Scuba Newb - Learning to Breathe Underwater

Let's talk about weight. No, not the number on the dreaded bathroom scale - lead weight.  I have struggled with proper weighting a lot. I'm just "blessed" with a natural buoyancy. I have so much trouble descending but, when I add more weight to counteract this, other divers are like "are you sure you need that much?" Yes, Kevin, I do. Mind ya business. Also, if I'm not carrying enough lead I'm likely to cork back to the surface at the end of the dive when my tanks are getting low. I've had to have people hold me down a couple of times - not fun. photo courtesy of Nott Peera via Unsplash This is often an obstacle for new divers - understanding how much weight they need to carry. A lot of factors come into play when it comes to proper weighting - your own body weight, the weight of your gear, the thickness of your wetsuit, fresh water or salt water. Honestly, the best way to figure out how much weight you need is trail and error, and knowing yourse...

originally published November 6, 2017 I'd made my way through the Navigation, Peak Performance Buoyancy, and Search & Recovery portions of my Advanced Open Water training. Will provided some great insight for using breath control to fine tune buoyancy, and also helped me experiment with adjusting my BC for the best fit, until we finally hit on what seemed to be the ideal setup.  I did a bit better on the Navigation than I had in my Open Water, though I still sometimes forgot to count my fin kicks (how you measure distance traveled underwater). During the Search & Recovery portion, Will had some fun with me and the other student, a county firefighter, having us to perform our knot tying skills behind our backs, under our knees, with our eyes closed.      Back at the shop after a productive day in the water, Chris mentioned they were planning a drift dive at Rainbow River in a couple of weeks. This is a popular spot for centr...

originally published August 12, 2017 Come on. You really didn’t think you could get rid of me that easily, did you? So the ScubaNewb, despite a rocky start, managed to master the required skills and achieve her goal of becoming a legit scuba diver. Now what? Is that it? Will she just swim off into the sunset? Of course not! Yup, I’ve already signed up for my Advanced Open Water course. Open Water dive training focuses mainly on skills: learning when to expect underwater and how to deal with difficulties without panicking (or, ya know, dying). Handling your equipment and regulator, what to do if your mask comes off, maintaining good buoyancy - learning and practicing all of these skills set you up for success as a diver. Advanced Open Water is where you take your newly acquired diving tools to the next level. One of the most popular advanced classes is Nitrox certification. Nitrox, also called Enhanced Air or EAN, is a blend of oxygen and nitrogen wherein the oxygen percenta...

originally published July 14, 2017 Since this blog is geared towards my personal experiences as an older woman entering the world of scuba diving, let's focus on some of those specific challenges for a bit. Carrying your gear: As previously mentioned, scuba gear can be heavy. A full kit can run upwards of 35-40 pounds, and this can increase depending on the amount of additional weight each diver needs to control their buoyancy. Use caution when lifting and lowering your equipment, and don't be afraid to ask for a helping hand from your dive buddy. Don't be shy about talking to your instructor or dive master about any special needs you may have in this area. Seeing the sights: If you wear glasses, you have a couple of options. I myself am very nearsighted but, due to the refractive properties of water, I can see about 6 to 8 feet underwater with my mask on. You can wear contact lenses when diving, through may wish to opt for the disposable, daily wear type. That wa...

originally published July 3, 2017 Saturday had been great! I had a renewed sense of confidence in my ability to breeze through the rest of my training.  On Sunday, I hit the pool for some more practice, even trying the “manually inflate your BCD underwater” skill, which seemed all kinds of awkward but wasn’t that hard. I watched loads of YouTube videos on scuba training. I’m a kinesthetic learner: I need to actively do a thing in order to fully comprehend a thing. Watching the videos at least gave me an idea of what I was in for. I. Was. Ready. Monday afternoon I would be meeting with a different instructor from the shop, who I’ll call Will. Chris was booked into another class but Will had an Advanced Class in the morning and could meet with me in the afternoon. Destination: Lake Denton, which is tucked away far from any Florida city you’ve probably ever heard of, about 90 minutes southwest of Orlando. It’s another diving hotspot for those who don’t live on the coast, ...

