8 Top Tips On How To Extend Your Next Dive

Media Reports


Are you one of those divers that find themselves running out of air faster than everyone else? Do you feel that you spend more of your time stressing about the length of your dive than experiencing your dive? Are you the person that ends their dive before everyone else? Well, not to worry, there are many ways in which you can safely extend your dive time. For many scuba divers, the dive ends when they are running low on air (minimum 50 Bar), so the easiest way to extend your dive time is by focusing on your air consumption. Here are 8 top tips on how you can get the most out of your tank.


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1.Dive more often


I know this is easier said than done with busy day to day lifestyles, however a really simple way to increase your dive time and reduce your air consumption is by practice and practice = more dives. Not only is diving regularly good practice, it can also help you to feel more at ease and comfortable in the water, meaning that you relax and in turn reduce your air consumption and extend your dives.


2.Breathe Deeply


Breathing deeply is not the same as taking a big breath. It is vital that you remember this whilst diving as it can make a huge difference in the amount of air you consume. Breathing deeply does not necessarily mean that your breath should be big. When breathing throughout the day (everyday) our breath tends to be shallow with only our chests moving. Whilst diving, you should try to breathe without moving your chest, but moving your stomach instead. As with every skill, practice makes perfect and once you become aware of your breathing, it is easily rectified. A great way to practice this is to lie on the floor or on a solid surface, placing one hand on your chest and one hand on your stomach. Observe the way you breathe normally and if you find your chest moving only, simply change the way you are breathing. By breathing through your stomach, you are ensuring that the air reaches the bottom of your lungs. By taking deep breathes, you are ensuring that the air is getting to your entire respiratory system, thus increasing the amount of oxygen throughout your body.


3. Stay Shallow


The shallower you are throughout your dive, the less air you consume so make sure to take full advantage of this, without missing anything. The usual rule of thumb is to start your dive deeper and ascend throughout to increase your dive time. If you tend to be the diver who finishes earlier than everyone else, a great way to help is to place yourself slightly higher up in the water column than the other divers. Your regulator has to deliver air at the same pressure of the surrounding water, so one breathe at 33 feet (10m) takes double the amount of air as one breathe at the surface and if you are 99 feet (30m) down, then it will take twice as much air as that at 10 meters. Unfortunately this is physics and means that there is nothing you can do about it, so if you find you are an ‘air-hog’ then make sure to spend less time in the depths and more time in the shallows.


Original link: https://www.deeperblue.com/8-top-tips-extend-next-dive/