How to Speak Scuba

Learning to dive may be the easy part, but learning to speak like a scuba diver can seem like a challenge with so many abbreviations, acronyms and technical terms. We aim to help you with a crash course in how to speak like a scuba diver!

When you first start to dive it can seem as if scuba divers have their own language and barely speak any English at all! We list out some of the most common terms and abbreviations that will help new and old divers alike to speak scuba like a pro!

A is for Air: To survive in the underwater environment you need to take your own air source with you, often in the form of a tank or cylinder containing compressed air. Usually the air you breath will be the same composition as above the water, 21% oxygen, 78% nitrogen. Just never say oxygen, its a sure fire way to show the other divers around you that you know nothing! You can also say gas as this will also make you sound cool and like a pro as well!

B is for BCD or BC: BCD stands for Buoyancy Control/Compensator Device and is most like to take the form of a wearable jacket or wing that your air cylinder is attached to and is used to inflate your BCD. The BCD is used to keep you afloat at the surface or help you achieve neutral buoyancy below the water.

C is for C-Card: C-Card stands for certification card and is the card you will be awarded by your certifying agency to show you have passed the requirements for various courses (Open Water, Advanced Open Water, Peak Performance Bouyancy etc…) or specialities. Dive shops or centres will often ask to see these as proof of training/competence. Having a C-Crad doesn’t necessarily make you a competent diver as with most things lin life you need to practise and keep your skills current!

D is for Divemaster or DM: A Divemaster or DM is the first step into the world of professional recreational diving, they are individuals trained to lead a dive but are not able to certify someone as a new diver. They will often act as underwater tour guides to help divers get the most from their holiday dives and make sure they don’t get lost….mostly!

E is for Equalise: Probably one of the first and most important skills you’ll learn as a diver. When we descend the pressure outside increases but we need to ensure the pressure inside our middle ears matches it so you don’t burst our eardrums. There are various techniques for equalising, the most common being the “pinch” technique where a divers pinches their nose and blows against it to help increase the pressure in the middle ear.

F is for Fins: Fins are the rubber and plastic appendages that we put onto our feet to help propel us through the water. It is possible to dive without fins, but it doesn’t look pretty and isn’t easy - it is, however, fun for others to watch and laugh at! Also, never say flippers - you sound silly. A flipper is a dolphin from a TV program.

G is for Giant Stride: A giant stride is a technique for entering the water whereby a diver stands fully equipment at the back of a larger boat (or by an edge) and literally takes a giant step forward and falls into the water. On smaller boats you’ll often backroll into the water by sitting on the edge of the boat, facing inwards and fall backwards.

H is for Hand Signal: unless you happen to be wearing a full face mask with built in transmitter then its not really possible to communicate verbally underwater. In place of verbal communication divers have come up with a series of universally understood hand signals to help from determining how much air you have left in your tank to pointed out what wildlife you can see. Often the DM or guide will do a quick review of hand signals before a dive to ensure everyone is using the same signals.

I is for Interval: An interval, most commonly referred to as a surface interval, is the time between dives, usually 45 minutes to 1 hour which allows the level of nitrogen in your body to decrease sufficiently to make it safe for you to dive again.

J is For Jellyfish: Jelly fish can be beautiful to look at with the transparent bodies and long tentacles, but they also sting! If you’re not wearing a full wetsuit you need to be careful to watch out for them and you can find yourself getting out of the water with stings and rashes all over your limbs!

K is for Knot: Either a way of joining two pieces of rope of the nautical measurement of speed which tells you how fast your boat is travelling or how strong a current is.

L is for Logbook: A logbook is the book or app where a diver records all of the dives they have done, location, depth, length and other important information. You’ll often get the DM or your buddy to sign it to prove that you have done it. Dive centres will often ask to see your log or how many logged dives you have as a way of gauging your experience.

M is for Mask: Another essential piece of equipment as it enable us to see when diving, which is normally quite useful! It’s often the first piece of scuba equipment that a diver will buy and is really important that you find one that fits your face properly and is super comfortable. Never ever call your mask a pair of goggles. It just sounds plain dumb!

N is for Nitrox: Nitrox or Enriched Air Nitrox, is a different mix of gas where the oxygen content is higher than that of regular air. The oxygen content can vary but can typically come in 32%, 36% or 40%. It is also PADI’s most popular speciality course as can be completed without having to actually get wet during a dive. Nitrox is great for allowing you to extent your bottom time without hitting decompression limits.

O is for Octopus: An octopus is a really cool, 8 limbed sea creature, it is also another name for your alternate air source used in emergencies. If you or your buddy find yourself in a low air situation then you’ll reach for the other persons spare second stage regulator. It’s often coloured yellow to help make it more visible in an emergency situation.

P is for Partial Pressure: A partial pressure os the amount of pressure a component gas will exert in a mixture of gasses. It’s especially important in scuba diving as it determines the amount of nitrogen a diver will breath in

Q is for Quick Release: On a weight belt there will be a quick release mechanism (right hand release) that will enable to take off you weight belt quickly in an emergency situation.

R is for Regulator: A regulator is the device which allows you to breath air from the cylinder or tank by stepping down the pressure in a safe manner for you to breath. The term regulator can refer to the first stage which is attached directly to the tank or the second stage which is the demand valve you place in your mouth to breath in.

S is for is Safety Sausage: A safety sausage is a slang name for a DSMB or SMB which stands for (delayed) Surface Marker Buoy. It’s a device that a scuba diver will inflate to mark their position at the surface - its especially important in areas with high boat traffic as it helps the boat captains to see where divers arena the water and avoid hitting them or pick them up after a dive.

T is for Thermocline: A thermocline is the layer between two bodies of water at different temperatures - it can be visibly seen as a shimmering haze like effect and you will often notice a change in temperature too.

U is for Unbalanced Regulator: You’ll often hear scuba divers talk about the benefits of balanced regulators vs unbalanced regulators - an unbalanced regulator will be more difficult to breath from at depths and you have to work a bit harder, a balanced regulator will make ti easier to breath.

V is for Vis or Visibility: Vis is exactly what you think it is - its the distance you can see in the water. Good visibility can rally make a dive memorable as you can see for a long distance and also see more life. Here in Southeast Asia we are often blessed with great visibility of 20m+ on occasions.

W is for Wetsuit: A wetsuit is a neoprene garment that divers and waterspouts enthusiasts where to keep them warm, you often hear people talk about 3mm/5mm/7mm wetsuits which relates to the thickness of the material and how warm it will be. However, be aware that due to the way neoprene is made the thicker the wetsuit, the more air is inside and thus increases your buoyancy meaning you’ll need extra weights to achieve neutral buoyancy. Also, wetsuits are the subject of a long running debate about whether or not you should pee in your wetsuit……. I’ll leave it up to you to decide on the answer.

X is for….??: Honestly - I’m struggling here, if anyone can think of a scuba diving term beginning with X please mention it below in the comments section as I can’t think of anything at all!

Y is for Yoke: A yoke is a style of adaptor or clamp for fixing your first stage regulator to the air tank or cylinder. There are two main style of regulator fitting, a yoke clamp or a DIN style. DIN fittings have a screw thread and are favoured by tech divers as they can handle higher pressures but other than that there isn’t a huge difference between them. Most recreation diving in Southeast Asia is done with a yoke clamp.

Z is for Zip Tie: A self locking plastic tie that can be used to fastened things together to stop them falling off your BCD D-rings.

So, there you have it, our quick guide to be able to talk like a professional scuba diver. There are loads more terms we could have included but hopefully you enjoyed this light hearted look at some of the most common terms and abbreviations used in the diving world!