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A real diver never stops learning and growing. Here are 10 bits of gold from PADI dive professionals for honing your skills, improving your performance and having more fun down below.
Learn to make good go/no-go decisions. If you don't feel comfortable, don't go. If you don't want to go deep, don't.
Todd Ketterman
Adventure Scuba (New York, New York)
Keep a log. It’s an invaluable tool whether you have 5 or 500 dives. It's not only a living record of your experiences; it’s also a place to keep track of your weighting, gas consumption and gear. Having a reference gives you quick information for planning a dive, getting your weighting right and noting when equipment needs to be serviced.
Christopher Robinson
PADI IDC Staff Instructor
LA Dive & Ride
Los Angeles, California
From air-consumption rates to treading lightly on the environment to being able to relax while diving, it all comes down to buoyancy, and that means proper weighting. To ensure this, perform a buoyancy check on your next dive and then each time you change something that affects how much weight you need (different wetsuit thickness, salt water vs. fresh, different size or type of tank) and write down in your log book the amount of weight you need for each scenario. That way even if you go a few years without diving in that scenario again, you can quickly recall how much weight you need for any situation.
David K. Black
PADI Instructor
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Struggling to get down? Focus your gaze below you, breath out slowly and imagine you are getting heavier as the air leaves your lungs. Before you know it, you will be 5 meters down. This also works if you feel “floaty” during a dive.
Jane Waites
PADI MSDT
Dive Cabarete, Dominican Republic
Don’t be fooled by a “full-tank” pressure gauge reading. With your gear on, take three breaths off your regulator while watching your gauge. If the needle does not move from the full position, your air is on. If the needle drops down and bounces back up, your air is not on all the way. If the needle drops, then drops and drops again, your air was on but now is off.
Genevieve Sparg
PADI Course Director
Lauderdale Diver
Plantation, Florida
