I've been out of the water for a little over a year; what should I focus on refreshing before I dive again?
I've been scuba diving for several years, but it's been a little while now since the last time. I last dove in the summer of 2014, and I'm traveling to Chile next month and am hoping to go diving there.
I have my PADI Open Water and Adventures in Diving books I can reference, but I'd rather not re-read them in their entirety :) While I feel capable of just jumping back into diving, I'd prefer to be confident I'm not forgetting anything.
What are the key points I should make sure I'm comfortable with before getting back in the water? What should I practice? What should I do when I arrive (I'll be renting most of my gear rather than bring it with me, if that matters).
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Diving is first and foremost a PRACTICAL skill so the best way to practise is to do it. Yes you can read through the books to refresh your theory, but this will not refresh your ability to dive. But it can be helpful in reminding you about small things you may have forgotten. Practising hand signals can be good, but these we always confirm before dives as different divers from different places and different organizations might do dive signs a bit different.
My suggestion is that you go for your first dive with a Divemaster/Instructor or very experienced diver on a nice easy shallow dive so you can just work through setting up gear, getting used to the feel of the gear as you swim (achieving Neutral buoyancy), breathing slowly and deeply in and out without holding your breath.
Also remember to practise things like mask clearing, regulator recovery and clearing as these are things that happen more often and should be easy and effortless to do.
If you been out of diving for a long time with very few dives it is worthwhile to do a whole refresher course with a qualified instructor to refresh all the skills you learned. This should be done in a pool (or very clear, calm, shallow ocean) followed up by a nice easy ocean dive.
On the theory side I would recommend going through those adventure dives that you might be interested in doing and that have a bit more to them to think about: DEEP, NIGHT, WRECK, etc.
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Skim-read the books again, answer some of the review questions again. This will remind you of the theory. However, books are no substitute for getting wet and running through the skills.
All dive shops / schools will be glad to take you on a refresher dive in a closed environment to go over the skills - rigging the kit, checking the kit, buoyancy, trim, reg out, mask off, descents, ascents, etc. It's in the interest of the shop/school to make sure that you're feeling competent again.
The word of warning is that it's said you loose a "level" every year. The problem is the mind (ego?) remembers how one used to do things and doesn't adjust to the new reality. So take it gently for the first few dives whilst you remember just how great diving is and reflect on why you left it so long!
Diving's like riding a bike; it comes back pretty quickly. Have fun.
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Breathing technique is bar far the most important. Remember to keep your airways open at all times during descent and ascent, but most importantly during ascent. During normal dives you want to keep you ascent slower than the rising bubbles, while in a near continuous exhale, in deep dives you slow the ascent to half the speed of the air bubbles while exhaling.
An air embolism is a SCUBA divers worst nightmare come true.
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