Remember that scene in the movie Peter Pan? Where Tinker Bell just finished sprinkling pixie dust on the boys and they are floating above the bed, not going up, nor down? That is neutral buoyancy! And it is one of the most important skill to master when you are a scuba diver.
Good nuetral bouyancy contributes hugely to better air mangement, which in turn means longer and more enjoyable dives.
Certainly makes you dive more comfortable and is an absolutely critical skill when diving above a fragile reef, silty bottom and on walls that drop to beyond recreational depths. You do not want to be that diver that is out of control, crashing into the bottom or your buddy.
Not to mention the embarrassment of churning up a silty bottom like the character in the Peanuts cartoon, Pig Pen. Most new divers fresh out of Open Water class, though armed with the tools of mastering buoyancy control can take anywhere from just a few more dives to many many more to figure it out. That is why it is so important for new divers to get out there and practice what they learned right away.
One of the best venues to practice buoyancy is the PADI Advance Open Water class. This course will have you doing five dives in a short period of time where you get to dive under the guidance of an instructor. and even though we have different dives selected to expose you to other aspects of diving, such as Night Diving, Deep Diving, etc, the primary goal of the course, with Argonaut Diving, is to dial in your buoyancy and trim.
As a certified diver, you have a responsibility to yourself, your buddy and fellow divers and the envronment to dive safely and have the situational awareness of where you are and what is around you in the water.
Dive smart, dive safe.
Fred Doner
PADI Master Instructor #169699