Skin Diving - The art of diving deeper

Although snorkeling on the surface is great to explore the underwater, if you feel more adventurous, you may want to try skin diving. Diving deeper below the surface will provide you with better views of fish, coral and other sea creatures.

The skill to practice diving down safely during snorkeling, will greatly enhance your snorkeling adventure. There is a sort of zen to diving deeper below the waves...diving safely below, being immersed in an alien environment you will suddenly feel as one with your surroundings...trust me it's great.

Besides there is so much to be explored beneath the surface that snorkeling deeper is worth giving it a try.

An important advice you need to know about skin diving is that you need to know your limits and be completely relaxed when underwater. Always remember to limit the depth of your dive to your breathing capacity.

What you should need to know about diving deeper

Because water is much denser than air, when you dive deeper you will quickly become aware that water will exert pressure on your air bodily spaces. The deeper you descend, the greater the pressure. For every 10 meters, pressure is increased by 1 atmosphere. This means that at a depth of 10 meters, the total pressure exerted on you is one atmosphere of water pressure and one atmosphere of air pressure. To counter this effect of pressure on your air bodily spaces you will then need to equalize. If you want to lean more about equalization techniques, I recommend that you to take a look at our article on how to equalize. Here you will find useful techniques on how to overcome underwater pressure.

 How to descend effectively

To increase amount of time you can spend underwater, try taking in 3 to 4 deep rapid breaths before diving. It is important not to exceed this amount of breaths as it may cause you to have excessive hyperventilation which could lead to sudden unconsciousness whilst underwater.

The head first-dive in my opinion is the far most effective way for getting deeper as it provides you with a great amount of forward momentum and will help you to get down quickly without expending too much energy during your skin diving adventure.

Whilst resting at the surface in a horizontal position bend forward in the middle so that your head faces down toward the sea bed. Pull your legs straight up out of the water, (just like you are doing a handstand) with your arms stretched out towards the sea bed.

 Maintain this position to immerse into the water. When your fins are finally below the surface, start to kick with your feet so that you may descend deeper. Remember to equalize whenever you feel pressure in your ears.

As you skin dive along underwater, try not to make rapid movements but instead move slowly in a graceful fashion as this will allow you to conserve the oxygen in your body. If you relax, you may be surprised at how long you can comfortably stay underwater.

Ascending back up to the Water’s Surface and Clearing the Snorkel Tube

When you feel the need to breath during your skin dive, begin your ascent. It is important that you leave some air in your lungs so that you will be able to exhale any water out when you surface. During your ascend, place your hand stretched out towards the surface and tilt you head to look up so you can get a complete view of the surface

The advantage of using this snorkeling technique for deep diving is that the opening of the snorkel barrel is lower than the mouthpiece. Throughout your ascent, continue to keep your head tilted back while looking at the surface and exhale a small amount of air into your snorkel. As you ascend, this air will expand, forcing the water out of the snorkel barrel's opening. As long as you keep looking upwards towards the surface, the snorkel will remain free of water due to trapped air inside the barrel.

When you reach the surface, begin exhaling and continue to exhale until you reach the face down resting position. Although the snorkel should now be clear of any water, it is important to use airway control and cautiously take your first breath, in case some water remains in the snorkel.

Before you attempt another skin dive, be sure to rest for at least a minute or so between dives so that your body can return to its normal oxygen level. If you should feel in any way, fatigued, dizzy or light headed, it is best if you discontinue your skin diving and rest until you have recuperated your energy.

After your skin diving adventure is over, remember to take care of the equipment. So check out our snorkeling gear guides on information for how to maintain your snorkeling equipment after each and every snorkeling outing.

  For more on Snorkeling Tips check out our guides on:

How to Snorkel/How to equalize Ears/ Snorkeling at Night

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