Scuba diving is one of the best ways to explore the diverse marine life below the sea surface. Beginners or first-timers have to undergo a mandatory practical training session in shallow waters to learn the basic skills required for underwater diving. A professional dive instructor demonstrates multiple skills and lets you practice in water to ensure you get comfortable and gain enough confidence for actual diving. 

Your dive master keeps track to make sure you are successfully executing scuba dive skills and enjoying every minute of your actual dive. Scuba diving in Andaman lets you explore diverse marine life and multiple species of colorful sea dwellers in crystal-clear blue water. 

Ear Equalisation

When we go scuba diving or underwater, we are going to experience an increase in pressure. We have a couple of air spaces in our body that we need to equalize to counter-effect these pressure changes. The equalization of ear pressure is the most important part of enjoying scuba diving. There are multiple ways you can choose to equalize ear pressure, the most popular way to equalize your ears is called the Valsalva maneuver or in common understanding 'pinching of the nose'. 

The way you do it is basically you just close your nose with your fingers and then you breathe out but you also close your mouth, so the air cannot get out of the mouth and it will force itself into those two little tubes called eustachian tubes. Now the air goes directly towards the eardrum, bending it back again every time we do it.  

When we go under the water, the water will flow into your ear and will hit that eardrum and start bending it in. In the beginning, you don't even feel that maybe up to half a meter depending on the person. When you go deeper like a few meters down and don't equalize your ears, your eardrum starts to bend which feels uncomfortable or even painful like there's something in your ear. It may further results of damaging your ear.

Mask Clearing

Mask clearing is the most basic underwater diving skill and yet many people initially have difficulty in performing this skill. At a small amount of water to the mass pocket by breaking the top seal with your index fingers do not pull the bottom of the mask away from your face clear the mask without breaking the top seal. 

As you excel gently push inward and downward on the mask frame with the palm or two fingers of one hand be sure not to push upward or the mask will right up on the nostrils. Tilt the head back to make sure the water is at its lowest point inside the mask and begin exhaling through your nose. A firm steady exhalation is more effective than a short hard blast.

Some divers prefer a two-handed method of mask clearing pressing in on the top of the mask with both index fingers and lifting with the thumbs. Again use only enough downward and inward pressure to keep the top seal from losing as you exhale into the mask. 

Feel free to experiment with different ways to find out which is better for you. The main objective is to get the water out by giving the air an escape route. When wearing a mask with a purge valve the clearing technique is slightly different tilt the head forward so the water collects around the nose pocket purge valve. Then exhale steadily until the mask is clear of the water. 

Breathing with Scuba Regulator

The basic rule of scuba diving is to "Don't hold your breath". A Scuba regulator is a piece of equipment that is connected to an oxygen tank and supports our underwater breathing. You have to put the mouthpiece of the regulator in your mouth and hold it between your jaws then you need to start slow and steady breathing from the oxygen cylinder.

The air in the oxygen cylinder is not pure Oxygen. It is because pure oxygen become toxic in underwater pressure. It is a mixture of 21% oxygen and 79% nitrogen. It is important to note that a scuba diving mask encases a diver's eyes and nose so it is simply not possible to breathe through the nose for underwater diving.  

Backroll Entry

The back roll entry is generally initiated while diving from a small size boat. When fully geared up and ready to enter sit on the gunnel facing inward with your tank hanging over the outside edge. Add air to your VC and gather hoses and accessories onto your lap to prevent them from snagging as you backroll. Before initiating the entry look over your shoulder to be sure that the entry area is clear.

Hold your mask and regulator in place and put a hand on the back of your mask strap to protect your head bring your knees to your chest and simply fall backwards. You should land flat into the water with the tank absorbing the impact. Check your gear give the okay signal to the boat crew and you're good to dive.