Buoyancy is very important to divers. If you have too much, you can’t go down, and if you have too much, you go down too fast. Inexperienced divers may assume that you need a lot of weight to descend. This is far from the truth. There is positive, negative and neutral buoyancy. Positive means that you are lighter than the water around you and you will rise. Negative means that you are heavier than the water around you. Neutral means that you weigh similar to the water around you.

If you have too much positive buoyancy, not only will you not be able to dive as deep or well as you want, you will rise from a dive too fast. This can cause a condition called the bends, which can be deadly. Having too much negative buoyancy will cause you to go to the bottom rapidly, but you also have to work harder to move. Another bad thing about having too much weight is that you will use up your oxygen tank quicker and have to ascend more often.

It is best to dive a lot to get the feel for how much weight you need to make a good dive. This will give you the experience you need to learn how to adjust your weight accordingly. You want to try for neutral buoyancy. This will help keep you just above what you are looking at. For instance, if you are diving at a reef and you are too heavy, you will more than likely damage the reef. If you are in a neutral buoyant state, you can swim over the reef without touching it.