There are two ways of doing this;
Positive entry

Make sure you have some air (at least half full) in your BCD, then holding all equipment in place as you would for a Giant Stride, right hand on your mask and regulator and your left hand holding your weight belt and pressure gauge. Then position yourself with your tank on the outside of the rubber tube from the zodiac and when the zodiac driver or dive guide gives you the go signal make a gentle backwards roll. The buoyancy from the BCD will make sure you come safely back to the surface. Give the driver and dive guide the OK signal then on with your dive.

Negative entry

This one’s a bit trickier. The idea for the negative entry is to swim straight down to a predetermined depth as soon as you enter the water. This is mostly used to overcome any surface currents that can occur at shallow depths.
Empty all the air from your BCD using all of the dumps on your jacket. Then it’s the same procedure to enter the water as before.
Once you feel your face hit the water then start to fin downwards.

If you have a rear dump valve on your BCD it’s also a good idea to reach back and pull on it so you’re sure that all the air is released from the jacket as you descend. Don’t forget to equalize!

Stop when you reach your predetermined depth, then, once you’ve made contact with your buddy or dive guide continue the dive as planned.

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Generally people load themselves up with too much on the first day and then take a kilo off the next day then another, then another etc. until they reach their proper weighting. Overloading yourself can cause real problems underwater so please take the time to do this properly at the beginning of your trip!
One time springs to mind when a BUDDY Inspiration diver came aboard and had all sorts of problems for the first couple of dives. After one of his swearing fit’s and his claim that he was selling his Inspiration and going back to open circuit I asked him to come on a relaxed dive from the boat so I could try to see what the problem was. We ended up taking 5 kilos from his weight belt, no wonder he was having problems!

Basically, when holding a normal breath and with an empty BCD, you should float at eye level in the water. As you exhale you should ‘slowly’ start to descend. If you’re not sure ask the dive guide to check with you on your FIRST dive.

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The amount of times I have witnessed people (even a Course Director!, you know who you are), getting in the zodiac without their first stage connected!! or about to exit the zodiac without their air switched on or missing their dive because they forgot their mask or weight belt or …… the list goes on and on.

Don’t leave it to chance and get underwater and realize that something is missing…..

Please, please, please do a buddy check, it’s serious!!!!!

The PADI recommended buddy check is;

B,W,R,A,F or Buoyancy, Weights, Releases, Air, Final Check an easier or more FUN way for you to remember this maybe;
Begin With Review And Friend or

Burger With Relish And Fries or

Blonde Women Really Are Fun…..

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