How to achieve neutral buoyancy to take pics snorkeling

[WetBoy101]

I use on of these with soft weights. Ten pounds with a 3 mil shorty. Mine has 6 pockets and I use the extra ones for car keys and stuff. With the correct amount of weight you don't waste a lot of energy getting down to take your picture. A kick or two an you glide down without any movement to spook your subject!!
Buy.com - Neoprene Weight Belt with Velcro Pockets - Black - 5 Pocket

 

[kfreckles]

Thank you for all your helpful responses. I'm def going to invest in a weight belt and weights. I'll probably purchase extra weights and then work out how much I need once I'm there.

 

[floridadivers]

Many snorkelers have trouble with weight belt and buoyant fins as well. Their upper body will sink while their feet float to the surface. OIf you find this to be the case after you try weights many dive shops sell small ankle weights that will help keep you at a neutral balance.

Best of luck

 

[kfreckles]

Many snorkelers have trouble with weight belt and buoyant fins as well. Their upper body will sink while their feet float to the surface. OIf you find this to be the case after you try weights many dive shops sell small ankle weights that will help keep you at a neutral balance.

Best of luck

Thanks for the tip. I have seen ankle weights on various websites, but never clicked that this is why I would need them. So thanks

 

[Arubandi07]

If it's only 2m below water level you could just exhale... I think....

I'd suggest going with weighting, that gets you neutral at ~ 15 ft, and for shots at less than that depth doing a partial exhale/sink to your set up spot. Based on my experience, that should allow for 20-25 sec hang time to get your pics in the depth range you're describing, just make sure to get the cam set before going down.

Most importantly, put in a little practice time with somebody to assist you, to get a feel for it and figure out the particulars, I for example find it helpful to moderately hyperventilate in my breathe-up, gives me 8-10 sec more bottom time. If properly conditioned, a 50-60 sec dive on a half-breath is pretty easy to do, the key factors are minimizing oxygen waste during descent/ascent, dealing with the mental aspect of "not having enough air in your lungs", and of course finding your personal safety limits for this approach.

 

[cutlass]

Only 1-2m? That's quite shallow and I'm sure it'll be very difficult to strike a balance between weighted heavy enough to stay stable at those depths but yet weighted light enough to snorkel comfortably. A big part of the problem is accounting for the buoyancy/displacement of full lungs. There's not going to be a lot of compression at 2m. Add a wetsuit and the problem increases.

You may consider towing around a float with a tethered, detachable weight heavy enough to keep you down. When done, retrieve the weight and secure it back to the float.

 

[geogator]

I consider a weight belt essential if you are seriously interested in getting good photos while snorkeling. However, I have found it difficult if not impossible to achieve true neutral buoyancy (like a scuba diver can) when I am snorkeling. Buoyancy changes greatly in the top 15 feet, and when you are snorkeling you usually also have to contend with wave action or surge in shallow water. This makes taking photos while snorkeling a challenge. I often try to hold on to a rock (not coral!) when I am taking a picture to steady myself as much as possible. The steadier you are in the water, the better the photo will turn out in terms of focus. However at certain marine preserves or on snorkel tours, you may be discouraged from touching anything.

With a shorty wetsuit, I previously used 8 lb of weight for snorkeling, and as I have gotten older and flabbier, I now use 10 lb. With this much weight, I am still quite bouyant in the top 8 ft or so of water.

I'm getting ready to take my OW class next month & have bought a 3mm full suit and my weight belt (6 pocket) & assortment of shot weights. I've experimented a bit in my backyard pool with the suit & weights & also found that 10lb is not quite enough to stay down (only 6' deep) at level buoyancy as my legs tend to float back up after a few seconds. However, when I tried 12lb, it was too much as I had to kick more to stay above water when vertical and when floating horizontal topside my hips/legs tended to sink. I adjusted the weight into different pockets (at 10lb) & it helped a little having the bigger weights (4lb) in the front pockets & the 1lbs in the middle, leaving the rear ones empty. (Again, could be used for keys, etc.) I'm heading to one of the Florida springs this weekend to tinker around with it some more & also take some pix so we'll see if that water (non-chlorine) makes a difference or not but I don't think it will.

 

[danvolker]

I'm getting ready to take my OW class next month & have bought a 3mm full suit and my weight belt (6 pocket) & assortment of shot weights. I've experimented a bit in my backyard pool with the suit & weights & also found that 10lb is not quite enough to stay down (only 6' deep) at level buoyancy as my legs tend to float back up after a few seconds. However, when I tried 12lb, it was too much as I had to kick more to stay above water when vertical and when floating horizontal topside my hips/legs tended to sink. I adjusted the weight into different pockets (at 10lb) & it helped a little having the bigger weights (4lb) in the front pockets & the 1lbs in the middle, leaving the rear ones empty. (Again, could be used for keys, etc.) I'm heading to one of the Florida springs this weekend to tinker around with it some more & also take some pix so we'll see if that water (non-chlorine) makes a difference or not but I don't think it will.

