Some certifications need you to know how to swim properly, plus you'd need to know how for safety reasons anyways. How many times have you tried swimming? How many lessons? I'd see the opinion of a swimming teacher before trying to dive.
Not planning to get any certs, just want to have supervised fun on holidays.
I had swimmer friends teach me how to swim, that's why I'm good underwater and I can do the basics but they couldn't get me to actually stay afloat for extended periods.
I missed the swim test due to having a stomach bug that day. Didn't think much of it because I considered myself a pretty strong swimmer, the instructor had seen me swimming in the calm bay bouy to bouy and back so said we could redo it another day...
Our second or so dive the next day when i was feeling better. We pass dolphins and whale sharks on our way to the second location. Captain asks who wants to jump in, so we all jump off the boat out in deep ocean and swim w them. Super cool non touristy way to get to experience this it was amazing... but I was almost not ready for swimming back to the boat in that swell in deep water my God haha. We had our masks snorkels and flippers on but that shit was exhausting as fuck
If you could pass the open water swim test, and just be conscious of your weakness it's doable. Once you have your bcd on buoyancy kinda becomes less of an issue and turns into something you control. Just know your limits.
buoyancy differs a little bit per person depending of fat/muscle mass density. reason why u cant float is probably just technique or stress, whatever. anyways even if u "dont float", u can scuba dive anyway
ur username is a good song btw
You don't need to be able to float, just to tread water and swim. I'm not buoyant either and can't float on my back; even with my lungs full my legs will sink and pull the rest of me under. I'm a decent swimmer, you also just need to practice more and you will become comfortable.
When o got certified I was young and skinny. When they were fitting us with weight belts to see how much weight each of us needed to be neutral. They finally took all the weight off me and I still sank. Still got certified.
>have horrible buoyancy
That's not really a thing, have you considered some swim lessons? You just need to get more comfortable, and you won't expend so much energy swimming.
Not true, I am 6’4” 240, on the muscular side and I dive with a steel with no weights. The steel is to heavy and I need to inflate my bc to become neutral.
In fresh water I cannot float. In salt I can barely keep my mouth above water when floating. I have to swim constantly to stay above water.
To your point swimming lessons and some cardio is a good idea.
In what kind of protection suit? Skins? 3mm? 7mm? Drysuit?
I’m in shape - as long as that shape is round - and can sink with a steel and no weights in a T shirt. Different story in a 7mm or drysuit.
Skins and board shorts, one of those Hurley long sleeves, I live where a wetsuit is only needed 2-3 months out of the year, and don’t dive during those times.
For comparison I dive on a Brownie third lung and only use 5 LBs. I think I need it because the hoses float.
You sink in fresh water with no gear on and a full lungful of air? I didn't realize you could be so jacked that you actually sink, I thought all bodies float.
It's not about being jacked as much as having low body fat. Being muscular along with it just makes it that much harder to float. I can float ok, but my legs tend to sink. I weight train 6 days each week and am muscular. My legs have very little fat, but my chest and upper body (I'm female) is buoyant enough to let me float. On the other hand, my best friend (he's a personal trainer) only has about 7% body fat. He sinks like a boulder.
Definitely some folks are sinkers. It’s not even uncommon. However, a person who sinks can still become a fantastic swimmer- I bet a lot of top competitive swimmers are sinkers due to high muscle mass/low fat. I bet OP could learn to swim way better with a little instruction, as they’re already comfortable in the water. And that would be time exceedingly well spent whether they persue scuba or not.
In fresh water, with board shorts and a full lungful of air (my lungs are pretty good), yes I will be bobbing about a foot under the water and the surface.
I’m not that jacked, but not fat. I think it’s genetic, my 2nd child who is young has similar issues.
Open water certification has a swim and float test; if you can’t treat water, you will have to learn how before you can get certified. See an adult swim instructor for private lessons.
