What if I told you to disconnect the air hose to your BCD? This could be one of the greatest lessons you can learn for your skill level in neutral buoyancy. Am I crazy? No, often when I teach others how to get their buoyancy perfect, I begin by disconnecting their inflator air hose or removing the dump valve that holds air in the bladder of the BCD.

Think about this for a moment. If you get in and sink then you have too much weight. If you float then too little weight. Perfect way to figure out exactly where you need to be. You cannot adjust by adding air. Some people believe you are suppose to add air to your BCD to get your weight just right. Not true. You are supposed to get your weight right with zero air. Then adjust if needed as you go deep. 


Your lungs adjust your buoyancy for small differences down to about 90 feet in depth. Of course this does take practice.


If you struggle with Buoyancy you might want to take the course for "Perfect Buoyancy". I wish it were a mandatory course because it is the #1 skill needed to master. Will increase your confidence, comfort, and help protect the reef.

Tips for Better Buoyancy Control

• Minimize your weighting. Extra air in your BC, to support extra lead on your belt, will change volume and buoyancy with depth, preventing you from maintaining neutral buoyancy.
• Check Buoyancy at the safety stop. At the end of your dive, with 500 to 800 psi left in your tank. You should be weighted for neutral buoyancy at 15 feet. That means you'll be about five pounds heavy at the beginning of the dive.
• Relax. To find neutral buoyancy, go limp. Any sculling with hands or feet will create upward thrust.
• Add and subtract air in small squirts. You must wait a minute for adjustments to take effect before adding or subtracting more. The effect is not instantaneous.
• Use your lungs, not your BC. Make slight temporary changes to your buoyancy by holding more or less air in your lungs. That way you don't disturb the correct inflation of your BC.