10 EASY SCUBA DIVE TIPS FOR A BETTER DIVE!
I’m sharing ten easy SCUBA Diving tips I’ve learned from years of diving experiences.
These tips are for beginner scuba divers, intermediate divers, or a “scuba diving refresher” for those returning to the sport. But advanced scuba divers might find something useful here too!
I use this collection of SCUBA tips and tricks on every dive. Some of these scuba tips I’ve figured out on my own and others I have “borrowed” from other divers.
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- XL Carabiner Clip
- Pre-Treat Your Mask with An Antifog Gel
- SCUBA Socks
- Dry Mouth Spray
- Use Magic Eraser to Clean Your Dive Slate!
- UNITE Hair Detangler
- How to Get Your Fins Off Easier
- Know How to Prevent Sea Sickness Before It Starts
- Always Use Reef Safe Sunscreen
- An Easy DIY Snorkel “Clip”
I have 1 or 2 of these One is on my water bottle so I can clip it to the side rails of the dive boat (in between my two SCUBA tanks).
The second is on my B.C. I attach my mask to it before and after diving. This way my mask doesn’t get lost on the boat or fall overboard. Yup, I lost my favorite mask years ago on a dive boat.
The best use for this is on a beach dive. I use this same clip as both a hook and handle to attach my fins and/or mask together. The carabiner keeps everything together and nothing gets accidently dropped in the water.
I hang extra gear on this carabiner clip too! A flashlight, compass, or anything else I want to find quickly during a dive. It’s so easy.
I attach my dive watch to the carabiner after a dive, when I am putting my gear away, so I never accidentally forget it.
Every diver has a favorite type of defogger. I used the standard baby shampoo for a long time, but every mask is different.
I hate mask fog, and my current mask eats baby shampoo for breakfast. Constantly rinsing mask fog ruins my dive.
Now I use Spit Antifog Gel. Only use the gel, it’s a better product than the spray version.
To get the best results put a thin layer of Spit on your mask lens the night before you dive. Then do a quick rinse with water before your dive.
I prefer rinsing with seawater. I had a divemaster tell me never to use freshwater to rinse a mask, and I stick to this advice as much as I can. True or not, I’m not sure – but it works for me.
First, I don’t go anywhere without two pairs of SCUBA socks. They get wetsuits and dive booties on and off soooooo much easier.
Why two pairs of socks? Two reasons.
First, I sometimes loose or misplace a sock. They are small compared to the rest of my gear and easily get misplaced or left behind.
Second, my feet get cold and numb when I complete several dives a day. Doubling up on SCUBA socks solved the problem. I put a normal pair on first and then a thicker This scuba hack really helps keep my feet warm when diving during the colder months (cold for Florida that is!).
4. Dry Mouth Spray
I get a dry mouth when I SCUBA dive. I know this sounds crazy since I am in the water the entire time.
On a dive boat, I saw a woman using Biotene mouth spray right before a dive. I stole this idea and I love it. It doesn’t completely stop dry mouth, but it helps a lot.
Really any brand of minty mouth spray helps. When I run out of my dry mouth spray (and forget to buy more) my backup is Listerine pocket mist mouth spray.
5. Use Magic Eraser to Clean Your Dive Slate!
Magic Eraser – it’s not just for walls! It’s THE BEST for quickly cleaning dive slates.
I keep a ½ of one in my dry box with the rest of my scuba tools.
Once on a dive trip to Cozumel, I paid two nice hairdressers to “un-tangle” my SCUBA hair. Seriously, it took two hours and two inches off my hair.
Now I keep this spray in my dive bag and use it liberally when I am done diving. My dive buddies ask to use it. Divers I have never met ask me to use it. This product has totally saved my hair.
Another conditioning option is using a leave-in conditioner in between dives. Stream 2 Sea is my favorite leave-in conditioner to use between dives on the boat.
It’s Florida-made and reef-safe! Don’t use too much or your mask will slide off the back of your head. Yes, I know this from personal experience.
7. How to Get Your Fins Off Easier
A little dab of silicone on the sides of fin booties is the secret! It gets fins off much easier in the water. I have wide feet, so my SCUBA fins tend to “stick” to my booties.
This is the best “hack” I have found for this problem. Put a small dab of silicone grease on each side of your SCUBA boot at the widest part of your foot. This helps your fins to easily slide off.
I learned this trick after diving in bad weather, when the water temperature is colder.
Wearing a heavy wetsuit and two pairs of SCUBA socks! I looked like a circus clown thrashing around in the water trying to get my fins off!
8. Know How to Prevent Sea Sickness Before It Starts
This SCUBA trick works! It has been perfected by my dive buddy Maria.
Unfortunately, she used to get seasick all the time. I’ve watched her puke over the side of a boat more times than I can count.
She has been experimenting on herself for years, trying every possible combination of ginger chews, pills, wrist bands, and patches.
Through trial and error, she found an epic solution to prevent seasickness. Even though I am not prone to seasickness, I follow this scuba tip because once seasickness starts it’s ruined your day.
The number one mistake that people make is taking the first seasickness pill before they get on a dive boat.
You have to pre-load your system 1-3 days before your dive. Especially if you are prone to seasickness. This was a game changer for my dive buddy.
I take a seasickness pill the night before and then when I get up in the morning. If the water is rough (with more than 2-foot-high waves) I will take another pill in-between my dives. I always use Bonnie because it does not make me drowsy.
Maria is very prone to seasickness and starts taking pills 3 days before diving. She uses a combination of full-strength Dramamine at night and She continues to repeat this process every day we are diving. I rarely see her puke over the side of the boat anymore. However, she still keeps ginger chews in her dive bag.
9. Always Use Reef Safe Sunscreen
The first time I heard about reef-safe sunscreen was 12 years ago. It was required for a whale shark research trip that I participated in as a “teacher scientist”.
I couldn’t find it at any U.S.A. drugstore. I found one brand on Amazon for $40.00!!! I bought a cheaper “organic” one and figured that was good enough.
I learned two things about sunscreen on this trip:
1. Reef-safe sunscreen is in every Cancun, Mexico drug store for $5.00 a bottle!!!
2. Why is reef-safe sunscreen critical for reef health? Oxybenzone is the main culprit, but you can read the entire list of 12 toxic ingredients here.
Oxybenzone kills the algae that live in coral tissues. Killing the algae that coral depends on to live stresses or kills the coral (through negative DNA impacts, abnormal growths, and coral bleaching).
My favorite brand is Stream 2 Sea. It’s available on Amazon and made by a small business located in the Florida Keys.
10. An Easy DIY Snorkel “Clip”
This tip I don’t use much when scuba diving because I hate diving with a snorkel. I prefer to keep a roll-up snorkel in a pocket on my B.C.
However, when I am required to use a snorkel or I am out snorkeling, I use an elastic hair tie.
A hair tie works as well or better than the cheap plastic clips most snorkels come with.
To use: Twist the elastic in figure 8 around the left side of the mask band and slide the snorkel through the two loops of figure 8. It couldn’t be any more cheap, simple, or easy.
A Few Last Thoughts
Well, I hope these 10 beginner scuba diver tips help make your dive easy and comfortable. Feeling comfortable in the water increases diver safety and confidence.
If you have a diving tip, please let me know in the comments! It might turn up in another blog post.
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