Developing Your Own SCUBA Style
New divers are often confused by the vast array of all things SCUBA. Here, I’ll try to cut through some of the nonsense out there and focus on how to develop your own style as a diver.
There are so many things to think about in SCUBA. Here is just a short list of some possibilities:-
- Which training Agency to use?
- Which dive school club?
- What kit to get?
- Where to dive?
- How to configure kit?
Confused?
If you are (understandably) baffled by SCUBA, read on.
Too Much Information!
The internet is great. Of course, I would say that (as I make a living from it 
). However, it can sometimes be counter productive as it can provide too much information. There are numerous Blogs (like this one), discussion forums and articles on-line relating to SCUBA. As well of this of course, is all the information and advice available off-line from your local dive store, travel agent or a knowledgeable friend.
There’s more! When you go out diving, you see a plethora of different kit configurations, styles and dive practices.
Is it any wonder that diving can be confusing?
I’ve Already Sifted Lots of Information and Wasted Money Through Trial & Error
After thousands of dives around the world, I have ended up with a loft of kit that is no longer used (which I will EBay at some point). I am not alone! Many divers when they first start out are confused (as I was) and are the mercy of dive industry marketing. Many divers go through kit at a rapid rate in the quest to find stuff that works for them.
Personally, I found it a lonely and frustrating journey particularly trying to find out kit and configuration. I have spent thousands of pounds trying & buying stuff that was, to be honest, rubbish and in some cases even dangerous.
I now have a set of kit configured that I am happy with and works in my situations (teaching, pleasure, overseas, technical etc) and have not bought any major SCUBA gear for over 2 years now.
I’ll try to give some pointers in an effort to save you time & money on kit and configuration as you progress through your SCUBA career.
I am not saying that I have all of the answers and that what works for me would work for anyone else. Please take any of my comments in this context but I hope that you will find some of it interesting.
This is Just an Introduction
Here, I am not going into specific detail on particular items of dive kit. I’ll do detailed guides (see the “articles” section of the site) as the mood takes. Rather, I’d just like to introduce you to some interesting and potentially controversial concepts.
Your Entry Level Diver Training
Does not focus in detail on kit, configuration or diver comfort. There simply is not enough time on a diver certification course to cover these aspects in sufficient detail.
Entry level certification focuses on diving safely. If your kit or configuration is obviously unsafe, it will be picked up and corrected by your instructor. However, most instructors simply do not have the time to go through detailed kit issues with new divers.
Where to Get Advice
This is difficult. As a novice, you want the best advice. There is certainly a lot of (sometimes conflicting) advice and opinions out there so what do you do?
The key that I have found is really obvious and I am ashamed to say not so obvious that it meant many thousands of pounds spent needlessly. Here is the answer to “where to get advice”…
Ready?
Get advice from recognised experts!
More importantly:-
Ignore advice from non-recognised “experts”.
As an example, you wouldn’t ask for financial advice from your car mechanic would you? Obviously not. However, how many divers seek specific detailed advice from divers or centres simply not versed in a particular area of diving? How many divers seek, for example, information on underwater photography from dive centres that do not provide photography expertise? Chances are that you’ll end up with an expensive camera (probably not right for what you want), no training and minimal after sales advice / support.
Similarly, if you are interested in learning about technical diving, a dive centre that is solely recreational based can’t really offer you best advice. The key to getting good advice is:-
- Understanding what it is that you want to do (this isn’t always easy!) and describing this in very concise language. For example, it it photographic, ecological, commercial, technical, photographic and so on.
- Seek out recognised experts in the area that interests you. With the aid of the internet, these days it’s really easy to do this. For example, having identified that you would like to learn “Photography” typing in “Underwater Photography Training” into a search engine would be a good start.
There Are No Universally Right Answers in Diving
Oh, a shocker controversial statement!
This is contrary to a lot of teaching. I could name one agency in particular (hint: three letters, starts with “G” ends in “E” has a “U” somewhere in the middle) that has trained seemingly (from my personal experience) a disproportionate numbers of divers to believe that they have “the answer” to how SCUBA dives should be executed. Before anyone shouts, I have a one of these certifications so do know something about it :). I will refer to this not so hypothetical agency as “Fred” henceforth for the purposes of example.
The reality of diving is that everything taught is based on “best guess” (e.g. decompression and dive tables) and /or application of dive procedures to particular dive locations and environments. One style or practice of diving in one environment may not work in another part of the world. I can give a very specific example based on agency “Fred”.
Example of Specified Diving Procedures Not Translating Well To Local Environments
“Fred” agency origins arise from training divers for exploratory work in cave systems in fresh water spring fed, non tidal caves in Florida. “Fred’s” standards and procedures are geared towards this type of diving but the teaching system and standards are implemented globally.
