Snorkeling, SCUBA Diving & Sailing Guides!

At OpenWaterHQ.com, our goal is to provide people with the knowledge they need to get into the water quickly and enjoy their favorite leisure water activities, whether it is snorkeling, SCUBA diving, freediving, sailing, or kitesurfing.

Below, we have compiled a list of our latest articles on these topics to help beginners get started. Even if you’re a veteran, we’ve got some useful or interesting articles for you peruse as well.

Our Latest Articles

Cressi Leonardo vs. Mares Puck Pro

Both Mares and Cressi are well-respected, trusted brands known for manufacturing reliable and safe diving equipment. Cressi are generally known ...
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Best Dive Computers Under $500 Review

The best dive computers under $500 are perfect if you are just a beginner or a recreational diver. At this ...
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Best Dive Computers for Beginners Review

With so many brands on the market across a wide spectrum of price ranges, it can be daunting to find ...
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How Blood Shift Helps the Body Endure Pressure While Freediving

Blood shift is a natural reflex that the human body automatically performs when it is exposed to intense underwater pressure ...
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How to Do Hands-Free Equalization (BTV/VTO)

The hands-free equalization technique, also known as BTV (béance tubaire volontaire) or VTO (voluntary tubal opening) in English, is a ...
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Freediving Equalization Techniques You Must Know

Many beginner freedivers find great success in their early dives only to be suddenly limited by the increasingly painful pressure ...
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How to Deal with Diaphragm Contractions While Freediving

When holding your breath, at some point you will feel the urge to breathe. This signal can appear in various ...
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Freediving Fins vs. SCUBA Fins: Which Should You Get?

Whether you’re freediving, SCUBA diving, or snorkeling, one piece of equipment you’ll need for each activity is your fins. With ...
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Lung Packing For Freediving: Are the Risks Worth It?

Lung packing is a technique that some freedivers use to inhale more air than their lungs can normally hold. The ...
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How to Freedive Without Ears Hurting

When you’re freediving, you may feel your ears hurting as it expands and cracks under the water pressure until the ...
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The Alarming Number of Freediving Deaths: Causes and Prevention

Imagine an environment that is so deadly to humans that being in it for a few minutes can kill you ...
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How to Increase Breath Hold for Freediving

Every freediver strives to improve their breath-hold time, and doing so requires diligent training as well as an understanding of ...
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Beginner’s Guide to Constant Weight Freediving (CWT)

Freediving is a fun activity to do recreationally, but one can also freedive competitively to reach new depths with just ...
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how to make your own diy freediving neck weight

Freediving Neck Weight Benefits & How to Make Your Own

A freediving neck weight is an invaluable piece of equipment for freedivers who want to practice constant weight, dynamic, or ...
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how to correctly weight yourself for freediving and spearfishing

How to Easily Weight Yourself for Freediving

The purpose of weighting yourself for freediving is to make it easier to descend to depth by counteracting against the ...
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Best Freediving Weight Belt Buying Guide

Getting the best freediving weight belt is not as easy as it seems. Unfortunately, there is a trap that beginners ...
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Why Are Freediving Fins So Long?

Sports such as swimming, snorkeling, and scuba diving all benefit from using fins. However, when you look at the average ...
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Why You Need a Freediving Buoy and Line

All freedivers should use a freediving buoy and line in order to protect not only themselves, but other freedivers as ...
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Best Freediving Snorkels Review

Since there are so many snorkels on the market, it can be hard to narrow down the options on the ...
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Best Freediving Fins for Beginners

You need to have a reliable pair of freediving fins in order to travel farther and faster underwater. There is ...
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Getting Started with Water Sports

Most of our planet is covered in water, and thankfully we’ve figured out how to make the best of it for our benefit and enjoyment. Nowadays, people literally ride the waves and swim with the fishes, and you can do it too!

Some of these water sports require extensive knowledge to do properly and safely, and knowing what equipment you need is important. If you are snorkeling for example, you need to have a mask mask, snorkel, and fins (read our article how does snorkeling work to learn more). Scuba divers need all of that and more, such as a properly-fitted wet suit, oxygen tank, and dive knife.

Without any help, finding the gear you need and learning how to use them can get overwhelming fast. That is why we have compiled a list of our latest articles on these topics to help beginners get started. Even if you’re a veteran, we’ve got some useful or interesting articles for you peruse as well.

Tips to Help You Pass Your Open Water Course

Just imagine how small you are in the vastness of the sea. The thought that, without your gear, there’s no possible way a human being could survive in this harsh environment for very long. And who knows what kinds of sea creatures you might encounter out there? As a beginner, the first time going out for an open water dive is nerve-wracking!

But don’t worry! As long as you are with other divers and a qualified instructor, it should be a fun and educational experience once you get over your nerves. And in a short time, you will be exploring the wonder that is the undersea world. Here are some tips to help you ace your Open Water Course.

Stay Calm

Don’t panic. In fact, do the opposite of that. Unfortunately, staying calm and relaxed is difficult for novice divers, but it’s crucial if you want to safely dive. Just know that almost everybody finds it scary the first time, and instructors expect it, but do your best to follow your training.

Pay Attention

Everything you are taught at an Open Water Course has a purpose, even if it is not immediately obvious. Don’t make the mistake of thinking certain tips are less important than others. Your instructor will generally tell you why something is important, and when you might need to use that knowledge could be during an emergency. So don’t neglect any details and pay attention.

Ask Questions

During an Open Water Course, your instructor will be doing lots of demonstrations and explanations. Perhaps your instructor is going too fast, or your brain is being overloaded with information, or something wasn’t explained very well, but when this happens don’t hesitate to ask for clarification.

This relates to the paying attention tip just above. Not understanding a concept is basically the same as if you missed that bit of information. Perhaps it was a crucial point that could save your life or somebody else’s in the future. So don’t feel bad about asking “dumb” questions. Don’t feel bad, don’t feel shy, and chances are you weren’t the only person with that question anyways.

It’s Not a Competition

Maybe you are a competitive person and like being the best. But when you are out in the open water, it’s a team effort and everyone should help each other out. People learn at different speeds, and if you or somebody else learns the concept first, it’s not a big deal.

When you are taking a scuba diving course for the first time, the goal is not to be the fastest at learning the theories; it is to give you the knowledge to excel on your first real dive. So as long as all the students (potential diving partners) understand the theory at some point, everything is peachy.

Don’t Give Up

Many students take the Open Water Course and think they know exactly what it is like to scuba dive. Yes, the course prepares you for it, but it is still not quite the real thing. For example, normally when diving you wouldn’t remove your regular and mask underwater and performing fin pivots.

The course will instill in you the confidence and skills needed to be a scuba diver. But if you’re unsure if diving is for you, get through the course first and then go for an open water dive for yourself after. That way, you can figure out if you enjoy diving or not once you’re not in an instructional environment.

Have Fun

Remember to stay calm and enjoy the experience. Don’t let the diving course scare you away from diving. Scuba diving is incredibly fun, and people enjoy it for a lot of different reasons. Once you’ve successfully finished the course and swim in the open water for leisure, you will know why diving is so popular.

Water Sports Gear Reviews: