Steve_Dives:
You've had some good advice here, and all will take practice. I carry a compass on every dive, part of my console. And I use it anytime their is a flat featureless bottom. Most dives I make are from a boat with an anchor out. Because we hunt fish, we almost always dive a sloping bottom. With those conditions, I always check the anchor at the start of the dive, and remember the depth. I'll go away from the boat at slightly deeper depth. When it is time to return I'll return back at the depth of the anchor. Until I've told divers how I do this, they are amazed at my surfacing at my boat each time. If you don't have an anchor as a reference point, this tip will work if you stack rocks, trash etc. at a fixed depth. On the way back you can take the trash up for proper disposal.
Sometime in the future you may have the opportunity to join a diver competition within a dive club. The practice of a long swim on a compass heading, re-enforces your confidence. Even at the Underwater Society's national championships, there have been divers "MISS" by 180 degrees.
