A few questions that get asked a lot by divers are, what constitutes a good pre-dive breakfast? Is it okay to eat before you dive? Is having breakfast before a dive necessary? What kinds of surface interval snacks are beneficial? Today we attempt to answer some of these Scuba Diver Diet questions below.

Breakfast and Scuba Diving
Contrary to what many divers think, for a normal morning 2 tank dive, one should always have proper breakfast before their dives. Your body usually burns calories to stay warm underwater, and the exercise of swimming and diving require a large amount of energy In the form of calories. A good breakfast provides your body with the necessary source of fuel to expend while diving while preventing you from spending your dive shivering constantly.

What kind of breakfast should a scuba diver have before a day’s diving?
Try to eat something that will give you a long lasting energy supply. It is recommended that a light breakfast free from heavy fats, sugars and oils is best. A breakfast of cereal, fruit, yogurt, toast, muffins, bagels and even egg , will give you sufficient slow burning energy, your body needs to keep you warm during your dive. Try to restrict yourself to eat bland, non-greasy and non-acidic foods, trust me you don’t want heart burn underwater. Also be sure not to overeat, eat just enough to last until lunch.

A key recommendation for divers is to drink plenty of fluids in the morning. Tea, juices, and water are key to preventing dehydration on the boat or while diving. Avoid excessive orange Juice consumption as its acidic nature may make you sea sick. Consumption of too much coffee before a dive is also not recommended as caffeine acts as a diuretic which brings on dehydration. Dehydration can play a significant role in DCS so consume plenty of water before your dive or restrict yourself to decaf, or tea instead.

The saying about eating before you swim, giving you cramps is a myth. However try not to eat anything within 45 mins – 2 hrs before your dive, mainly to allow your system to digest before you set out on a boat to prevent yourself from being queasy and sea sick while on the rocking boat.   For those that get seasick easily, stay away from a heavy breakfast and try foods like ginger snaps, dry toast, cheese and crackers which usually help absorb the stomach acids, making you feel better.

Are Surface Interval Snacks Ok?
During your surface intervals, between dives, we recommend you snack on some high-carbohydrate foods, such as bananas, fruit, granola bars, energy bars, cereal bars, yogurt, cookies and biscuits to give you instant energy for your next dive. Ensure you also re-hydrate yourself between dives by drinking plenty of water or a sports drink.  Bananas are perhaps the most popular surface interval snack, although some boat captains don’t allow bananas onboard their boats, citing an old superstition that bananas bring bad luck to sailors. Try to avoid heavy starchy foods during your surface interval; your aim is to replenish your energy and fluids for your next dive after which you can eat whatever you like.

* Photo credits: photos by lepiaf.geo, sifu.Renka, happysnapper, Spanner Dan on flickr

Stubborn ears are among the top reason divers pull the plug on a dive. Sounds easy to do but we all have good and bad days and even the best of divers can have trouble popping their ears on a dive. But with a few of these tricks and advanced techniques, we hope that on a bad day you won’t have to end a dive because of ear woes.

Valsalva
The most common way to equalize taught to you before your first dive is known as the Valsalva maneuver. The Valsalva method teaches you to pinch your nose so that no air can pass through your nostrils, and then gently “blow” your nose. This action forces air into your inner ear space, equalizing the pressure within to the outside pressure often with an audible popping or clicking sound.

Toynbee
The Toynbee technique of clearing your ears is to simply pinch your nose and swallow at the same time. This tenses the muscles in the throat and soft palate to pull the tubes open, while your tongue compresses air against them.

Frenzel
Holding your nose, forcefully press your tongue against the back of your throat while making a “K” or “ng” sound. What this technique does is, contracts the throat muscles to open the tubes while compressing air against them with the tongue.

Voluntary tubal opening
Try yawning with your mouth closed by contracting the muscles in the back of the roof of your mouth and throat while pushing your jaw forward and down. Tensing and stretching the muscles pulls the eustachian tubes open.

