8 Things (Some) Scuba Divers Do Wrong

Swimming around a dive site you'll often see some strange pictures. It's not just your buddy Dave but people doing things not quite wrong but yeah not not right. Whether it's swimming around using your hands or touching marine life, some scuba divers do some pretty stupid stuff. So let's take a look at some of these and make fun of them whilst we're at it. Hi I'm Mark from Simply Scuba and this is eight things scuba divers do wrong. This one unfortunately comes from your training. A lot of instructors would rather you have too much lead instead of not enough. You look back through your logbook and see you use 16 kilograms of lead on your open water course and that's how much you think you need to dive with until the end of time. But you're wrong. Do a buoyancy check at the beginning of every dive and try to get rid of as much lead as possible because all it will do is make you sink and use up your air. But the less lead you have the less buoyancy corrections you'll need to make so less air you'll waste meaning that you can dive for longer. Number two. Ridiculous dive knives. You're not Rambo. You're not going to be fighting sharks. The first time I used a knife in the water it was to sharpen a pencil. For most recreational divers a line cutter or a compact knife is all you need. Unlike other bits of equipment it really doesn't need to be eight inches long. You're not going to be sawing through thick ropes or fighting off pirates. You're just going to be cutting through a small bit of fishing line. Number three. Jumping in without your air turned on. Most people during their buddy check will check to see if their pressure gauge reads above 200. Unfortunately if you turn your air on and subsequently turn it off your pressure gauge will still read over 200. So you need to check if the needle moves during your buddy check. Otherwise you'll jump in and five seconds later you'll come back to the surface gasping for air because the air in your hoses has run out. Number four. Premature hand signals. Now whilst this is natural and happens to every guy stop it. Instructors and guides as well as your buddy use hand signals to communicate with you. So pay attention will you. Don't just throw up an okay because then we assume that you understood what we just said. If you didn't understand what we said just say so. The number of times I've asked how much air a student has left and all I get back is the okay signal just proves that people really don't pay attention to me. Number five. Peeing in your wetsuit. Now don't lie we've all done it. There's no judgment here at Simply Scuba. We're all in the same boat. Just don't do it in the boat will you. Whilst peeing in a rental suit is fairly accepted peeing in any wetsuit can be a bad idea as it actually lowers your core body temperature. You may get a nice warm sensation but actually it will eventually make you colder in the water. Number six. Picking up stuff. Whilst picking up a souvenir of your trip to Egypt try to keep it to the many many many stores along the shoreline. Whilst some pretty shells may look great on your bathroom sink at home they are an important part of the ecosystem and some like a cone shell whilst actually being very pretty they can actually kill you. If you see something pretty underwater just take a picture and leave it so other people can appreciate it and then probably steal it from themselves. Many shipwrecks around the UK are missing their bells and portholes and other stuff that are hugely interesting to look at because some person with a crowbar got there first and it's now lying in their garden. Number seven. Thinking you know better. Whilst all divers are awesome the way they do things isn't the only way to do it. Like with skinning cats there are other ways to do a certain task just because you do it one way and someone else is doing it another way doesn't mean it's a bad thing. Feel free to have a little discussion on the way you do it but don't turn it into a lecture. They want to clean their lenses a particular way fine let them do it however if there are some bad habits you've noticed such as tickling turtles or peeing in your wetsuit please stop. Number eight. Don't dive with your partner. This is a controversial one. I'm not sure we should keep this in here. Diving with your family or partner can be a great way to bond and try new experiences but don't bother. Diving can be a nice escape from your family so why bring them along? Not sure about this one. Diving is a solitary experience as no one can talk to you and you have hours away from your kids. So do you do any of these things wrong or have you seen anything strange under the water? Let us know in the comments below. If you enjoyed this video then don't forget to hit that like share and subscribe. Thanks for watching and safe diving.