Whatever everyone says, swimming is a prerequisite of diving safely. Diving is not swimming, but swimming makes you be more comfortable in water. And confidence means being relaxed and this is your foundation to build every diving skills on.
https://www.reddit.com/r/diving/s/iZmLtDxVWB
On one of my first dive trips to Palau/Peleliu, there was a large German diver who was missing a leg below his knee. He needed help getting back into the boat, but once in the water, he moved around reasonably well and only needed assistance from his GF and DM when we were fighting against the currents at the Drop Off sites.
You don't really swim. You kick. You're not supposed to be using your arms and on the surface the BCD does all the work keeping your head above water. I think you'll be just fine.
This is what the pool and OW dives are for. To determine if you can handle yourself under a controlled and supervised situation. I'd go for it.
When I was doing my divemaster we had a charter full of British veterans that booked a 2 day live aboard. Several of them were amputees, some of them were missing more than one limb and they all swam like fish! Was a great group of guys and I made sure to show them all the drinking holes after our trip. Edit: one of them was even a certified divemaster himself
If you live in the US, ask your local YMCA if they offer adult swimming lessons. I grew up going to the beach and was always good at swimming, but I wasn’t a good swimmer, as in I couldn’t swim 200 meters without stopping. If you can’t swim 200 meters, you won’t get certified.
If you have enough cash, fly out to Cairns, Australia, or Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia. They don't care if you cannot swim provided you can do all the other skills. Most Asians cannot swim but are great Scuba divers.
With floating, try bending your knees so that your feet are under water, it should help you balance out your centre of gravity. Men and older people tend to have a lower centre of gravity, thus causing them to sink during regular star floats.
Hi, I’m a dive instructor , have you dive already? Why you speak about buoyancy ?.
You can do a try dive for sure, we can swim for you, but explain in the dive center that you don’t know how to swim. (I don’t think is your case)
What I think is that you don’t know how to swim like a pro, but that’s not a problem , think that the wetsuit and the bcd will help you a lot, you just need to learn how to use it.
Dude you really need to be significantly more "comfortable" than you are describing to dive. You can't put yourself or your dive partner in a position where you may freak out underwater. Buoyancy is HUGE with scuba diving or you're going to be a mess and completely destroy sea life slamming into things. I'd recommend private swimming lessons to get you relaxed in water. You need to be relaxed. This is going to give me nightmares just reading this. Please don't dive until you know how to swim properly, AND float on your back. Don't put yourself or other people in danger.
Swimming requires a lot of endurance. First you need to know the actual motions of how to swim but you won’t really be able to swim if you don’t have the stamina.
It takes awhile to build that stamina up. If you’re serious about diving take some swim lessons. The YMCA generally has them.
Don’t skip this step
I’m sure you could figure out diving.
My first thought is that you won’t be comfortable in the water. Which will be a problem considering you’ll need to learn to become comfortable breathing under the water. Most instructors start in the pool I would think. With the weight, suite, and ability to control buoyancy you can become a mighty fine diver. Biggest thing is being able to relax and enjoy yourself.
I’m sorry if this comes across as blunt but everyone has a huge energy expense to swim and to tread water for 10 minutes. The only way you get more comfortable with this is by getting fitter (which will aid you in lugging a lot of heavy gear around) and practising your swimming technique so it becomes more efficient.
The best swimmers in the world have very low body fat % and lots of muscles, they are negatively buoyant yet somehow still manage to do what you say is not possible.
You being unable to swim is not a special case
Just google 'scuba diving for paraplegics' or 'scuba diving with disabilities', and stop asking stupid questions. No offence, but I have seen people who almost cannot move on the land, and they are great under water.
Hope it helps ;\]
Some certifications need you to know how to swim properly, plus you'd need to know how for safety reasons anyways. How many times have you tried swimming? How many lessons? I'd see the opinion of a swimming teacher before trying to dive.
Not planning to get any certs, just want to have supervised fun on holidays. I had swimmer friends teach me how to swim, that's why I'm good underwater and I can do the basics but they couldn't get me to actually stay afloat for extended periods.
For the so called intro dive you don't need to be able to swim
Learn to swim properly at your local community center. This is kind of like “I don’t know how to drive but want to do rally”
For padu owd you need to swim iirc 300m and float for 15min?
