Top 10 Mistakes Beginners Do

Top 10 Mistakes most Beginners do

The training to become a certified SCUBA diver can vary between a couple of days and several weeks. If you are a new diver first of all cogratulations; and also you may be doing one or several of the next mistakes. 

1.- Confusing the "OK" sign and the "ascend" sign

This mistake is not dangerous, and sometimes it can be funny. This happens when the new diver isn't complete used to communicate in sign language underwater and s/he gets confused between the "thumbs up" sign which means ascend and the "OK" sign which means everything is going fine. This could end in a shorter dive with no real intention of doing so. 

2.- Not being aware of the Dunning-Kruger effect

Not being aware of the Dunning-Kruger effect is not a dangerous mistake per se, but can produce many dangerous scenarios.  Like it’s shown in the graph, when you start learning about something you may become overconfident, but that's only because you ignore how much you don’t know. When you get to the pick of unskilled and unaware a lot of dangerous scenarios, like exceeding your limits, are more likely to happen.

3.- Forget to turn on air

This happens not only to beginners, but also to some more advance divers. Not turning your tank on before putting your gear on can become quite dangerous, but most of the time you notice it’s of while doing your check up.

4.- Not noticing about their buoyancy

When a diver is starting s/he normally doesn't manage to have a good breathing rhythm and, in consequence, ends going up and down apparently with no control. Most of the time the new diver doesn’t even notice s/he is at a different depth from his/her teammates.

5.- Not noticing their position

The position you have underwater, which must mainly be horizontal, is one of the must important thing you have to notice. Sometimes, because of bad training or an inappropriate weight test the diver has a diagonal position, either head down or head up. This diver will consume a lot of air and it’s likely to damage the dive site. This is the main reason people damage coral all around the world. 

6.- Make extra movements

When you are underwater the less unnecessary movements you do, the better. It is common that beginners use their hands and move their whole body trying to be comfortable underwater, and, in consequence,  damage the dive site and consume a lot of the air. Stay calm and remember your buoyancy depends on your breathing and your propulsion on you legs and feet. 

7.- Have stuff floating around

The closer you have your gear and gadgets to your body the best. If you have stuff floating around, they can get hurt as well as the dive site. Clip everything in the right place and try to be as compact at it’s possible. 

8.- Multitasking

When something happens underwater the first thing you must do is to calm down and think. When the problem you are solving is complex you may need to do more than one task so remember to do them one by one so you can focus on doing them right. Most of the time the problem is much more simply than it appears and trying to do several thing at the same time can worsen it.

9.- Forget to check air consumption

Mostly beginners and people that haven't dive in a long time don't really know what's their air consumption and they forget to check it every several minutes. This can be the cause of an emergency exit and/or other emergency procedures.

10.- Taking extra stuff

When you start in this sport you may get existed and start buying stuff you don't really need for every dive. Remember to take only the essential things, because if you take something you aren’t going to use it can easily get hurt or lost.

[1] Mohammadali M. Shoja et al. A Guide to the Scientific Career: Virtues, Communication, Research, and Academic Writing, Wiley, Fisrt edition, 2020, page 37

April 01, 2020 Tags : All , Tips , Training

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