Lowry
This method is a combination of Valsalva and Toynbee and a little tricky, especially with a regulator in your mouth. Pinch your nose and then blow against your closed nose while swallowing at the same time. It’s good way to ensure the tubes open up and stay open.

If your ears are particularly stubborn, while trying the equalizing methods tilt your head from side to side or look up towards the surface. It helps stretch the folds surrounding the eustachian tubes making it easier to open them.

Read our 10 Tips to Equalize Your Ears When Scuba Diving

*Photo Credits: photos by torbenator and Acid Zebra on flickr

One of the scariest things that can happen to a Scuba diver is an uncontrolled ascent either intentionally initiated in an emergency or by unintentionally often caused by faulty Scuba equipment. An uncontrolled ascent is also known as an  Emergency Ascent  which is always an unplanned ascent, where a diver aborts a dive due to equipment problems, out-of-air situation,  or injury to self, or another diver which are intentionally initiated emergency ascents or unintentionally initiated ascents (also known as a buoyant ascent) when a diver can loses buoyancy and quickly get into an uncontrolled ascent by loss of weights or by a malfunctioning BCD often a sticky inflator causing the diver to ascend.

Despite being a terrifying experience, as with everything in scuba diving, it is essential to remain calm and be prepared for such an eventuality.

The first and most important thing to do should you ever need to perform an emergency ascent is to try and control/slow your rate of ascent to prevent lung over expansion injuries and possible decompression sickness. An emergency ascent caused by malfunctioning BCD inflators stuck in the on-position or loss of a weight belt, is rather scary as they affect your ability to control your ascent rate. In such circumstances a diver should perform the flaring maneuver.

The greater the cross-sectional area of an object moving in a particular direction, the greater the resistance or drag is created to the movement of the object in that direction. In short Flaring is essentially creating the most drag which is the opposite of streamlining.  A Diver can slow down his ascent rate by arching his back, face-up towards the surface and extending his arms, legs and fins parallel to the surface in a spread-eagled manner (like a sky-diver but face up). If you are coming up face down, raise one elbow higher than the shoulder. This will produce an unequal buoyancy which will cause the BCD to roll you face up. This is called the Raised Elbow Technique. Also remember to continuously breathe out as you ascend to prevent lung over expansion injuries.

If you can quickly identify the cause of your ascent in time try to do so, by pulling on your BCD dump valves to ensure that all the air has escaped. Buoyancy compensator air dump valves allow air to escape faster than the low pressure inflator can fill the jacket and should stabilize the leak. If the low pressure inflator button is stuck in the on position, quickly disconnect the inflator hose and dump the air from the BCD by tugging on the air dump valves. However if you have lost your weight belt, your best option if you cannot fin downward to retrieve it or signal your buddy to control you, is to flare and prepare for an emergency ascent.

photos from flickr by: mike757 , Mister.Tee

Part 2/2 of our two part series on Tips for diving in kelp forests. If you haven’t read the first part click here.

Swim single file
While diving in kelp, it is always easier to have your buddy or group swim single file. This causes the least disruption to the environment allowing the lead diver to navigate and clear the path through the kelp, and also ensure that if the lead gets tangled, there is someone behind you to help extricate you.

Glide don’t Swim
The smoother and fewer your movements, the easier it is to dive through kelp. Minimal fin strokes coupled with controlled buoyancy will allow a diver to sail through kelp without getting tangled.

If tangled don’t Panic!
If you should get tangled in kelp, the important thing is to remain calm. Thrashing about will only get you more tangled. Try figuring out what part of you is tangled, usually the first stage gets caught, so reach backward carefully and try to free yourself. Backing out of the kelp carefully might also help get free. Signal your buddy if he/she can better spot the cause of entanglement.

Do not Ascend if you get tangled
Should you get tangled in kelp, never inflate your BCD or try and ascend until you get free. Ascending will drag more kelp onto the diver making it more difficult to get free.