First, you are never supposed to be vertical on the surface when snorkeling/freediving...it is a huge waste of energy, and you will not float as you would when flat horizontal...this is what a snorkel is for--to allow flat horizontal on the surface.

Most freedivers are doing much deeper drops..potentially well below 60 feet--for them, the idea of being positive on the surface is an entirely different issue than it is for you and 12 foot deep dives. They need to concern themselves with shallow water blackout, and other issues of depth and duration...You on the other hand, could not experience shallow water blackout, since you could never significantly change the partial pressure of O2 in your blood on dives shallower than 20 feet. For your 12 foot deep dives and shallower, I would use a slightly negative ( 1 pound maybe) weight at the surface, which you would find would not be experienced as sinking, as long as you slowly swim forward --creating a wing effect with your body that prevents sinking...you can get this with a very slow, no exertion effort.....If you have to swim fast for this to happen, you ARE TOO WEIGHTED.

If you were using freedive fins, you'd find the efficiency a huge asset in resting and keeping heart rate down, and you would also find that with freedive fins, if you "wanted" to carry an anchor up from the bottom, it would be easy to do for anyone in semi-decent shape. With cheap snorkeling fins, this could be impossible.

 

[geogator]

First, you are never supposed to be vertical on the surface when snorkeling/freediving...it is a huge waste of energy, and you will not float as you would when flat horizontal...this is what a snorkel is for--to allow flat horizontal on the surface.

Most freedivers are doing much deeper drops..potentially well below 60 feet--for them, the idea of being positive on the surface is an entirely different issue than it is for you and 12 foot deep dives. They need to concern themselves with shallow water blackout, and other issues of depth and duration...You on the other hand, could not experience shallow water blackout, since you could never significantly change the partial pressure of O2 in your blood on dives shallower than 20 feet. For your 12 foot deep dives and shallower, I would use a slightly negative ( 1 pound maybe) weight at the surface, which you would find would not be experienced as sinking, as long as you slowly swim forward --creating a wing effect with your body that prevents sinking...you can get this with a very slow, no exertion effort.....If you have to swim fast for this to happen, you ARE TOO WEIGHTED.

If you were using freedive fins, you'd find the efficiency a huge asset in resting and keeping heart rate down, and you would also find that with freedive fins, if you "wanted" to carry an anchor up from the bottom, it would be easy to do for anyone in semi-decent shape. With cheap snorkeling fins, this could be impossible.

Regarding the vertical position, the only time I really do that is if I stop momentarily to get my bearings relative to the shore, etc., esp. if I'm in a large body of water.

You're correct in that I'm only going down 10-15 feet, but I'm not sure I understand your statement about the 1 pound weight though - are you saying that I'm too weighted with 10lbs total? (I wear a 5lb total on each side.) With the buoyancy of my wetsuit, it's really difficult w/o any weight at all to get below a couple of feet & stay there for more than 5-10 seconds, let alone 20-30 seconds (long enough to snap some pix/video). I still float horizontal on the surface very comfortably with 10lbs.

Regarding movement, when I go down, I usually bend at close to 90deg & give a couple of good kicks before I level out. W/o the weight when in the suit, I just bob right back up.

Thanks for any help on this.

 

[danvolker]

Regarding the vertical position, the only time I really do that is if I stop momentarily to get my bearings relative to the shore, etc., esp. if I'm in a large body of water.

You're correct in that I'm only going down 10-15 feet, but I'm not sure I understand your statement about the 1 pound weight though - are you saying that I'm too weighted with 10lbs total? (I wear a 5lb total on each side.) With the buoyancy of my wetsuit, it's really difficult w/o any weight at all to get below a couple of feet & stay there for more than 5-10 seconds, let alone 20-30 seconds (long enough to snap some pix/video). I still float horizontal on the surface very comfortably with 10lbs.

Regarding movement, when I go down, I usually bend at close to 90deg & give a couple of good kicks before I level out. W/o the weight when in the suit, I just bob right back up.

Thanks for any help on this.

I don't know if 10 pounds is perfect for you...I am just saying you should be able to sink without kicking, at your 10 to 15 foot max depth diving.... whatever weight is your total, it should make you about 1 pound negative---1 pound is all that is actually sinking you. This is a very easy weight to lift off the bottom.