though - different kicks, mask removal/replacement, regulator freeflow, shooting a SMB, etc, if you can do that you'll become a much better diver than the average.

 

[TMHeimer]

Since you mentioned shallow water, there was a thread a while back about whether or not to practice CESA. I am in the camp of "yes", figuring it's a good skill to have, especially if you get into solo diving. I also feel that if you don't practice it, doing it once or twice in the OW course amounts to nothing. I practice it from 20-30 feet (6-10 meters) starting with lungs only half full. If you have enough tank air to get full lungs then you probably can just start a normal ascent.

 

[Kharon]

Buoyancy till it's perfect, then trim till you can hover in any position that a trumpet fish can - without moving.

 

[jgttrey]

I'll add a more general comment, which is to be aware of and note anything that bugs you during a dive and then fix it. It isn't really "skills" related, but it's important.

I think a lot of new divers think that a certain level of discomfort or struggling is part of the sport. As I told my wife when she started, make a note of anything that doesn't feel totally comfortable because chances are, it can be fixed. Mouthpiece hurting your jaw? Head banging on your first stage? Toes jammed in fins? When you stop and go motionless, do you fall out of trim? Does something rub, poke or squeeze? Is it hard to reach your SMB or flashlight? Do you need to add a dongle on your dump valve line, or lengthen it, to be able to grab it with gloves? How much gas do you have in your wing at the end of the dive on your stop? If the answer is "any," then you should consider removing weight.

There are fixes for almost everything. Make a note and address it before the next dive. Eventually, you will run out of things. Every time I've changed configurations - single to doubles, doubles to sidemount, AL to steel, to CCR, etc., it has been a process of tweaking. Sometimes adjusting the harness by a small amount makes a big difference in comfort. Your weekly dives are a great opportunity to really examine anything "less than perfect" about your gear or your set up and then fix it.

 

[Jay]

Plan the Dive - Dive the Plan with the PADI Skill Practice and Planning Slate - PADI Pros