Scuba Skill: Neutral Buoyancy

Neutral Buoyancy

Neutral buoyancy is often considered the ‘holy grail’ of scuba diving skills. It is the ability to hover effortlessly in the water without sinking to the bottom or floating to the surface. Not only does mastering neutral buoyancy make your dives smoother and more enjoyable, but it also helps protect the underwater environment, conserve your energy, and improve your air consumption.

Let’s dive into what it takes to achieve this essential skill and how to fine-tune it underwater.

Check Weight Setup

Achieving neutral buoyancy starts before you even enter the water. Begin by checking your weight setup—wearing too much weight makes it harder to stay neutrally buoyant, while too little will keep you floating upward. Perform a buoyancy check at the surface: with an empty BCD and a normal breath, you should float at eye level.

Once underwater, use your lungs and breath control as your main adjustment tool. Small, slow breaths help you rise and fall gently. Use your BCD only for major adjustments during descent or ascent—not for constant tweaking.

Practice hovering in the water column with minimal movement. It takes time, but the more you practice, the more natural it becomes.

Neutral-Buoyancy

Streamline Your Gear

Loose or bulky equipment can throw off your balance and increase drag, making it harder to stay neutrally buoyant. Keep hoses tucked in, clip accessories close to your body, and avoid unnecessary gear that adds drag.

A streamlined setup not only helps with buoyancy but also reduces the chance of damaging coral or disturbing marine life when you pass by close structures like walls or wrecks.

Trimming

Trimming refers to how your body is positioned in the water. Ideally, you should be horizontal and flat, like you are lying on a table. This posture helps you move efficiently with less effort and gives you better control.

Uneven trim—like having your feet lower than your head—can cause you to struggle with staying level or result in upward/downward movement while finning. Adjust your weight distribution, tank position, or gear setup to find your ideal trim.

Practice Hovering

Find a calm spot on your dive and try hovering a few feet off the bottom without moving your fins or arms. Use breath control to stay in place. This drill builds confidence and control over your position in the water.

Try hovering in different positions: upright, horizontal, or even upside down to gain better awareness of your buoyancy and body position.

Practice-Hovering

Fine-Tune on Every Dive

Neutral buoyancy is not a one-time skill—it requires ongoing adjustment depending on your depth, exposure suit, tank weight, and dive conditions. You will need to re-tune throughout your dive, especially as your tank gets lighter and you become more positively buoyant.

Be mindful of small changes and keep practising. The more dives you do, the more your body will instinctively adjust to stay balanced.

PADI Peak Performance Buoyancy Specialty

Neutral buoyancy is what separates good divers from great ones. It takes patience, awareness, and regular practice—but the rewards are worth it. From effortless gliding through coral gardens to longer bottom times and better air use, mastering this skill opens up a whole new level of diving enjoyment.

If you want structured training, consider taking a Peak Performance Buoyancy speciality course. The course provide focused practice, professional guidance, and feedback to help you improve quickly and confidently.

AquaMarine Diving – Bali’s PADI Peak Performance Buoyancy Specialty (PPB) is the ideal course for divers wishing to perfect their skills in balance, movement and breathing underwater.

Buoyancy-Speciality-Course

PADI Peak Performance Buoyancy Specialty Course

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Drift Diving in Bali

Drift Diving in Bali

Drift diving is an exciting way to explore Bali’s underwater landscapes, letting you glide effortlessly with the currents while soaking up the vibrant marine life. This type of diving is popular at spots around Bali such as Nusa Penida and Nusa Lembongan, where strong currents create a thrilling experience.

One of the best things about drift diving is that it lets you cover more ground with less effort. The current does most of the work, so you can relax and enjoy the scenery. However, knowing some techniques and tips is important to ensure safety and make the most of your dive.

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Drift Diving in Bali: Techniques and Tips

Get Proper Training: Before diving into drift diving, it is essential to have the right training and experience. An Advanced Open Water certification or a Drift Diving Speciality course is a smart choice, as they will teach you how to handle currents safely.

Plan the Dive: Always dive with a knowledgeable guide who knows the local currents and conditions. A thorough briefing should cover entry and exit points, expected current strength and direction, and any potential hazards.

Entry and Exit: You usually enter the water from a boat, so it is important to go in together as a group to avoid getting separated. Exiting can be tricky in strong currents, so be ready to signal for the boat and use surface marker buoys (SMBs) to let them know where you are.

Control Your Buoyancy: Good buoyancy control is crucial in drift diving. Stay streamlined and keep your movements smooth to enjoy the ride.

Stay Aware: Drift diving lets you cover more ground, but it also requires being alert. Keep an eye out for changes in the current, obstacles, and marine life, and be ready to adjust your position as needed.

PADI-Drift-Diver-Speciality-Course

PADI Drift Diver Speciality Course

There is nothing quite like a fast drift dive to get your adrenalin going, but drift diving will become even more enjoyable with the greater knowledge gained through the PADI Drift Diver Speciality course. In the course you will learn about drift dive planning, organisation, diving techniques and potential hazards. You will also learn about buoyancy control in a current and special equipment such as delayed surface marker buoys.

The PADI Drift Diver Speciality also provides an overview of currents – causes and effects. Learn techniques for staying close to a buddy or together as a group as you float with the current.

PADI Drift Diver Speciality Course

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Bali Underwater Photography

Bali Underwater Photography

Bali is located at the very heart of the world’s richest marine biogeographic zone: The Indo-Pacific. The island receives very plankton-rich waters and so contains a stunningly diverse underwater ecosystem. Bali’s diving is a delight for underwater photographers and videographers.

Bali is renowned not only for its variety of dive locations but also for the extra-ordinary density and diversity of marine life, with many sites for macro or wide-angle photography.

Bali-Underwater-Photography

Dive Sites for Underwater Photography

We are fortunate to have amazing muck-sites in Bali. Muck diving sites are shallow, muddy and bursting with critters. In particular, Secret Bay and Puri Jati are favourites for underwater photography – you can read more detailed descriptions on the Bali Muck Diving Sites page.

Other popular muck diving sites include:
Tulamben River Bed
Tulamben Tianyar
Seraya Slope
Amed Ghost Bay
Padangbai’s Jepun and Turtle Neck

AquaMarine also has quite a number of unpublicised muck sites which we would be happy to include in any Underwater Photography or Videography Dive Safari.

We have Safari Dive Packages designed specifically with photographers in mind. The packages are Macro Photographers’ Dream and Write Your Own Safari.

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Learn Underwater Photography in Bali

Are you just beginning to explore the world of underwater photography? Do you want to improve your skills?

You might decide to do the PADI Digital Underwater Photographer Speciality course. This underwater photography course can be done either as part of your Dive Safari or on a Day Dive Trip.

PADI Digital Underwater Photographer Speciality Course

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