One of the things that we often do as SCUBA divers is to deploy Delayed Surface Marker Buoys (DSMBs). This helps surface support know where we are and can also assist in ascents by providing divers with a fixed (ish) line on which to organise an ascent.
“Fred” teaches (or at least did when I did my “Fundamentals” course a couple of years ago) that SMBs must be launched mid water during the ascent (at a convenient gas switch decompression stop for example.). This works great if you are coming up from a deep dive in a non-tidal environment (e.g. I can see this working fine in Florida Springs). No drift, no problems, no worries about winding in long lengths of line etc.
However, how does this practice translate to diving in UK tidal waters. Well, it simply just doesn’t work. On a typical wreck dive in the UK, you are ascending in current at the end of slack water. Waiting to put up an SMB for several minutes whilst you ascend to a convenient “stop” can be potentially devastating to diver safety. Why? Simply, the boat skipper has no idea where the diver is! By the time an SMB comes up, the diver(s) could have drifted out of sight of the boat. On a spring tide, I have been able to drift just over a mile in 10 minutes or so. Result of using “Fred” procedures in UK Waters is potential for “lost at sea” scenario. Anyone see “Open Water” 
I have other examples of stuff that doesn’t translate between environments and could bore you. I wont though.
In fairness, “Fred” does teach some excellent (again in my opinion) divers with good standards and practices. I do not, however, believe that many of its proponents truly understand some of the systems shortcomings.
Who Has “The Answer(s)” Then?
So “Fred”, doesn’t have all the answers then…Hmm. Shock! What does work then? Well, in my opinion, it’s easy to answer this question. Before I answer this though, there are some fundamental assumptions that need to be stated:-
- As a diver, you are trained in basic safety (e.g. entry level certification) and you follow the safety practices that you were taught. (You still do buddy checks right?)
- You have reasonable diving experience.
- You are not reckless, “macho” or consider SCUBA to be a competitive sport.
If you can tick all of those boxes, the answer is simple:-
You have the Answers!
Or at least,now, the ability to go find them!
The key to progressing as a diver is to develop your own style. What works for one diver, might not suit another. Developing an individual diving style I have found to be easy once I started talking to the right people!
Why Getting Your Own “Style” Matters
I’ll give you a personal illustration (as it’s all I’m really qualified to offer!) and how it applies to the types of diving I do.
After thousands of dives including many technical dives to depths of up to 60m on mixed gas:-
- I have never, touch wood, had DCS. My ascent profiles are more conservative than current recommendations and follow modern thinking on deep (Pyle) stops, slow final ascents and after dive relaxation. Why? Obvious:-No one wants DCS right? I feel “fresher” diving on just air than many other divers doing the same dive on Nitrox.
- I usually dive on air for recreational dives (up to 30m). With a little decompression and proper procedures and kit, my bottom time exceeds that possible on no-decompression Nitrox profiles. There is real value in this-> Save money!
- My air consumption (SAC rate) is sub 11l/min. For a big bloke of 6′3″ and nearly 17 stone this ain’t bad (I confess to “competitive SCUBA” in this respect ;)). Even many tiny women divers would struggle with this. First one in, last one out normally
- I know, off by heart, decompression tables for dives up to 60m using a variety of bottom and decompression gases. This includes planned, run times, best mixes, gas consumption, team planning, bail out options. As dive teams, we still plan this stuff of course. However, if things go belly up, I have a few more options other than simply rummaging for backup tables or hunting for that “spare” VR-3!
- Penetration diving into wrecks is fun. Seeing stuff that not many other divers see is great. I am trained (an can train) in this area and enjoy it for what it is, just another aspect of diving.
Well, so what to all this? I suppose the most important thing from having developed my own personal style is that I can quite easily now choose to ignore a lot of the nonsense that is stated out there. Whether that’s from dive shops, holiday operators, self professed “experts” (e.g. The reckless SCUBA “extreme” divers) or anyone else. My response to many statements is now:-
“fine and great for you but that’s not what works for me though.”
I have saved many thousands of pounds since realising this and it all comes from developing and having confidence in my own personal style. Anyone can learn this!
Summary / Conclusion
Here are the key points summarised:-
- Recognise that there are no “right answers” in diving. Many will claim they have “The Answer(s)”. They are deluded or simply misinformed in my opinion.
- Understand that most “absolutes” in diving are in fact approximations. Dive tables and computers are simply approximations of how your physiology responds to compressed gas and water pressure. In reality, there is very little difference between a safety stop of 2 minutes 58 seconds compared to 3 minutes regardless of what a dive computer says / “bleeps” to you.
- Know what area of diving that you are interested in (e.g. photography, wildlife, technical).
- Identify and talk to the right Experts.
- Identify, and don’t listen to the false “Experts”.
- Develop your own style, enjoy the process and enjoy diving safely.
SCUBA
SCUBA Kit SCUBA Style
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