Uncomfortable breathing underwater

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

Gary Door

Registered
Messages
6
Reaction score
1
Location
Saint Marteen
# of dives
None - Not Certified
So I come down to Saint Marteen for my birthday and want to treat myself to a scuba cert. It did not go well. I can't seem to get over the breathing underwater part. Barely got through the the first course. I keep wanting to bring my head above the surface. Anxiety perhaps.I not sure what is causing it. Just so frustrating. Does anyone have any tips. Am doing my closed water in zero visibility. Am going to try again tomorrows. Thanks for any advice.
 
It's really mind over matter...stay calm...and breathe.
 
Occupy yourself with doing little things while you are just under the surface. Fiddle with straps, bring a padlock and practice locking/unlocking it, maybe bring a piece of rope and practice tying knots or something. The goal is to occupy your mind while you get used to the new environment. After a while, you should feel comfortable enough even with your realization that you are breathing underwater.
 
Ok so you are uncomfortable doing something that goes against one of your basic human survival instincts. This is nothing to be concerned about, you dont have gills it is natural to be nervous all of us were.

Just remind yourself that you have a lot of engineering technology keeping you breathing and how cool is it that you can do this, breath remind yourself your breathing. And keep practicing it will get more natural as you continue.
 
I also had problems in the beginning. I soon found out that I needed to relax and make sure to fully exhale. I was not getting my lungs ventilated and building up CO2, thus triggering the urge to breathe again. It quickly became a vicious cycle that forced me to stand up and remove the regulator to be able to catch my breath.
 
I also had problems in the beginning. I soon found out that I needed to relax and make sure to fully exhale. I was not getting my lungs ventilated and building up CO2, thus triggering the urge to breathe again. It quickly became a vicious cycle that forced me to stand up and remove the regulator to be able to catch my breath.

Another quote "don't panic" and always have a towel.
 
I forgot to add, I did my OW in New England, for us 10ft vis is good 20 is OMG how did that happen. Put a bunch of over weighted students floundering around and vis is measured in inches. Just relax.
 
Well, "closed water in zero visibility," certainly plays a big part, especially for a novice, and if manual tasks are involved. I have been diving for years; and zero visibility is never terribly relaxing.

Years ago, a friend did his training dives in a water trap on a Colorado golf course.

I can only tell you that it gets better; and the activity involved with diving becomes automatic.

Breathe regularly and relax . . .
 
All good advice above. Remember that the mask covers your nose (though exposed nose to water must be dealt with and eventually must be no problem), and the regulator is in your mouth--so, all is good.
What is "closed water in zero visibilty"? In a pool? in a lagoon of sorts?
Do you ever have a problem with claustrophobia? If so, that could be more of your problem than the mechanics of underwater breathing.
 
I had a student who had issues breathing underwater and always wanted to stand up as well when in shallow water. It is pretty normal.

I had her put her mask on, put the reg in her mouth and while standing up in the pool, just bend over at the waist and dip her face in while breathing. I told her that there is no issue we can't fix as long as we have the regulator in our mouth and we are still getting air from it. It took a few tries but each time she could keep her face down a bit longer each time.

Eventually I had her go all the way under and just look at me. She stared into my eyes and we both just hovered there breathing from the regs. No skills, just breathing. She managed to do this for 5 minutes and as each minute ticked past, I saw her becoming more comfortable.

It takes practice and time so keep at it and you will get there.

I am concerned about the zero vis part for what I assume to be the confined water portion of your class. That alone adds anxiety that is not needed when learning to use life support equipment in a strange new environment.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

Back
Top Bottom