Refreshing Skills
Being comfortable and competent with the basic scuba skills is vital to making safe dives. Not only for yourself but also for your buddy’s sake.
It isn’t uncommon for divers to have never practiced air sharing since completing their Open Water course. So, in an emergency how quickly and correctly can you or your buddy respond?
Refreshing your skills either between you and your buddy or; with an official refresher course with a RAID Instructor/Divemaster should be considered a normal part of diving. This is even more true if you haven’t dived for over 6 months, in which case many dive centers will make it a requirement to complete a refresher with them.
Don’t fall into the trap, of “oh, I have a good memory…I remember”. Many skills are about muscle memory which is easily lost when the activity isn’t done for a while. Don’t let your ego get the better of you, do a refresher.
MASK
As you’ll already know clearing your mask can be a full-time job when diving sometimes. So being comfortable in doing it without thinking is great. Practice it by using 1 and 2 hands, just in case one hand is holding a camera, etc.
Removing your mask, was probably your least favorite skill in Open Water class. If so there is a reason for that, it’s because it made you feel uncomfortable. So practicing it and becoming comfortable is a good thing. Masks do get knocked off, mask straps do break…
AIR SHARING
Looking out for your buddy is a primary role for any diver, so being confident in performing air sharing should be considered crucially important. Yes, running low/out of air shouldn’t happen; but it does. Due to either equipment malfunction (e.g. an unnoticed free-flowing octopus), or overly distracted diver (not checking their gauge regularly).
Make sure you are comfortable sharing air for the ascent and safety stop, not just stationary at the bottom.
REGULATOR
Regulator skills should be considered critical; as I’m pretty sure you are aware we don’t breathe water very well!
Clearing your regulator of water, retrieving your 2nd stage, switching to your octopus, and breathing from a free-flowing 2nd stage is a must to keep up to date on.
Don’t fool yourself that these situations don’t occur, regulators get knocked/pulled out of divers mouths more often than you realize. Free-flowing 2nd stages happen, especially if the regulator hasn’t been serviced recently.
BUOYANCY
Because buoyancy is significantly affected by practice if you haven’t dived for a while you are likely to be out of practice on it. So get in the water, and do a buoyancy check (your weight may have changed over time, or you may have bought new equipment).
Remember all the skills you are doing as a refresher should be done neutrally buoyant!
FINNING
Lastly, but definitely not the least important is finning. You need to be comfortable and competent in your finning (whichever style you use). If you can’t control your movement underwater properly, you become a hazard to yourself, other divers, and the environment.
Make sure your finning style is the most suitable for the type of diving you do, for example, flutter kick is not a good style for confined spaces. While most styles are ok, for open reefs.
All RAID training centers, instructors, and divemasters will be able to offer refresher courses for you. If you can’t find a dive center in your area, let us know.