For all those scuba diving lovers and also beginners,  here are a few important tips that you need to remember when planning for a scuba diving program or vacation. Use these tips to get the most out of your vacation.

1) Plan Your Dive Before You Get There
The best time to dive should be known well in advance. The particular time in the year, location and arrangements like equipments that affects the type of dive should be planned ahead. Do your research on the area, the equipment, the local conditions. Planning is often easiest from home.

2) Be Ready For the Dive
Often one dives when on a vacation. Have fun but know that overindulging before diving tends to leave one very uncomfortable and can add increased health risks.  Scuba travel bags can help for carrying some scuba gear.  Have all your scuba gear together.

3) Pre-Dive
Check your mental and physical strength. Make certain that your equipment has been carefully checked.  Review hand signals and emergency procedures so you are prepared.

4) During the Dive
Diving is always full of fun and is very comfortable. If something seems to you uncomfortable, then just stop and find out the reasons and then try to correct it. Be careful, one may get cramps at the time of diving or working hard against those strong currents can slow down the pace and exhaust you. Keep track on the amount of air consumption that is present. Remember to carry a safety whistle just in case you have surfaced further from the boat.

5) After the Diving Day
After diving is over, soak all the equipment in fresh water and rinse it well so that it gets cleaned well. Dry the gear and hang it up out in the sun. We do not want to try on a wetsuit for the next day. One can also hang the suit up and dry is by placing it in front of a fan. This reduces the drying time.

One should be physically fit. Before going scuba diving,it is recommended to do some exercises to make yourself flexible and ready for scuba diving. A simple breathing exercise should be practiced that is Exhale to Sink, Inhale to Rise.

The two golden words before undertaking a scuba dive is safety and commonsense. Though the basic tips for scuba diving is the same for everyone, the way each person feels before a dive are different. While some can take it right away, others will need a proper training to be comfortable breathing under water.

Top five basic scuba diving tips

Some of the basic tips in scuba diving are stated below:

1 Ear problems

Many find it difficult to adjust their ears because of the water pressure. Some divers are imprudent in their behavior and attempt to continue with the dive in spite of the severe pain in the ear. The feeling that they are holding up the rest of the team of divers force them to lose the feel of calm making it difficult in equalizing the pressure between the inner and outer ear. Failure to think logically and making a reckless attempt to dive is highly dangerous as it can rupture the eardrum besides increasing the possibility for vertigo under water. Here is a nice tutorial on how to equalize ear pressure. A person suffering from ear pressure can seek the assistance of the dive master or his buddy and continue with the dive after solving the same if you need extra help.

2 Seasickness

Seasickness is the nauseous feeling induced by the rocking movement of the boat. Keeping in handy preventive tablets or crystallized ginger are the preferred ways for fighting against it. While some claim the feel of nervousness on the intake of the tablets, many prefer the crystallized ginger to a drug. It is always safer to chew the preventive measures at the onset of nausea than throwing up. A simple help can be using a Sea Band. We have used this with great success.

3 Diving etiquette

Every diver is expected to follow some fundamental etiquette like ensuring the presence of all basic items including BCD, skins, mask, fins, snorkel, wet suit, respirator mask, camera (optional), first aid kit and spare parts. A mesh bag is more preferred than a steamer-trunk bag. These essential items must be arranged before the start of the trip in such a way that they are easily accessible.

4 Seasickness under water

Some divers have the heavy urge to throw up under water. To remain calm is the first rule they need to observe. If you throw up into the regulator, keep the purge pressed down as it will clear the mess created. A diver should be careful to keep his calm and not to make an attempt to take off the regulator.

5 Moving under water

While under water, the diver should move slowly as the marine creatures are highly sensitive to the change in pressure. Slow movements also calls for reduced air consumption making the dive relaxing and longer.

The basics of scuba diving must be scrutinized to have a memorable trip under water. Keep these basic scuba diving tips in mind before your next dive.

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It is ironic that that even though a diver may be surrounded by water, dehydration can be a life-threatening problem.

When you don’t have enough water in your system, you become dehydrated. Water is essential to function clearly and easily. Unfortunately, it is easy to not get enough water.

Why You Need Water

Water is essential for cells to carry out chemical reactions. Tissues require fluid to keep flexible. Water is needed to produce blood and keep it flowing properly throughout the cardiovascular system.

