What is Buoyancy in Diving?
Buoyancy in diving is more than just staying submerged. It is a skill that every diver must master to achieve a comfortable and safe dive. Maintaining an optimal level of buoyancy allows us to control our movements underwater, which directly influences the quality of the experience and the care of the marine environment.
Learning to master buoyancy is not difficult, but it is necessary and requires practice to improve progressively. It is quite likely that, if you already did your Open Water Diver course at our dive center in Lanzarote, you have heard about how important it is, but in case you still don't have it all clear enough, in our post we will clarify some terms for you.
We will tell you how, by controlling a parameter that seems so simple, you will improve your dive time, your breathing, air consumption and even your protection in the marine environment. Join us and find out all about it.
What is Buoyancy in Diving?
The first thing you should know is that buoyancy is the result of the physical principle of Archimedes' Law, which states that "A body totally or partially immersed in a fluid at rest experiences a vertical upward thrust equal to the weight of the fluid dislodged".
Now, diving buoyancy is nothing more than that ability to keep your body at the same level in the sea. In other words, that your weight as a diver is equal to the weight of the water.
This allows us to enjoy a comfortable and pleasant dive, while not having adequate buoyancy control can be uncomfortable and even dangerous in open water. This is because we are unable to control the depth at which we are and the speed of our descents and ascents.
In addition, having a good buoyancy allows us to consciously preserve the environment around us, as we avoid impacting on delicate corals and we do not raise sediments that may obstruct our visibility.
Types of Buoyancy
There are three types of buoyancy that you should know: positive, negative and neutral. Below, we tell you what each one consists of:
- Positive buoyancy: Indicates that an object will float if its weight is better than that of the liquid in which it is found.
- Negative buoyancy: An object will sink if its weight is greater than that of the liquid it displaces.
- Neutral Buoyancy: This is the level of buoyancy we look for when we dive, since it allows us to achieve a balance between the liquid in which we are and our body.
Why is Buoyancy Important?
Maintaining an optimal level of buoyancy greatly enhances your diving experience. Here's why:
- Maintaining perfect buoyancy will make it easier to maintain a proper diving position.
- We will not tire as easily, as buoyancy and position have a very positive influence on the way we move through the water.
- Our air consumption will be more optimal, as we will be less tired and, therefore, we will have less resistance to water.
- Neutral buoyancy allows us to dive far enough away from the bottom, so we will not harm marine life and we will not hinder visibility by clouding the water.
- If we do marine photography, buoyancy will be key, as it guarantees us the freedom to choose the most optimal angle.
- It will improve the speed in case the situation requires it.
3 Factors Affecting Your Buoyancy in Diving
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Human Factors
- Body Fat: Although it may come as a bit of a surprise, the truth is that our body fat is one of the most influential factors. Remember that fat floats, so if you want to dive deeper, the ideal is to keep this at bay with a healthier diet.
- Lung Capacity: Our lungs are nothing more and nothing less than the air boxes that will allow us to float. Therefore, depending on their capacity, our buoyancy will vary.
- Bone Density and Musculature: The greater the bone density and musculature, the less buoyancy you will have.
Equipment level factors
- Your wetsuit: It is one of the most important elements involved in the level of buoyancy. Therefore, depending on the density of the neoprene, the volume/weight ratio will vary. In other words, the buoyancy provided by a 3 mm suit will not be the same as that of a 7 mm suit. It is also influenced by the quality of the material, its manufacture, its fit and even the time you have with the suit.
- The bottle: Among the most important factors are the material they are made of, their size and the pressure drop. Remember that, as we consume air, buoyancy will be affected. For this reason, it is necessary to learn to breathe efficiently and establish a safety stop.
- The vest: This will influence the descent and ascent you can have.
- Ballast: This is the weight we add to counteract the elements that make us float. However, the amount of ballast will depend on different aspects, including the salinity of the water.
Environmental
- Water salinity: Sea water has dissolved salts and not all salty waters have the same densities, since some are saltier than others.
- Currents: Physically these do not affect buoyancy, but they do interfere with respiration and, therefore, as a consequence they attempt against buoyancy.
- Depth: When the depth increases, so does the pressure, so our tissues are compressed and the volume is reduced. However, as our weight does not change, the density increases. Therefore, to compensate for this, a good diving jacket is vital.
What You Should Do to Control Your Buoyancy
- Make sure you have the right diving equipment for your size, especially the wetsuit, BCD and fins. These are important items that will help you obtain good buoyancy control and maintain a correct position if they fit your body properly.
- It is vital to take into account the size, material and, equally, the weight of the tank you are going to dive with. In other words, if you make a first dive using an aluminum tank and a second dive with a steel tank, be sure to do a surface buoyancy check with the "new" tank.
- You should also take equipment changes seriously. Don't forget that it is not the same to dive with a 3 mm shorty as with an 8 mm semi-dry suit. In the second case you will need more lead, if nothing else has changed.
- As for the amount of lead, we should carry just the right amount. To make sure, we must carry out a ballast control before diving. This will also allow us to establish our buoyancy control before we dive. All this and more you will be able to master it to perfection with our PADI Advanced Open Water Diving buoyancy course, in which you will learn to perfect this underwater skill.
