Skipping my buoyancy control refresher course resulted in a coral damage guilt trip

I got lazy and decided my years of diving meant I didn't need a buoyancy tune-up before a trip to a sensitive reef system. Of course, I ended up kicking up silt and accidentally brushing against a coral head, which felt awful seeing the fragile ecosystem. Since that day, I've made it a non-negotiable rule to do a proper buoyancy practice in a pool before any reef dive. The improvement in my control is obvious, and I can finally enjoy dives without that nagging worry about causing harm.

3 comments

3 Comments

dylan811mo ago

Similar thing happened on a night dive when poor buoyancy spooked a sleeping turtle.

janar571mo ago

Yeah, poor buoyancy at night is so rough. I read that sleeping turtles can hold their breath for hours, so suddenly floating down on them must be a real shock.

nathan_jackson161mo ago

Yeah the spooking thing is real. On night dives I make a habit of checking my depth like every ten seconds and hovering a good few feet above the bottom. If you need to get close, exhale slowly to sink that last bit instead of kicking down. I even practice being still in the water column before the dive starts, it makes a huge difference.