How Water Is Lost

When scuba diving, water is mainly lost simply from breathing. It is also lost from sweat (yes, even underwater) or urination.

Normal breathing expels considerable moisture into the air. You can prove this by breathing close to a piece of glass. Underwater breathing actually accelerates that effect because the air in scuba tanks is significantly drier than ordinary surface air. Moisture is quickly used while just breathing.

Problems From Losing Water

Blood and muscle tissues are adversely affected when there is not enough fluid. When the body is dehydrated, blood flow is lessened in the tissues. This reduces the body’s ability to absorb and release nitrogen. Unfortunately, this increases the amount of time needed to perform a safe ascent.

Remember, in order to avoid decompression sickness, a diver needs to ascend in a controlled way – climbing no faster than 30 feet per minute. Often, several additional stops at various depths on the way up are commonly recommended. If one skips this, one gets ‘the bends’ – joint pain, cramps (legs, arms, abdominal, etc) and a number of other nasty consequences.

If nitrogen can’t be released at the proper rate, ascents can take longer – and you may run out of oxygen. That is a situation we all want to avoid.

Dehydration can also cause faster fatigue which can lessen your enjoyment and shorten your dive. This is due to lowered blood flow which make your heart pump faster.

How To Re-Hydrate

Fortunately, it’s easy to achieve the proper level of hydration before and after a dive.

* Drink Lots of Water

Depending on your general physical condition and level of activity simply drink plenty of water or a sports drink. Choose one without large amounts of sugar. If the weather is hot, drink more fluids. If you plan to dive longer, drink more. When you drink water over a long period of time, you give your body plenty of time to absorb the fluid without overwhelming the kidneys.

* Avoid Caffeine and Alcohol

Just as important is what to avoid. Don’t consume black tea, coffee or other caffeinated drinks like mountain dew and colas for several hours before or after a dive. Never drink alcoholic beverages for many hours before or after a dive. Yes, it many not be what you want to do. Yet, being alive and healthy is worth it.

Warning Signs

Headaches are often caused by insufficient fluids in the blood vessels in the head and neck. Be aware of how your body feels. One way you can test your fluid level is by examining your urine. It should be light colored to clear before a dive unless you take lots of vitamin B or C. After the dive, drink lots of water slowly.

Be Prepared

Common sense helps every diver. Keep hydrated for scuba diving. You may want to keep water on the boat so you can drink directly before or after your dive. Having a bottle filled with water such as: Klean Kanteen Stainless Steel Water Bottles can help make it easier. Alternately, simply packing a sports drink every time works too.

Knowing what is recommended and following it helps you have many enjoyable dives.

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The scuba diving tank is the most essential piece of diving equipment. Without access to the compressed air that the tank holds divers would not be able to stay submerged for any prolonged period of time. For this reason it is critical that any diver know the basics of maintaining, regulating and monitoring the scuba diving tank.

Contrary to common belief, a scuba diving tank is not just an oxygen tank. In fact, it could be referred to more accurately as a nitrogen tank since a scuba diving tank actually contains 21 percent oxygen and 79 percent nitrogen. This is the same mixture that you breathe normally when on land. Pure oxygen would be deadly, especially at shallow depths. Compressed air, on the other hand, is toxic only beyond 200 feet, thus making it safe for recreational diving.

* Specifications of a Scuba Diving Tank

Most of the time, a recreational scuba diving tank will be made out of aluminum and can in fact contain 80 cubic feet of air that is compressed into an area of two feet in height and six inches in diameter. Eighty cubic feet of air is normally filled from 2000 to 3000 psi (pounds per inch) of air pressure. In addition, the scuba diving tank is regulated by the U.S. Department of Transportation as well as some other foreign agencies and regulations that necessitate that the scuba diving tank be inspected periodically as well as undergo pressure tests to ensure maximum safety for the diver.

To use a scuba diving tank, one must ensure that it is filled from a reputable dive shop and one should inquire as to where the shop compressor’s air intake pipe is and make sure that it is properly located. Since air expands when it exists in hot conditions do not leave the filled tank in a heated up car.

* Transporting Scuba Diving Tanks in Cars

Special precautions need to be taken when transporting a scuba diving tank or pony bottle. If the valve on a scuba diving tank gets damaged, the tank would be propelled in the opposite direction.