Carry a Dive Knife
If you cannot extricate yourself from the kelp, relax, it’s only a plant. Diver safety comes before the marine ecology, so try gently breaking the kelp, or better yet use your dive knife to cut free. As long as you don’t uproot the entire plant from its base, the kelp should grow back.

Take off your BCD as last resort
If you simply cannot free yourself, carefully undo your BCD and try to free the offending kelp.

Ascend by looking for sand flats away from the rocky surface down slope
Remember that a kelp forest is very similar to diving in an overhead environment, as kelp forms a canopy at the surface that is difficult to break through. One way of ensuring you are not swimming up into a canopy is to look for a sandy patch of the sea bed further down slope. Kelp attaches to the rocky bottom of the sea bed.

Swim below the kelp canopy under the surface.
While ascending if you come across a canopy at the surface, it is always better to swim under the canopy and navigate your way to a clearing or to your dive boat as a surface swim is extremely difficult over a canopy of kelp.

Carry a Pony tank or a Reserve
As with overhead environments, swimming under the canopy to find a clearing uses up a lot of your air. Getting tangled in and trying to free yourself from kelp can also consume a lot of your air supply. Its always a good practice to carry with you a pony tank that will give you that extra time needed, incase you get tangled or lost under the canopy.

Kelp Crawling
Should you have ignored all the good advice and still managed to surface in a kelp canopy, you may need to perform what is known as the Kelp Crawl to surface swim your way back to your dive boat. Inflate your Buoyancy compensator fully, using your arms to clear your way to the surface. Extend your arms over the kelp in front of you and push downward while performing a butterfly kick to push you over the kelp and make your way slowly to your boat. Be advised, the kelp crawl is rather exhausting, and is effective only over shorter distances.

*Photo credits: photos by dantheurer, Ken-ichi, king damus, chuybregts,davidagalvan on flickr

There is something truly surreal about Scuba Diving in a giant Kelp Forests, and any diver who has experienced diving in this environment will tell you, that there is nothing else comparable to navigating your way through giant strands of giant kelp through filtered streaming sunlight and observing these unique ecosystems up-close. Kelp forests grow predominantly on the Pacific Coast, around California, Alaska, Tasmania, New Zealand, South Africa, and Australia.

Kelp is an aquatic plant that has root like structures at its base known as “holdfasts” and a main stem that streams upward towards the light at the surface where it forms a canopy like a tree.

Tips for diving amongst forests of kelp are a combination of making the dive easier, finding your way around as well as maintaining the ecosystem and preventing damage to the kelp.

Streamline your scuba diving equipment to avoid snags
When you are preparing for your Kelp Dive, potential exists for divers to become entangled in kelp, so make sure you take extra care to prevent having anything on you that could snag on the kelp.  Make sure that all straps are adjusted, and taped or tucked. Weight belts should not have lose ends dangling. Keep all gauges clipped on to your BCD, and don’t wear your dive knife strapped to your leg, try keeping it in your BCD, or attached to it.

Do not step off the dive boat into a Kelp Canopy
While planning your descent from the dive boat, make sure you enter the water in a clearing free of the Kelp canopy, or at the fringes of the forest. Jumping into the canopy can entangle you in an instant. Judging clearings in a kelp forest can be deceptively difficult to do so as there may appear to be an area void of kelp on the surface, but has dense stalks growing just below the surface, making choosing an entry location tricky.

Plan your dive taking accurate compass readings and bearings before descent.
Getting lost in a kelp forest is relatively easy to do. Divers should get a good idea about the layout of the area before the dive, taking  underwater compass readings to ensure you locate the dive boat on your way back.

Use your hands to push away the kelp and Descend feet first
While entering the water, deflate your BCD completely and spin around slowly, gently pushing away the kelp from you while descending feet first straight downward.

The forest is almost always thinnest near the bottom
When diving in a Kelp forest, descend straight to the bottom where the kelp is at its thinnest point and navigating the forest becomes much easier. Take a bearing once you reach the sea bed, or leave a marker to allow you to find your way back to the dive boat.

