My Top 10 Tips for Scuba Diving

Whether you are just starting out or have hundreds of dives under your belt, there is always something new to learn in the water. Diving has been one of the most transformative parts of my life as a marine biologist, and over the years, from earning my Open Water cert with my dad in 2022, to completing my Divemaster in Hawai’i in 2026, I have picked up a lot of lessons along the way. Here are my top 10 tips for scuba divers at any level.

1. Always Work On Your Skills

No matter how experienced you are, there is always room to improve. Buoyancy, breathing, and trim are the three fundamentals that every diver should be constantly refining. Good buoyancy protects the reef, conserves your air, and makes every dive more enjoyable. Slow, controlled breathing keeps you calm and extends your bottom time. Try 4 second inhale, 8 second exhale. And proper horizontal trim makes you a more efficient, streamlined diver in the water. Practicing your kicks is also important, “frog” kick is going to be the most efficient way to move through the water, but also knowing how to backwards kick or flutter kick efficiently is important!

Even after completing my Divemaster and logging 150+ dives, I still focus on these things every single time I get in the water.

2. Get Your Own Gear

Rental gear does the job, but having your own equipment that fits you properly and that you know inside and out makes an enormous difference. At minimum, I recommend investing in your own mask, snorkel, fins, and dive computer as early as possible. A mask, snorkel, and fins are great to own for snorkeling and freediving as well.

For my dive computer, I recently upgraded to the Shearwater Peregrine and I love it. It is intuitive, easy to read underwater with large screen, and gives me all the information I need without being overwhelming.

When you are ready to invest in a full setup, I highly recommend a wing BCD with a backplate over a traditional jacket-style BCD. It gives you much better control over your buoyancy and trim. I dive with a Halcyon wing on a small aluminum backplate with 14 kg (30 lb) of lift. Halcyon also makes the wing BC in 9 lb (20 kg) and 18 lb (40 kg) lift options, and steel backplates for those who need extra weight. Finding the right size for your body and the type of diving you do is key.

For my regulator, I use the Mares 62X, which is incredibly lightweight and comfortable, a big plus for traveling. I also dive with a longhose setup, which I highly recommend for safety and streamlining. I have customized my SPG to display pressure in bar alongside a compass, which keeps my gauge console minimal and easy to read.

It’s also important to make sure you take proper care of your gear. Make sure to rinse it in freshwater after every dive and hang it somewhere it can fully dry. Diving gear is expensive but it is also your life support, so it’s important to take care of it so it can take care of you.

3. Don’t Bring Your Camera Until You Are Ready

Underwater photography is one of my greatest passions, but bringing a camera before you have solid buoyancy control can do more harm than good to both you and the reef. When you are focused on your camera, you are not focused on your depth, your breathing, your trim, or your buddy.

My advice is to wait until you can comfortably manage all your tasks underwater, including buoyancy, equalization, navigation, and buddy checks, without feeling overwhelmed. Once diving feels more natural, adding a camera is a joy rather than a stressor. Trust me, the nudis will still be there.

4. Protect Yourself From the Sun

This one gets overlooked more than you would think. You are often so focused on what is happening underwater that you forget you are spending significant time in direct sun from being on the boat, in the water between dives, and during safety stops.

Always apply reef-safe sunscreen before your dive, wear a hat and sunglasses on the boat, and consider a long sleeve rash guard or dive skin for extra protection in the water. I typically dive in a long sleeve rashguard and leggings when I am not wearing a wetsuit, which protects me from both the sun and any stinging creatures in the water.

5. Equalize Early and Often

Ear squeezes are one of the most common diving injuries, and almost all of them are preventable. The key is to start equalizing before you even begin your descent, and to continue equalizing every meter or two on the way down. Do not wait until you feel pressure or discomfort, by that point, you have already waited too long.

If equalization is painful or not working, stop your descent and ascend slightly until the pressure clears, then try again. Never push through ear pain. It is not worth it, and forcing equalization can cause serious injury. There will always be another dive.

6. Take Care of Your Ears

Swimmer’s ear is a very real risk for anyone spending a lot of time in the water, and divers are particularly susceptible. After every dive, rinse your ears with a few drops of freshwater or a 50/50 mixture of rubbing alcohol and white vinegar, or use an over-the-counter ear drying solution. The alcohol helps dry out the ear canal and the vinegar helps prevent bacterial growth.

If you are experiencing persistent ear discomfort or pain, take it seriously and see a doctor before getting back in the water. Your ears are not worth rushing.

In Mozambique, I got an ear infection that took me out of the water for 14 days and needed antibiotics to heal. It was unpleasant and a disappointment to be stuck on land for 2 weeks, but it was important to be fully healed before getting back in the water.

7. Know Your Weighting

Getting your weighting right is one of the most underrated aspects of diving. Too much weight and you will struggle to maintain buoyancy and waste energy fighting to stay off the bottom. Too little and you will have trouble descending or staying down during your safety stop.

A good weighting check is to float at the surface with a full breath, deflate your BCD completely, and see where you sit — you should float at eye level and slowly sink as you exhale. Adjust from there.

My personal setup varies depending on what I am wearing. With my 5mm ScubaPro wetsuit, I add 5 kg to my weight pockets on my tank strap. Without a wetsuit, I typically don’t need extra weight. Take time to dial in your weighting at the start of any new setup and note it in your dive log for future reference. It’s important to log how much weight you used, what thickness wetsuit you wore, and the temperature of the water you went diving. You will need more weight in cold water, especially with thicker suits.

8. Never Skip Your Pre-Dive Check

No matter how many dives you have done, no matter how well you know your buddy, never skip your pre-dive check. BWRAF — BCD, Weights, Releases, Air, Final check. It takes about 60 seconds and is one of the most important habits you can build as a diver. Gear malfunctions and equipment issues are almost always caught during a proper buddy check before they become emergencies underwater. It is important to know how your gear works as well as your buddy’s gear. Despite wearing a wing BCD and longhose, I often dive with people wearing jacket-style BCDs and regular regulators. Knowing where their releases and weights are is just as important as knowing where my own are.

9. Log Every Dive

Your dive log is one of your most valuable tools as a diver. It helps you track your progress, remember your best dives, note what weighting worked in different conditions, and identify patterns in your diving. I log every dive date, site, depth, visibility, water temperature, current or surge, buddies, key species, and a brief summary of how the dive went.

10. Dive Within Your Limits

This one is simple but important. Know your certification level, know your experience, and dive within both. There is no shame in sitting out a dive that is beyond your comfort zone.

The ocean is not going anywhere. There will always be another dive, another day, and another opportunity to get in the water.

Diving is one of my favorite things to do, and I want it to continue doing it for a long time. Taking care of yourself, your gear, and the environment around you is what makes that possible.

Happy bubbles!