• The most important thing to do is to wedge your tank between other items in the rear of your vehicle to make certain the tank will not move.
• If there are multiple tanks, make sure that they are not able to touch each others valves.
• We recommend having them face the front of the car for safety reasons, though sometimes others have them facing back for easier removal from the vehicle.
• Another important precaution when moving your scuba diving tank is to inspect the O-ring for any defects. This can be done by removing the protective valve cap.

* Traveling by Air with your Scuba Diving Tank

To be able to fly with your scuba tank or pony bottle, you must first empty them and remove the valve. The regulator must be completely removed from the cylinder and the cylinder is unsealed. In case the rules change in the future, here are the TSA Rules for Transporting Scuba Tanks. Printing this out for air travel is recommended.

* Scuba Diving Tank Safety Tips

Here are a few easy safety reminders for your scuba tank:

• Treat your tank with care: avoid sudden impacts and dents as this is going to be your life line underwater.
• Securing your tank when possible is recommended so it doesn’t get knocked over (and possibly damaged).
• Always make sure seals are clean (regulator and tank valve) before attaching. You want to be certain sand is not present.

There are many more important safety steps that should be accounted for when handling your scuba diving tank. You will need to receive instructions from a certified trainer to ensure that you know all the pertinent information to handle your scuba diving tank correctly.

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Often it is great to just watch others scuba dive. Whether you are wanting to get diving tips or simply relax and enjoy, scuba dvds are a great fun!

If you haven’t been diving for a while, this Recreational Diving Dvd can remind you of the essentials you may have forgotten.

For a fun movie with scuba diving, we recommend an old James Bond movie, Thunderball. It is very enjoyable. The technology used for the time the movie was made is great — and the scuba scenes are great!

So sit back and enjoy watching a scuba video!

While you are waiting for your dvds to arrive, enjoy this simple scuba diving video from Cozumel. Beautiful tropical brightly colored fish, some eel and coral remind us of the simple pleasures of diving

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When you plan your dives effectively, you can add unexpected additions easily and safely. You know your margins for error, how much time you can stay and adjust appropriate.

Things to Take into Account When Planning Your Dives

Diving closer to home often takes less preparation as you already know the rules of the area as well as what is available. When you are going on a long distance trip, you need to research where you can legally dive, equipment rentals, weather, hotels, transportation times and availability.

Weather

Checking out seasonal weather conditions for your desired location can make or break a vacation dive. If you hope to dive for lost items you will want to know the local laws regarding treasure hunting and possible export. Knowing local support for refilling tanks, renting and repairing equipment is extremely useful.

Backup Destinations

Before departing for a long dive trip, having a backup location is a great precaution. Though, changing from the Hawaii to Australia usually isn’t practical, having one or more alternate locations in the same general area can be fabulous backups if your original destination is unavailable for some reason.

Boat Rental or Charter

Apart from researching hotels and flights you’ll want to book a charter or rent a boat. Making arrangements in advance is recommended especially during high travel times. Diving boats are often booked in advance.

Finding a Buddy

Follow the basic safety rule of having a buddy, and remember that having at least three divers can be extremely helpful. Diving can be dangerous and it may, for example, be necessary for one diver to surface for help while another stays with the third. A diver can be stuck, injured, in need of air sharing or a slow ascent. That person should have company while his buddy surfaces for help when possible.

Actual Dive Planning

In any dive, there should be one and only one leader. Usually that will be the most experienced diver and he or she should help plan the dive and guide the others under the water. There is still some freedom of movement, but keeping together helps minimize confusion and maximize safety.

Everyone should agree in advance on the major location, entry and exit points, activity and length of the dive. It may look exciting in the movies, but arguments under water are the quickest way to danger. Let that danger stay in the theater. Discuss with your dive partners a contingency plan that incorporates what to do in the most likely scenarios.

That could be swift underwater currents, injury, equipment failure, head pressure, fainting or a number of other possibilities. That will vary with location, diver experience, quality of equipment, etc.

Knowing where and when to dive — and for how long can make a huge difference. Follow that dive plan to the best of your ability for maximum safety. Changing your dive plan really should be from emergency need, not whim. You’ll be safer and able to dive new places next time.

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How well you can see clearly while diving can make a huge difference.  Choosing to see crisply and clearly is wonderful! Skip blurry, uncomfortable dives.  Have full vision for safer and much more enjoyable adventures.