originally published July 1, 2017 So… after my experience of having struggled through most of Confined 1, I was sure to do my homework. I practiced in the pool until my eyes were on fire from chlorine overload (dang community pools always use too much), and had my mask removal down pat. Or so I thought. Time to get back to school! I met with Chris and picked up my rental gear. This time we were heading to his preferred training spot, Blue Grotto, near Ocala. It’s a beautiful place, geared towards divers and dive training. They have a pool for confined water training and, just a few steps away, the spring for open water diving. Things went much smoother this time around. Chris hooked me up with a 63 cubic foot cylinder rather than an 80, which is about 5 inches shorter and a few pounds lighter. Even so, my old lady knees were not too happy with me. Climbing up and down the stairs at the pool with the full kit on was doable, with a helping hand from Chris. In the wat...

originally published May 28, 2017 As mentioned in my “Diving 101” post, there are several confined and open water dives a new diver must progress through in order to become certified. I had done my book work, taken my tests (scored a 93% thank you very much), completed my in-class final exam. I was ready! Let’s do this! OMG I’m so nervous. Am I crazy?! I met with my instructor, a friend of Guy’s who owns the dive shop near where I lived, and we mapped out our plan. Most students can complete their in-water testing in a couple of days. We were to begin at DeLeon Springs, a state park about 30 miles west of Daytona Beach. Here in the clear, calm waters of the spring, we could knock out confined 1-4 and open 1 on Saturday, then move on to confined 5 and open 2-4 on Sunday. I went home armed with tanks, regulator, BCD, weights and wetsuit, wondering if I’d be able to sleep. It would be an early start the next morning. DeLeon Springs State Park has a limited capacity and only all...

originally published April 24, 2017 As my lessons have begun, I’ve oft been asked “what got you into diving?” Dating a scuba diver is the obvious answer but there’s more to it than that. The more complex answer is… I don’t want to live a life in fear. Take a little walk into the past with me. 1982: The year my mother turned 50, the age I am now. Remember how old 50 seemed when you were a teenager? I was 16 when mom turned 50. I was youthful, immortal, courageous. This may sound harsh but...I don't want to be like my mother. My mother never properly learned to swim. She is afraid of the ocean and the deep end of the pool. When she was a teen growing up in New York, going to Coney Island was all the rage and, one day at the shore, an errant wave knocked her down and pulled her under. She never went past her knees in the ocean ever again. She’ll only go up to her waist in the pool. She doesn't eat popcorn. Why? Because she once got a kernel stuck in her throat and thought ...

originally published March 31, 2017 So, what would drive someone to want to learn to scuba dive at ... (I can't even type it) 50 (eep!) years of age? Crack a beer and let's chat. ​ Water has always been a big part of my life. Summers at the lake house, weekends at the Jersey Shore (way pre-Snookie), plunging into our backyard pool - these are my earliest childhood memories. In the mid 70's our family moved to South Florida. There I could be in the pool practically year round, my parents often remarking that I spent more time under the water than above it. ​ As a teenager, I dreamed of joining the high school swim team... only to have the team disband the summer before my freshman year. Bummer. But, my pals and I were always heading to the beach, taking the bus or piling as many as could fit into whoever's car we could borrow. Water, water everywhere. ​ My parents divorced when I was in high school and one of my cousins moved in with my dad and me. He was workin...

originally published March 30, 2017 This blog focuses on my personal journey as an older woman who is learning to scuba dive. There is no age cap on diving, but older would-be divers may wish to get the okay from their physician first, just to be on the safe side. Certain health conditions like having high blood pressure or heart disease are risk factors in diving, whatever your age, but that’s not to say these preclude you from getting under the surface. There are even some proven health benefits to diving when you’re older. Check out this blog post for more detailed information. http://www.leisurepro.com/blog/scuba-guides/health-benefits-scuba-diving-seniors/ Scuba diving certifications have many levels, and start at what is called Open Water. Classroom sessions (or online learning, which is more the norm these days) are combined with in-water training. Students progress through a series of skill tests, first in a confined water environment like a swimming pool or a s...