Golden Advice for Beginners in Scuba Diving

Your dive mask

When selecting a mask, it is best if you try on the mask before buying.Put the mask on, and inhale through your nose. Make sure you don’t have any hair stuck at the skirt of the mask. Hold your breath and see if the mask stays on and doesn’t fall off. Check if any air is leaking into the mask. If the mask falls off, it usually means the shape of the mask skirt doesn’t fit your face. Try as many brands and models as possible.

Most newly purchased masks have a protective coating on the inside of the window. This can cause fogging problems during your dives if the coating isn’t removed. Before diving with a new mask, clean the window with a recommended cleaner liquid or de-fogging liquid. If you don’t have one on hand, you can try cleaning the window with some clothing powder detergent mixed with water or use toothpaste and leave it overnight. Rinse with clear water thoroughly before you start using the mask. Many divers use this method successfully. Cleaning your mask from fogging and blurring before the first dive, is very important.

Your dive regulator

Have you ever felt the regulator in your mouth seeming to be pushing your mouth to the right during your dives? You know, the feeling that if you don’t bite hard enough on the mouthpiece, the regulator might just get pushed out of your mouth? If you don’t own a regulator with built-in swivel, or don’t have a first stage swivel, you might experience this discomfort. One way to fix this is to buy and fit in a regulator 2nd stage ball swivel. Another way is to turn the air tank slightly in the clockwise direction. As you assemble the Buoyancy Control Device (BCD) to the compressed air tank, with the BCD facing away from you, instead of having the valve face directly away from you, turn the tank clockwise by about 30° ѕо that the valve is pointing slightly to the right before securing the BCD to the tank. You should be able to feel the difference.