Getting Corrective Lenses for Scuba Diving 

Getting a prescription scuba mask if you don’t have perfect vision is the first step, the second step to seeing the fabulous landscapes is knowing how to clear your scuba mask.

Almost all scuba masks at some point of time take in water, become foggy or even fall off during a dive. However, if you follow these simple preventive measures before and during your dive you will have them happen less often, if at all.

Ways to Avoid Fogging

We recommend using anti-fog gel on your scuba mask to prevent fogging from breath, leakage, or condensation before your dive. This works relatively well most of the time. However, we discovered an additional device that really helps. If you are finding that you are having your mask fog often, you may want to try Fog Wiper. This device works extremely well and easily even during dives.

Ways to Get water Out of your Mask

When you feel water enter your mask, try to inhale through the mouth and at the same time exhale sharply through the nose. This is not a standard breathing technique and is only used for removing water from ones mask. A few divers will also tilt the bottom of the mask out slightly WHILE they exhale. Be careful if you try that as you can let even more water in. Often, a sharp exhale will clear the mask.

Repeat this technique as needed. If you used the anti-fog gel and have your scuba mask wipers, you either won’t get fogging or you can clear it easily. One can always surface to remove excess water, but using the above technique is worth learning as it saves valuable dive time.

Having a clear mask makes seeing the fish, coral, turtles and more so much more enjoyable. It also helps you dive safely and easily. The enjoyment you get from having clear vision during scuba diving is marvelous!

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Learning scuba diving instructions from a certified instructor can ensure that your diving experience is fun, adventurous and safe. Unlike other sports, a failure to obtain and understand proper scuba diving instructions can result in severe medical complications and even death.

* Scuba Diving Instructions for Avoiding Problems

One serious illness you will want to avoid is often referred to as “the bends.” This is actually decompression sickness that can occur when nitrogen from the water dissolves through the skin and gets into the bloodstream of the diver. This occurs after the diver has remained under at very deep depths for a long period of time. Proper scuba diving instructions will tell you to rise slowly to the surface to prevent this from occurring.

One important lesson worth learning in a scuba diving instruction is that of balancing the pressure in the ears as one makes the dive. If the pressure is not balance correctly permanent damage may occur to the eardrum. Reading the gauges should be included in scuba diving instructions since drowning may occur if incorrect readings are made. The proper scuba diving instructions should help play a key role in avoiding harmful and even fatal consequences and for their own safety, the scuba divers should adhere to these scuba diving instructions at all times.

Learning to dive is not at all difficult and is much easier than imagined, especially if one is accustomed to the water. Scuba diving instructions can be taught through pool diving and open water diving. One should expect that scuba diving instructions will be imparted by experienced and qualified instructors who should teach assembling the equipment as well as how to avoid taking risks and teach about what are the safety procedures needed. Some basic skills such as controlling buoyancy so that the student learns how not to yoyo in the water and can swim consistently, without alternatively sinking and floating.

* Where to Begin Your Scuba Diving Instructions

Beginners may choose an open dive course that will be taught without decompression techniques. This certification will allow the graduate to swim in open water with another qualified diver. If your diving experience is a one-time deal, you may obtain your scuba diving instruction through a resort course. More serious students will want to find a certified instructor and dive school to ensure that their scuba diving instruction covers all the bases to protect them from harm.

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Scuba diving is a wonderful sport. However, it is also inherently risky. Novice scuba divers learn how to dive safely when they are getting certified. That’s the best way to enjoy scuba diving, now and in the future. Here are some scuba diving safety tips.

Take Scuba Diving Seriously

This tip should be unneeded, yet, it’s the most important and is necessary to say it: Never screw around during a dive. No practical jokes, no fights – even playful ones, no hide and seek… you can make up the list yourself. Diving is perfectly safe – if you dive responsibly. If you won’t, the risk of serious injury or death is real and high – as many friends and relatives of dead divers can attest.

Have a Medical Examination Before Diving

Before taking a scuba diving course, or trying your first learning dive, you need to have a medical exam. Diving can be safely and enjoyably experienced by anyone from the very young to the elderly. But diving requires substantial fitness. You have to be in good shape and have moderate or better leg and shoulder muscles.