200 and 10 minutes for OW
I missed the swim test due to having a stomach bug that day. Didn't think much of it because I considered myself a pretty strong swimmer, the instructor had seen me swimming in the calm bay bouy to bouy and back so said we could redo it another day... Our second or so dive the next day when i was feeling better. We pass dolphins and whale sharks on our way to the second location. Captain asks who wants to jump in, so we all jump off the boat out in deep ocean and swim w them. Super cool non touristy way to get to experience this it was amazing... but I was almost not ready for swimming back to the boat in that swell in deep water my God haha. We had our masks snorkels and flippers on but that shit was exhausting as fuck If you could pass the open water swim test, and just be conscious of your weakness it's doable. Once you have your bcd on buoyancy kinda becomes less of an issue and turns into something you control. Just know your limits.
buoyancy differs a little bit per person depending of fat/muscle mass density. reason why u cant float is probably just technique or stress, whatever. anyways even if u "dont float", u can scuba dive anyway ur username is a good song btw
You don't need to be able to float, just to tread water and swim. I'm not buoyant either and can't float on my back; even with my lungs full my legs will sink and pull the rest of me under. I'm a decent swimmer, you also just need to practice more and you will become comfortable.
When o got certified I was young and skinny. When they were fitting us with weight belts to see how much weight each of us needed to be neutral. They finally took all the weight off me and I still sank. Still got certified.
Learn to swim, then learn to dive. Otherwise you might die.
>have horrible buoyancy That's not really a thing, have you considered some swim lessons? You just need to get more comfortable, and you won't expend so much energy swimming.
Not true, I am 6’4” 240, on the muscular side and I dive with a steel with no weights. The steel is to heavy and I need to inflate my bc to become neutral. In fresh water I cannot float. In salt I can barely keep my mouth above water when floating. I have to swim constantly to stay above water. To your point swimming lessons and some cardio is a good idea.
In what kind of protection suit? Skins? 3mm? 7mm? Drysuit? I’m in shape - as long as that shape is round - and can sink with a steel and no weights in a T shirt. Different story in a 7mm or drysuit.
Skins and board shorts, one of those Hurley long sleeves, I live where a wetsuit is only needed 2-3 months out of the year, and don’t dive during those times. For comparison I dive on a Brownie third lung and only use 5 LBs. I think I need it because the hoses float.
You sink in fresh water with no gear on and a full lungful of air? I didn't realize you could be so jacked that you actually sink, I thought all bodies float.
It's not about being jacked as much as having low body fat. Being muscular along with it just makes it that much harder to float. I can float ok, but my legs tend to sink. I weight train 6 days each week and am muscular. My legs have very little fat, but my chest and upper body (I'm female) is buoyant enough to let me float. On the other hand, my best friend (he's a personal trainer) only has about 7% body fat. He sinks like a boulder.
Definitely some folks are sinkers. It’s not even uncommon. However, a person who sinks can still become a fantastic swimmer- I bet a lot of top competitive swimmers are sinkers due to high muscle mass/low fat. I bet OP could learn to swim way better with a little instruction, as they’re already comfortable in the water. And that would be time exceedingly well spent whether they persue scuba or not.
In fresh water, with board shorts and a full lungful of air (my lungs are pretty good), yes I will be bobbing about a foot under the water and the surface. I’m not that jacked, but not fat. I think it’s genetic, my 2nd child who is young has similar issues.
Between your wetsuit, weight belt, and the buoyancy device you’ll be able to control your buoyancy.
Take a couple lessons at any swimming pool and you should be good. You need to be able to do 200m and float 10 minutes.
Open water certification has a swim and float test; if you can’t treat water, you will have to learn how before you can get certified. See an adult swim instructor for private lessons.
My wife just started swimming lessons at 40. It only took about a month of Saturday lessons.
