Neutral Buoyancy: The Holy Grail of Diving

Neutral Buoyancy. It sounds almost magical when you say it.

This skill is where diving moves into the realm of an art form. It’s also the skill that’s the hardest to teach.

You can teach someone how to become neutrally buoyant, but you can’t teach someone to be neutrally buoyant.

It’s something that will happen with experience alone. Once you achieve this great epiphany, you’ll have transitioned from a novice to an experienced diver.

So what is neutral buoyancy?

There are three kinds of buoyancy.

Positive buoyancy is when you try to stay still in the water column and you start to float to the surface.

Negative buoyancy is when you try to stay still in the water column and you start to sink to the bottom.

Neutral buoyancy is where you try to stay still in the water column and you succeed!

There are many reasons why you want to achieve neutral buoyancy. First, it makes diving effortless.

You’re not fighting to stay off the bottom or to stop yourself from floating to the surface. If you’ve ever heard a diver talk about how diving feels like flying, they’re talking about neutral buoyancy.

In addition, you’ll use less air during your dives because the act of diving takes less effort when you’re neutrally buoyant. One of the best dives I ever had was in Cozumel. We did a drift dive to 80 feet (24 m). I dropped down with the group, got a comfortable distance above the reef, crossed my legs, rode the current, and barely moved for the next half hour. It was beautiful! I had so much air left when we surfaced that my students asked me if I was even breathing!

How can you achieve neutral buoyancy?

Here’s a little exercise that will help you become neutrally buoyant.

First get into full gear and put as many one-pound soft weights as you think you need. Now go down to about 20 -25 feet (6 m) and empty all the air from your BC. Next take the soft weights out of your BC one at a time and lay them down until you feel yourself start to rise off the bottom. Now add four pounds and inflate your BC to make yourself neutral.

Notice your legs. Are they sinking down or are you horizontal. If you’re horizontal, add two more pounds and adjust your buoyancy again. Keep doing this until your legs start to sink (because the weight is pulling the back of your BC down).

Once they do, take out the last weights you’ve added and make note of the amount of weight you’re wearing.

That’s the right amount of weight for you given the equipment you’re wearing in the type of water you’re in (fresh or salt).

The Neutral Buoyancy X Faxtor!

There is an X factor in becoming neutrally buoyant: your lungs.

You will always rise in the water when you inhale and sink when you exhale. Here’s where the art of diving comes in.

Learn to make minor adjustments in buoyancy with your breathing instead of your buoyancy compensator.

Do you need to rise in the water column? Then inhale a little longer and a little slower than usual.

Need to sink? Then exhale a little more and a little faster than usual.

If you’re weighted properly (which you should be if you followed my advice) most of your buoyancy adjustments during your dive will be made with breathing adjustments.

Buoyancy is probably the most difficult diving skill to master but once you get it down, diving becomes a lot more enjoyable.

This is one skill that’s well worth the extra effort to learn.

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