Top 6 New Year’s Resolutions for Scuba Divers
January 22, 2024
The new year is upon us, making it a great time to think about what you want to achieve this year as a scuba diver. There is always more to learn and improve on, whether it is learning new specialties, becoming more eco-conscious to protect the oceans, or practicing and perfecting the skills you already have.
So, we have made a list of 6 New Year’s resolutions for scuba divers to take up in 2024:
Start 2024 right with these New Year’s resolutions:
1. Work on your buoyancy
Buoyancy is arguably the most important skill to master when it comes to scuba diving. Good buoyancy control helps to protect marine habitats against kicking and sculling. It also protects your body from getting hit, cut, or stung, and allows you to conserve air and move in the most efficient way underwater.
Good buoyancy control is something that comes with time and practice. Making it one of your New Year’s resolutions to work on over the next 12 months is an investment that will make your dives safer and more enjoyable.
The best thing? You can practice anywhere! Book some guided dives with your local dive center and ask your instructor for some tips to improve on with each dive. Ask someone to film you, so you can see what you are doing well, what needs more work, and how much you are improving. Use your safety stop time to practice hovering neutrally buoyant.
To improve quickly, you could sign up for a Perfect Buoyancy Specialty program, where you will learn in-depth knowledge and skills to improve your buoyancy.
2. Be as eco-conscious as possible
As people who spend a lot of time in the ocean, we see the damage that is being done firsthand. Things like plastic pollution and global warming are leading to bleached corals, reduced fish populations, and polluted reefs that cannot support marine life.
But with more people becoming interested in diving in recent years, there are more of us willing to help! This year, strive to become as eco-conscious as you can to help protect our beautiful oceans.
Here are some top eco-conscious New Year’s resolutions to inspire you:
- Minimize your use of single-use plastics.
- Use reef-safe sunscreen, such as Stream2Sea and MooGoo.
- Eat less fish and make sure you only eat MSC Blue Tick and other sustainably-caught seafood.
- Organize beach clean-ups.
- Recycle more.
- Share your eco-conscious resolutions with your friends and on social.
3. Learn more about marine life
Knowing what you are looking at while underwater really enhances your scuba diving experience. Searching for rare and unique marine life and knowing fun facts about the marine life you see is very rewarding! It is a great conversation starter on the dive boat too! Why not buy a marine life book to get you started? Or watch a documentary to learn all about your favorite species.
Love learning about marine life and the oceans? Then become an Ecology Specialty Diver!
4. Tick a bucket list destination off your list
Do you have the funds to book a once-in-a-lifetime dive trip this year? Sometimes we get stuck in the "one day I will do this" mentality, but why not do it this year?
Think of a place you would love to dive and check out dive trips or dive centers in the area to book some diving. Maybe even a liveaboard! You will make some incredible memories, meet new dive buddies, and see a beautiful part of the world. Check out the SSI Dive Site Locator to get inspired.
5. Take a new specialty or program
Treat yourself to a brand new scuba skill this year. With so many new areas of scuba to dive into (pun intended), the sky is the limit (or the ocean floor is the limit to be more accurate).
Are you an Open Water Diver? How about becoming an Advanced Diver? Or if you are interested in wrecks, you could choose the Wreck Diving specialty. If you love marine mammals, check out the SSI Marine Mammal Ecology program. You will get to learn all about whales, dolphins and more.
There are so many programs to choose from. Check out SSI Advanced Diver courses to find the perfect one for you.
6. Take incredible underwater photos
For some creative New Year’s resolutions, you could work on your Instagram page this year or make a photo album that holds all of your best underwater memories. Underwater photos help us to look back on our dive highlights and inspire others to try scuba diving.
If you dive frequently, why not invest in an underwater camera and work on your photography skills? SSI’s underwater photography course can give you a head start and teach you how to take incredible shots while also maintaining good diving practices.
It is important to be able to hover and maintain neutral buoyancy when taking photos underwater, so make sure you are ready before adding a camera to the mix.
Which New Year’s resolutions will you try this year?
Get inspired by what other divers are doing: Join our Underwater Explorers Worldwide Facebook group.