Follow Natural Clearings between each Kelp Stalk
The easiest way to explore a kelp forest is to follow the natural clearings between the kelp and make your way through. Ensure that you pick a wide enough opening to swim through to avoid getting tangled. If the opening looks too small to get through, and you cannot see the path ahead, it probably isn’t advisable to swim through it, as it is difficult to back out while diving.

Continued.. Tips to Kelp Diving Part 2

photos by: star5112, Adam Gerritsma, danielguip

You’ve booked those tickets and can almost hear the sound of those waves…you’re next dive trip awaits. Rearing to go, just one task lies ahead of you…packing all that bulky Scuba gear to carry it with you on a flight.

Sounds like a hassle doesn’t it? Well, if you think about the money you’ll be saving on renting diving equipment and not to mention the comfort of diving in your own scuba gear, packing your scuba kit isn’t that much trouble. We’ve got some great tips for packing your gear compact and light so it’s convenient to carry and safe from any damage.

Get a Scuba Gear Bag. Many people try to get away with just a regular duffel bag or simple luggage. Most often you’ll find it very difficult to fit all your gear in those without a struggle and even if you manage, they may not be sturdy enough for the weight or have enough protection to save it from damage, incase it is tossed around after you check it in.

Scuba gear bags are designed to fit all your bulky scuba gear from fins, buoyancy compensators, wetsuits, masks and a lot of other stuff with no problem. Some offer the duffel bag with wheels making them easier to transport around, since all that gear can get heavy. Importantly, since dive  gear bags are designed for exactly that, they are perfect for packing everything in one bag for flying.

Regulators too can fit in your dive gear bag, it is advisable to pack a separate regulator bag and take it as carry-on luggage. Regulator bags are reinforced to protect the delicate regulator mechanism and they accommodate the hoses perfectly to keep them from twisting and possibly cracking. If you do use a regulator bag you can try to fit it in your scuba gear bag, to check it in. Otherwise, wrap your regulators in clothes and carry it with you in your hand baggage to be on the safe side.

Always start with your buoyancy compensator as it takes up the most space. Make sure all the air is let out, fold the sides tightly and pack it in the bottom placing all your other gear on top so it helps with some cushioning. Scuba masks usually come with  hard protective case. They’re quite durable and you don’t have to worry much about them. If you don’t have a case for them, wrap them in your wetsuit or diveskin to protect it from scratches.  Pack all other things you may need like snorkel, slates, flashlights etc, in the nooks and crannies of your gear bag. Then place your fins on top or on either side of the gear bag making sure they won’t bend. Remember to stuff the feet with socks or smaller items to keep their shape. Avoid folding your wetsuit too many times, as this will just make it bulkier. Instead just two folds is good enough for it to lay flat and use it to top of your bag as cushioning.

See, packing for a scuba trip isn’t that hard. One gear bag and a regulator in your carry-on and you’re ready to get on that plane and go! Happy Diving!

*Products pictured above: Blue Reef Cayman Dive Flag Duffle Bag, Get Wet Package, AquaLung Legend Regulator Bag. All available at LeisurePro.com

Whether you’re new to Scuba diving or it has just been a very long gap after your last dive, many divers experience some jitters usually from unpreparedness.

You often hear new divers say “I felt claustrophobic”, “I couldn’t breathe properly” or even experienced divers blame their dive equipment – “There was something wrong with my regulator” or stress out, “I felt a lot of pressure suddenly”. These thoughts and feelings are common because one feels out of control/practice or a lack of confidence in their equipment because they’re not familiar with it and sometimes it’s plain old nerves messing with you before a dive, either way the jitters can easily be overcome with these tips-

1. Get familiar with your equipment. If you own your own Scuba diving gear and equipment, make sure you check each piece of the gear before you leave for your dive trip. Try everything on, get the feel of things and get comfortable with them before your trip. Often when you don’t do this and then don all the gear just before a dive,the sheer amount of equipment can overwhelm you causing you to stress about what if’s and things that could possibly go wrong. If you’re renting make sure to get to the dive shop well before your dive to check and try on everything.

