Top Ten Tips for New Divers

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SDAnderson

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Rather than resurrect some ancient threads, I thought I'd start the discussion anew. I’m interested in hearing what others think I might have missed…more or less in order:

Top Ten Tips for New (and not so new) Divers

  1. Learn to stay off the bottom – way off the bottom. It isn’t cute or funny or inevitable that you shred the environment; all you have to do is decide not to and put a little effort into it. Check behind yourself periodically and make sure you aren’t kicking up the bottom.
    [*]Never skip the buddy check. Make sure that you and your buddy both know how all of each others gear works and that each of you is squared away before you get wet. New buddies (boat buddies, especially) should take a couple of extra minutes to carefully check each others gear and to review procedures.
    [*]Plan your dive and dive your plan. How deep? How long? How far? Which direction? What signals? What if? It’s always better to be safe than sorry so if you blow your plan, don’t hesitate to abort the dive.
    [*]Use your safety stops to practice skills. Time in the water is precious so don’t waste it. The easiest way to get good at skills like hovering and alternate air drills and mask replacement is to practice, repeatedly.
    [*]Refresh yourself. If you’ve been out of the water for awhile, spend some time in the quarry or pool before you leave on vacation. Both you and your gear work better after you rinse the dust off them. If you have a hard time remembering how to put your gear together or how to perform all of the skills, don’t hesitate to get some help.
    [*]Learn to properly weight yourself. Being neutral and trim in the water will help you relax, breathe less, work less and make it much easier to control your buoyancy. By the way, if you're a new diver, you are almost certainly overweighted.
    [*]Always carry an appropriate signal device. At a minimum, divers in open water should have a sausage or a light and a whistle.
    [*]Master both the flutter kick and the frog kick. Knowing how to effectively and efficiently use these two finning techniques will make diving easier and more fun.
    [*]Continue your training, at least through Rescue. You’ll hear arguments that training today isn’t as rigorous as it once was and that instructors aren’t as demanding as they once were – both true – but all that means is that it’s even more important to get more training. For most divers, rescue marks the dividing line between novice and true independence and self-reliance.
    [*]Relax. Take it easy. Have fun.
 
Learn bouyancy control. It's more than just proper weighting or staying off the bottom. It's being able to maintain your position at any point in the water column.
 
Learn some gas management. There is more to planning your gas than "back on the boat with 500 psi".
 
Dive within the limits you are trained for.

Dive regularly, read, learn, practice, dive more, read more, learn more, practice more, keep diving, keep reading, keep learning and keep practicing....

Never think you have got it. When you think you have got it then you just lost it.
 
There's bouyancy and then there's trim. You can be perfectly neutral at a 45 degree angle leaning to the left. Once you get your trim dialed in, life is good.
 
I didn't see the one that stated treating your instructor like God. It should be carved in stone, but that might cause some buoyancy problems.
 
I didn't see the one that stated treating your instructor like God. It should be carved in stone, but that might cause some buoyancy problems.

#1. Learn to stay off the bottom – way off the bottom.

Kinda hard to kneel when there's no surface to kneel on :wink:
 
There is one constant in OW diving, the surface is always up.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

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