10 Simple Tips to Conserve Air and Dive Longer

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There are very few more frustrating occurrences in scuba diving as having to abort the dive due to lack of air, while everybody else is still having fun down there. Being able to save air as you dive is one of the most important steps to become a good diver. Here are some tips that can help us improve our diving skills:

1. Proper Weighting
Carrying extra weight makes a huge difference on air consumption- you have to inflate your BCD more thus increase drag, and your body's lower part tends to sink down, while upper part rise up- which increases drag furthermore.
First, estimate the weights you need taking under account your body weight, the equipment you use, and the salinity of the water. Simple buoyancy check before diving with a new gear, at a new area, or after along time without diving should do the trick.
2. Buoyancy
Try to achieve and maintain neutral buoyancy as soon as you reach your desired depth. Simple trick is to try hover – breath normally, add minimal amount of air to the BCD, inhale fully to elevate yourself off the bottom. If you failed to ascend, inflate your BCD again and repeat the steps. Once elevated, return to normal breathing pattern.
3. Move Slowly
There's hardly ever a need to dive fast- you use up energy and air a lot quicker, and probably scare marine creatures as you do so.
4. Avoid Using Your Arms
Arm muscles are weaker than those in our legs, plus, arms and hands don’t propel us as much as our legs and fins do. Use your hands for signaling, snapping photos rather than swimming.
5. Streamline
Keep all hoses secured, arms tucked, and try to swim as horizontal as possible, thus minimize drag, keep yourself and the equipment off the bottom and avoid damaging the marine environment.
6. Breathing
Don’t skip a breath. Breathe at the same tempo, long inhalations and exhalations.
It's recommended to inhale and exhale as if whistling or sucking air. You can also pick a nice tune to help you breath at the same rhythm.
7. Use Familiar Equipment
To be more relaxed and feel in control, buy your own equipment. You'll also need to make very few changes on estimating weights as mentioned in paragraph 1.
8. Relax
Easy to say, but some newbie diver have a natural fear when diving. The more you dive the more confidence you gain, and the more you realize there's nothing to it. The more relaxed you are, the less air you use.
9. Practice
It all comes down to it. The more you dive the better you get. Consider participating in a Pick Performance Buoyancy Course that fine tunes you buoyancy skills. Take a few minutes at the beginning of the dive to practice you buoyancy in the shallows, preferably over a sand patch where buoyancy problems wont damage the reef.
10. Dive Shallow
If you still use up air a lot quicker than your buddies, dive slightly shallower, where the air you breathe is less dense and allows you to dive longer.

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