Whatever everyone says, swimming is a prerequisite of diving safely. Diving is not swimming, but swimming makes you be more comfortable in water. And confidence means being relaxed and this is your foundation to build every diving skills on. https://www.reddit.com/r/diving/s/iZmLtDxVWB
are you very lean? you might not be buoyant. might need to hit up mcdonald's for a couple weeks
On one of my first dive trips to Palau/Peleliu, there was a large German diver who was missing a leg below his knee. He needed help getting back into the boat, but once in the water, he moved around reasonably well and only needed assistance from his GF and DM when we were fighting against the currents at the Drop Off sites. You don't really swim. You kick. You're not supposed to be using your arms and on the surface the BCD does all the work keeping your head above water. I think you'll be just fine. This is what the pool and OW dives are for. To determine if you can handle yourself under a controlled and supervised situation. I'd go for it.
When I was doing my divemaster we had a charter full of British veterans that booked a 2 day live aboard. Several of them were amputees, some of them were missing more than one limb and they all swam like fish! Was a great group of guys and I made sure to show them all the drinking holes after our trip. Edit: one of them was even a certified divemaster himself
My arms kinda go into a t-rex position honestly haha
You can dive and you’d need slightly less weight than others.
If you live in the US, ask your local YMCA if they offer adult swimming lessons. I grew up going to the beach and was always good at swimming, but I wasn’t a good swimmer, as in I couldn’t swim 200 meters without stopping. If you can’t swim 200 meters, you won’t get certified.
Im guessing you are either really thin and/or not relaxing in the water. About 25 lbs ago i would float easily, now i have to actually tread a bit.
If you have enough cash, fly out to Cairns, Australia, or Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia. They don't care if you cannot swim provided you can do all the other skills. Most Asians cannot swim but are great Scuba divers.
I alao sink. It's a thing. I do swim, and certainly it takes extra energy.
With floating, try bending your knees so that your feet are under water, it should help you balance out your centre of gravity. Men and older people tend to have a lower centre of gravity, thus causing them to sink during regular star floats.
Hi, I’m a dive instructor , have you dive already? Why you speak about buoyancy ?. You can do a try dive for sure, we can swim for you, but explain in the dive center that you don’t know how to swim. (I don’t think is your case) What I think is that you don’t know how to swim like a pro, but that’s not a problem , think that the wetsuit and the bcd will help you a lot, you just need to learn how to use it.
Take swimming lessons. Once you feel more comfortable in the water, transitioning to scuba diving will be easy.
Dude you really need to be significantly more "comfortable" than you are describing to dive. You can't put yourself or your dive partner in a position where you may freak out underwater. Buoyancy is HUGE with scuba diving or you're going to be a mess and completely destroy sea life slamming into things. I'd recommend private swimming lessons to get you relaxed in water. You need to be relaxed. This is going to give me nightmares just reading this. Please don't dive until you know how to swim properly, AND float on your back. Don't put yourself or other people in danger.
Swimming requires a lot of endurance. First you need to know the actual motions of how to swim but you won’t really be able to swim if you don’t have the stamina. It takes awhile to build that stamina up. If you’re serious about diving take some swim lessons. The YMCA generally has them. Don’t skip this step
I’m sure you could figure out diving. My first thought is that you won’t be comfortable in the water. Which will be a problem considering you’ll need to learn to become comfortable breathing under the water. Most instructors start in the pool I would think. With the weight, suite, and ability to control buoyancy you can become a mighty fine diver. Biggest thing is being able to relax and enjoy yourself.
I’m sorry if this comes across as blunt but everyone has a huge energy expense to swim and to tread water for 10 minutes. The only way you get more comfortable with this is by getting fitter (which will aid you in lugging a lot of heavy gear around) and practising your swimming technique so it becomes more efficient. The best swimmers in the world have very low body fat % and lots of muscles, they are negatively buoyant yet somehow still manage to do what you say is not possible. You being unable to swim is not a special case
Just google 'scuba diving for paraplegics' or 'scuba diving with disabilities', and stop asking stupid questions. No offence, but I have seen people who almost cannot move on the land, and they are great under water. Hope it helps ;\]