2. If it’s been a few months since your certification, consider a refresher course at your local dive shop or YMCA. At the very least, get permission from a local pool to test your gear out (if you have your own, or rented gear from your local shop if you don’t). Don’t wait till you’re on vacation – get comfortable with assembling and using Scuba equipment in the water now.

3. Go over hand signals and emergency scenarios with your dive buddy a day before the dive. If you and your dive buddy are on the same page and understand each other well, it’ll definitely make you more comfortable and calm some of those nerves.

4. Get to know the site you are diving. Ask the dive master in charge about the dive site. When you know what to expect like the depth, currents and so on it makes focusing on other dive aspects easier which will make you feel more comfortable. Comfort underwater is the key to a good dive it even influences other scuba diving skills like buoyancy control and air consumption etc.

5. Ask questions. Never be shy, intimidated or too proud to ask questions about anything that you are uncertain of. Scuba instructors and dive masters will always be ready to help no matter how ‘dumb’ you feel your queries are. If it’ll help you feel better prepared, don’t even think twice before asking.

At the end of the day, the better prepared you feel, the less nervous you’ll be during the dive. So eliminate those nerves by familiarizing yourself with the equipment, dive site and your buddy. The rest will vanish when you hit the water and see that first fish swim by.

*Photo credits: Photos by unwritten, Aenneken, Philippe Guillaume on flickr

Even though Regulator recovery and clearing is one of the most basic things taught to a diver during his open water certification course, it is still a crucial skill that several  divers are reluctant to learn or practice after their certification courses.  Regulator mouthpieces get knocked out of divers’ mouths all the time, and can easily get snagged on BCD’s. In our certification courses we learn to recover our scuba regulators while kneeling on a steady platform such as the sea bed or the bottom of a swimming pool, which is why it is important to practice recovery where you may not be able to steady yourself.

The important things to remember while recovering your regulator is :

Don’t Panic – calmly try and locate your regulator mouthpiece using the practiced methods

Exhale continuously when you lose your second stage, to prevent lung over expansion injuries. Avoid holding your breath.

Sweep Method
The sweep method is the most commonly used technique to recover a second stage regulator. It involves  the diver leaning towards the right to let gravity move the second stage away from you and then stretching out your right hand in front of you and  making a sweeping arc,  back and right towards the bottom of your scuba tank so that the regulator hose should now be in front of you, and then bringing your arm forward catching the rouge regulator.  You then bring the regulator to your mouth purging the piece first before resuming normal breathing. The whole process takes less than a few seconds and can be repeated a couple of time if you are unsuccessful at first. Always remember to continuously breathe out through the process to prevent your lungs from over expansion, should you be unconsciously ascending while looking for your dive regulator.

Over-The-Shoulder Reach Technique
The Over-the-shoulder reach technique is one of the more effective techniques for lost scuba regulator recovery. Lean towards the right turning your neck to the right while reaching  back with your right hand until you feel the first stage of your regulator while at the same time lifting the bottom of your tank with your left hand so you can see the first stage. Then following the hose from the first stage with your right hands thumb and forefinger bring it forward so you can find the second stage and retrieve it. Many find this technique a little tricky and prefer the sweep method, however with a little bit of practice, the over-the-shoulder retrieval is more reliable.

Secondary Regulator
What if you cannot retrieve your regulator using both the sweep method or over the shoulder reach? Don’t panic, use your spare secondary regulator that should be clipped onto the front of your BCD, unclip it and begin breathing normally. Then calmly try to locate your main second stage once again.

