I float like a cork.

[bebbesen]

Man can I use some advice. I am 6'6" (actually 6' 51/2" but just rounding off) 230 lbs with huge lungs. When I have had xrays of my lungs the technician cannot fit all of my lungs in the picture. I have only been certified since July of 2010 and in my open water dive part of the course we were in a typical Nebraska Quary in my 3 mm full wetsuit and the instructor had to put 24 lbs of weight on me just to get me to sink. When I did my first salt water dive off of Isla Mujeres in Mexico with the same wet suit I had to have 26 lbs plus 4 lbs of ankle weights. The dive masters about died when they found out how much weight I had to have. And even with that much weight I was still having problems sinking let alone staying under water. Even with letting all of the air out of my lungs. A few days later when we went to Cozumel and dived the Santa Rosa Wall I had the same issue. Besides my issues with buoyancy with my big lungs I use air faster than the rest of the people I am diving with and have to come up earlier. At santa rosa I had a bad octopus (using the dive shop's equipment) which also added to my use of air faster, so I had to surface much earlier than anyone else. We were at 80+ feet when I had to surface and with my super human floating abilities, as hard as I tried to rise slowly and perform a 3 minute safety stop I came up like a cork. Even with 30 lbs of lead on. Fortuneately for me with my bad octopus leaking air and my usage of air quicker than the normal human being, I was at depth for only 15 minutes which is what I think save my butt from getting decompression sickness. This has me very worried that I may not be so lucky next time. Besides the fact that I look like an idiot trying to sink and stay under water.
I love diving and do not want to quit but I am very frustrated in the fact that I cannot stay under water. My wife who is 5'5" and 125 lbs has no problems and swims like a fish and is also frustrated since she is my dive buddy and has to wait on me. Generally what she has done is paired up with someone else and the poor dive master gets stuck with babysitting me and trying to hold me under. I have checked for local couses in Peak Performance Buoyancy but they are not offered locally. There are clinics in a pools but I have found that a pool is completely different than diving in open water.
Any advice or help would be deeply appreciated. We are going to Puerto Vallarta in late October and I want to enjoy my dives and actually be a dive buddy for my wife and not some guy that the dive masters are talking about over beers att he end of the day or even a year later saying "remember that guy we had to attach the extrat boat anchors to to get him to stay under...."

 

[tyesai]

Your just a big dude, you've got to have a big wetsuit as well, this means more material to make you positively buoyant. The thing that comes to my mind is get a steel back plate and wing, then if possible dive a big steel tank. Whenever I dive if given the option I always take a 15 liter tank instead of a 12.

 

[Akimbo]

Along with your larger size goes the ability to carry larger gas supplies. You could either get a large single for you or even a small set of doubles. It is not unusual for an average female to use about 30% less gas than an average male.

As far as buoyancy, that is just the reality of physics. You can shift some weight from your belt to the cylinder with a stainless back plate and wing. You can even bolt some lead to it. You can select tanks that are especially heavy in the water. For example, a steel Worthington X7-120 is -2 Lbs empty compared to the Faber M120DVB at -6.53.

With your lung capacity, you should check out a good freediving course as well. Use what nature has given you and make the best of the rest.

 

[knotical]

And you might want to consider contacting the dive operation in Puerto Vallarta in advance to tell them you are atypical. With the forewarning, they might be more likely to have larger cylinders available.

 

[knotical]

oops, double post. Sorry.

 

[BKP]

All the above is great advice... Turn the liability into an asset:

- Steel backplate and wing (BP/W) rig
- Steel tanks w/ negative buoyancy, and higher air capacities (I'm a Worthington / XSSCUBA fan) http://www.xsscuba.com/tank_steel.html
- While your wife will probably always sip air compared to you, your SAC rate *will* improve with continued diving
- Make sure you're purging *all* the air (or as much as possible) from your wing, ... larger wings can sometimes trap errant bubbles... additionally, you'll use less air, as you rely less and less on your power inflator

Good luck... don't give up... it's a common issue, even for those of... "lesser stature..."

 

[BrianBruemmer]

I had a couple issues doing my checkout dives in my full wetsuit as well. I eventually got it, but it took a while. One thing I noticed though, when I was diving in the gulf, I had a 5mm shortie on, and it was a huge difference. I had no problem descending, and was even able to use less weight in the saltwater than in the freshwater with my full wetsuit. If you are diving in warm water, you may want to consider getting a shortie. A lot less material may help solve your problems. Good luck!

 

[ItsBruce]

A couple of things:

1. With as few dives as you have, you should not be diving to 80 feet.

2. With your air usage, you should not be diving to 80 feet.

3. If you are too buoyant, use more weight ... just find a better place to put it than on your weight belt, i.e. in pockets on the cam bands. If you are using rental gear, just bring pockets that you can put on the cam bands on the rental bcd.

4. As someone else noted, with your size, you can carry a lot more by way of tanks than smaller divers and therefore have equally long dives.

5. When I dive PV in October, I usually wear a 7mm wetsuit. I usually bring my own, but sometimes use the dive operator's. Because of your size, you might want to contact the dive op to advise you will need a larger wetsuit.

 

[j2s]

Have the same issue....25Lbs in a jacket style bc w/a 5mm farmer & boots and AL80 in salt......38Lbs w/a full 7mm/gloves and boots in salt.....Don't need weights w/a DSS SS Long BP/double Faber HP100's and full 3 or 7mm w/gloves/boots, reels and lites, in fresh water....Just as Tyesai said, more wetsuit, more lung, more displacement more weights....Go to Deepseasupply.com...They make an Xtra long SS Bkp that will probably help w/getting rid of some weights and be more comfortable and maybe think about a dry suit.....Every little bit makes a difference.....

 

[DevonDiver]

30lbs in a 3mm? So...allowing, at most, 6lbs to sink the suit... that'd leave 24lbs to sink you.... can you carry 24lbs of weight when you go swimming without a problem? still floaty?!?