Scuba Skills

Nitrox has been a part of recreational diving for more than two decades. Nowadays, every major scuba certification agency has a Nitrox training program, and many dive resorts offer mixes in a range of concentrations. However, there are still quite a few misconceptions surrounding Nitrox diving. So, let us take a closer look at what is Nitrox, why some scuba divers choose to use it over regular air and what kinds of risks you should be aware of while diving with Nitrox.

Many non-divers mistakenly think that scuba cylinders are filled with pure oxygen. In reality, most divers use natural air (filtered and dehumidified) to breathe underwater. There are also a few other gas mixtures and gasses than can be used for scuba. So, let’s take a look at what those are and why one might need to use them.

“Breathe normally and never hold your breath" - this is probably one of the simplest and, at the same time, most perplexing rules for beginner scuba divers. Many novices discover that as soon as they are instructed to breathe normally, for some reason it becomes increasingly difficult, especially when it comes to breathing underwater. So why does this happen and what does it really mean to breathe normally during a scuba dive? Let's try to answer these questions.

Don’t we all want our dives to last as long as possible? Well, the key to achieving this is understanding and improving various factors that determine the duration of each particular dive. While there are many aspects to consider, today we are going to talk about one of the most crucial influences - your air consumption rate.