Get your Buddy to Assist
Sometimes it helps to signal your buddy to help you spot your missing regulator, as it could be snagged in your BCD belts.  Use your spare regulator while your dive buddy assists you with retrieval. Some divers comfortable with removing their BCD’s while maintaining buoyancy, do so to free their tangled hoses. Always remember to have your buddy standing by to perform buddy breathing if you ever attempt to try this.

Clearing
Clearing your regulator is as simple as exhaling sharply into it. All the water will be expelled from the regulators exhaust valve. The other method to clear your mouthpiece is to use the purge valve. A quick two bursts of the purge valve immediately before putting it into your mouth should remove any water or debris from the chamber.  Or alternately depress the purge valve while it is in your mouth blocking the mouth piece with your tongue to prevent the burst of air into your mouth. Be careful to release the purge valve once you resume inhaling to prevent over filling of the lungs.

Scuba Divers should practice all of these methods in a controlled environment on a regular basis, so that they remain calm when the situation may occur. Use the method you are most comfortable with using and ensure you practice more than just one.

A question that gets asked a lot by beginner and intermediate divers alike is, what is the best way to enter the water from a dive boat or platform? The truth is, that there is no one good method, and the method one should choose is usually determined by a combination of the type of platform you are diving from, the what you’re most comfortable using, and the safest  way determined by the conditions.

There are four basic types of water entry procedure for Scuba Divers that we will cover today: wading/shore entry, giant stride method, seated entry and back roll entry.

Wading Entry Method

The wading entry procedure is performed from a beach or the shore. It involves wading out to your dive site by walking backwards while shuffling your feet to avoid stepping on sharp rocks and to scare away bottom dwelling creatures like rays. While it may sound like an easy method of entry, wading through the surf backward while wearing heavy scuba diving equipment is no easy feat. Divers should wade with their BCD’s partially inflated and regular in their mouths and wade till the water gets around waist high after which one can swim. Avoid using the shore wading entry when conditions are rough, and surface is muddy, or you could end up losing a fin.

The Giant-Stride Entry Method

One of the more common methods of entering the water, and also one of the easiest methods is the giant-stride entry. Most commonly used while diving off a dive boat, but can also be used to step off a pier or jetty where the water is deep enough. The giant stride entry method can be used while diving into deep water or where the platform is steady. This method involves getting your scuba gear on in the boat itself, and standing on the edge of the dive platform will the ball of your fins on the edge. Then holding your mask and regulator with the heel of your palm on the regulator and fingers holding your mask in place, step off the platform with a giant stride forward. Once in the water bring your legs together to return to the surface, recheck your gear and signal the boat that you’re OK and your buddy to begin decent. The giant-stride method of entry is best used where all divers assemble at the surface of the water before descending together all at once. When currents are strong or surface conditions poor, this entry method should not be used.

Seated Entry Method

The controlled seated entry method is best used where the water is too shallow for a giant stride off the boat or where your boat/platform is low to the surface of the water or the platform is unsteady. Seated entry involves kitting up in the dive boat itself and while seated at the edge of the boat/platform, using your hands on each side of you, lifting yourself up and outward with your hands and lowering yourself into the water. This method of entry is great when you are diving near shallow reefs, where jumping in could cause the diver injury. Care should be taken while pushing yourself off the boat that your clear both yourself and your tanks from hitting the side of the dive boat.

Back Roll Method

The back roll or rear roll is the preferred method for entering the water from a small boat as fully kitted divers standing up in a small craft could easily upset the balance of the boat. To execute the back roll, the divers should be fully outfitted and seated at the edge of the gunwale of the boat facing inwards with his tank facing the water. Then with the chin tucked in and one hand holding the mask and regulator in place, the diver rolls backward moving through a full somersault into the water. While this method looks difficult, it is quite easy to perform and great for immediate descents with a group of divers off a small craft.

Apart from the four basic water entry methods shown above, there are several other such as feet first step off, while diving off high platforms, or donning the BCD once in the water, ladder entry etc. which are essentially variations of the basic entry methods. Once again the method you chose should always consider safety first, and the situation/platform you diving from. Over time water entry method selection becomes almost automatic to a diver.

