Aim

Safely Descend using the five point method.

Reason to Learn

Every time you go diving you need to start the dive by descending. You don't want to descend without letting your buddy know or without making sure everything is as it should be – it's pretty embarrassing when you descend with your snorkel in your mouth.
Difficulty: Easy
Time Required: 1-3 Minutes
Here's How:

1. Signal to your buddy that you're ready to descend using the descend or go down signal.
2. Find a marker to orient yourself to so that you know which way you're facing as you go down. This might be the boat, a wall, a beach, or some other surface feature that will give you a clear idea of which way is which underwater.
3. Put your regulator in your mouth. Sounds simple, but divers often get so excited about the upcoming dive that they forget this step.
4. Check the time or that you're dive computer is working and ready for the dive.
5. Equalize your ears. It's a good idea to start equalizing before you even leave the surface and about every 3 feet (1 meter) or whenever you feel the need.
6. Holding your low pressure inflator above your head, push the deflate button to let all the air inside the BCD out. You should begin to sink.
7. Watch where you're going as you head down and inflate your BCD slightly before you reach the bottom so that you level off rather than crashing into anything.

Tips:

1. It is usually safest to descend feet first in a vertical position. Keep close to your buddy as you descend.
2. Remember to equalize early and often. This can't be emphasized enough. If you feel any discomfort in your ears stop and let them equalize or ascend slightly and try again. There is no problem with going all the way back to the surface if you're having problems equalizing. Just remember to let your buddy know using the problem and ear signals.
3. Remember to relax and breathe out deeply. As you lungs empty you will sink more easily.
4. Don't kick with your fins as this will make it harder to sink.
5. If you're relaxed, have released all the air from your BCD, and are not kicking but still can't sink you may not be wearing enough weights.

What You Need:

* Full set of scuba gear.

Thanks for the post. It was of great help to me. The tips about scuba diving are really great. Keep up the good work.

Though I said I've been diving for years, I never said that I was a professional.. lol. I've found some pointers in your post, i believe will help make things a little easier for me, but i was wondering.. Is there some kind of formula for figuring out how much weight a diver should wear for smooth descent based on their body mass?

I have an ear that pops when I descend...I don't think I have been equalizing often enough. It really helps to have "pros" here to learn from! Thanks to everyone!