Don’t Dive When You Are Sick

As important as what you have is what you must not have. Don’t dive if you have a head cold, bad allergy or any other kind of medical condition that affects breathing or easy passage of air throughout the lungs, throat, nasal cavities, etc.

If you’re on medication, check with your physician about scuba diving. Any medication that impairs your judgment should keep you out of the water.

Know Your Equipment

Learn to use the equipment, even blindfolded. Visual conditions during a dive can vary from awesome clarity to gray fog from stirred up sediment, kelp and the many other substances common to dive areas to pitch black.

Don’t Hold Your Breath

The scuba regulator is designed to deliver air from the tank at the ambient pressure of the water – the pressure of the surroundings. That’s essential for keeping the lungs functioning properly as you dive. Let it do the job by never holding your breath as you ascend or descend.

Holding your breath during a dive can result in serious injury to the lungs, since you’re blocking the ability to deliver gas at the proper pressure. The air in your lungs will expand or contract – or fail to – causing unsafe pressure on the rib cage and your lungs. It can also result in blackouts, even in shallow water.

If the regulator mouthpiece isn’t in your mouth, continue to exhale slowly a steady stream of bubbles as you rise. Of course, you can only keep that up for a short distance – one of the many reasons you should keep your mouthpiece in except as a temporary emergency to share oxygen with a buddy.

Dive With A Dive Buddy

Diving with a buddy is much safer. Work out in advance a series of signals, both visible and tactile, that will allow you to communicate essential information underwater and in murky conditions. Never let your buddy out of sight or easy reach.

Keep Your Cool

Try to always stay calm. There are many wondrous sights underwater, but some things can spook the novice diver. Moray eels, sharks, sudden structure collapses, sediment stir-ups… the list is long.

Keeping your head is hardest when things are most risky. But that’s the most important time. There is less latitude under the surface for mistakes. Keeping your wits about you can keep a minor risk from escalating into a major danger.

Use Your Common Sense

Following good diving practice, taught in a certification course, and using common sense, can make your dive safe. That gives you the freedom to enjoy the astounding parts of our world that happen to be under the sea.

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Normally one doesn’t think about how they breathe. You automatically breathe throughout the day without thinking about it. Breathe in air; exhale air. It’s easy.

However, once you go underwater, even with proper scuba equipment and oxygen, breathing takes a bit of thought. Just having equipment isn’t enough. Understanding what happens really helps you breathe better underwater.

When you are underwater, the pressure of the water is all around you. The deeper you go, the more the pressure. The pressure feels like pushing is coming from all sides of you simultaneously from inside your body. Fortunately, the rigidity of your rib cage, muscles and tendons are forces to keep the pressure even in your body making sure you don’t collapse under the pressure.

How Much Pressure Is There Underwater?

As you dive, for each 33 feet (10 m), you descend beneath the surface, the pressure increases by 1 atm (one atmosphere), or approximately 14.7 lbs (6.7 kg) per square inch all over your body.

To balance that inward pressure, your body needs to push outward. Yet, your ribs and muscles are somewhat flexible. They will collapse inward a small amount before having enough rigidity to balance the inward pressure. This, along with other factors, compresses your lungs somewhat.

Breathing is Harder Underwater

When you dive deeper underwater, expanding your lungs becomes harder due to the added pressure.

Remember that air is fairly easy to compress. Compressing water requires more force. Hence, the air in your lungs compresses a bit. So to breathe properly, you must you need to use much more energy to breathe deeper against the additional pressure.

Modern Scuba Tanks and Scuba Diving Regulators are designed to solve these issues. So when you dive deeper, the regulator/tank system gives you air at the ambient pressure of the water. When using them, divers can breathe easily and normally to moderate depths. At greater depths there are other factors to consider.

What to Do During Deeper Dives

Expert divers often do their best to conserve oxygen. You need a slightly higher amount of oxygen underwater because you are swimming in a dense fluid. Therefore, often divers like to swim in a relaxed way underwater… to lessen the oxygen required and conserve their oxygen.

Divers fine that keeping a cool head helps as well. When excited underwater by all the wonderful sights, one can get stressed when movement is hampered, equipment isn’t as readable or when their buddy is moving faster than they would like. Staying calm not only helps you overcome these issues but additionally helps keep your heart rate low and your oxygen need moderate.

Dive safely and breathe right.

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