* photos by: maplebed, Orang Asli, jeshua.nace, Barnaby_S

Navigating your way underwater where there are no roads, no signs, no prominent landmarks so to speak is not an easy Scuba diving skill to master. Coupled with other factors playing on a divers mind like buoyancy control, keeping time, depth, conserving air and of course co-coordinating with your buddy, underwater navigation is all the more difficult to keep a track off. Dive sites don’t come with maps and the terrain underwater appears random, irregular and often unpredictable unless you’ve dived the site before a number of times, so this diving skill takes more than a little practice to acquire. When you do learn underwater navigation and know exactly where you’re going, where you’ve been and where you are at any given time underwater, it definitely makes diving a lot more enjoyable and stress free.

Here are 10 tips for improving your underwater navigation skills:

1. Plan Ahead - An important part of underwater navigation is gathering as much information about the location before hand. Collect information about the expected scenario like large coral formations, rocks, drop offs, sandy patches, wreck size, and so on from experienced divers or dive operators in the area.

2. Draw a Map – Map out the dive site on dive slate before you go and maybe chalk out an intended dive plan in the direction you want to go in for reference underwater. Sometimes just doing that helps you visualize the map in your head and you may not need to use the map. A good idea is once you’re diving the site you can note certain landmarks on your map to find your way back easily.

3. Know where your dive boat is - Just like a car in a parking lot you need to make a note of where your dive begins, so as to return to the right spot. Make a mental note of the surroundings, any particular rock or coral formations where you first descend. Pay attention to the direction you can see the sun and remember what your dive boat looks like from under especially if there are more than one in the vicinity.

4. Carry a compass - As a minimum, a diver must carry an underwater compass for navigation. Buy a simple compass and learn the correct way to use it. Take it on guided dives to get the hang of using it before heading off on your own.

5. Setting the bezel - Before beginning a dive you should set the bezel of your compass to point you to the direction dive boat and in case of shore diving to the shore. In this case once the bearing is set it shouldn’t be changed during the dive and to return, one simply rotates himself in the opposite direction.

6. Measuring distance - A rookie mistake when it comes to underwater navigation is noting down the direction but completely losing track or not measuring distance. It’s important to know exactly how far you have swum out and in what direction in order to return. One way of doing this if you are a consistent swimmer is by time or even air consumption. It may not be as accurate as counting fin strokes as you are thought in your course but it sure beats spending most of your dive concentrating on counting rather than the surroundings.

7. Use natural directional indicators – When diving in good clear water conditions and in the day, the sun is a great natural compass. For example during a morning dive you know the sun will be in eastern direction while for afternoon dives the sun indicates west.Sand ripples caused by currents too are good directional indicators as they always run parallel to the shore. The deeper imprint of the ripple, the nearer to the shore you are.

8. Don’t use currents as indicators - Don’t rely on currents to tell you in which direction you are heading. Currents can twist and turn around undersea objects thereby leading you astray.

9. Trust your instruments - If there is a discrepancy between what you feel and what your dive compass is telling you, go with the compass. Be sure that it is working properly before the dive and that there is no interference from undersea objects like shipwrecks or anything that can be magnetic however.

10. Practice, practice, practice – Practice using your compass on land. Do squares, rectangles, set headings and reciprocals, note bearings, in short…perfect your compass skills on land. Then on guided dives, practice your own navigation rather than blindly following the dive master, it’s a great feeling to successfully hit your mark when you try. Make it a habit to jot down things like bearings, landmarks, directions, times on your dive slate throughout your dive. With time and practice you’ll be a pro at navigating during a dive and even the fish will be seeking your instructions.

* Photos by Brianz and Jorge del Valle on flickr

** Products pictured above – Aqua Glow Slate Medium 4″ X 6″ , Oceanic Optional SWIV Compass and Suunto SK7 Add-On Compass. All available from LeisurePro.com