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 Who's Chris Coates?

A.K.A. Coates Man
30 yrs old had his first spearfishing experience blatting stone bream at about 16 yrs old, and has dived passionately for the last 9 years.

Blowing Bubbles by Chris Coates

My progress as a diver has been a slow one with very little input from more experienced divers, even more so in the early years. And some of the techniques that have now become a way of life, where stumbled apon accidentally.

One of these 'gems' was stopping the cloud of bubbles that followed me up each time I swam to the surface. These bubbles became a serious problem, my diving was improving and my techniques like keeping quiet and unobtrusive in the environment were coming along nicely. But every time I surfaced gas would leak from my mask and create a mushroom cloud of bubbles. So there went any element of surprise.

How I combated this problem is actually very easy and simple.......I wish some one had told me a few years earlier! What I do is when I am still at the bottom and about to start my ascent, I start to suck back the air in my mask through my nose. I will continue to do this all the way back to the surface. You don't realize how much air you let out into your mask to stop the pressure as you descend. Sometimes it actually feels like those few little snorts of air have given me an oxygen boost on the way up.

If you experience any difficulty these pointers might help:
-A snotty nose or snot in your mask will make it very difficult to breath back through your nose. I have an on going Sinus problem and often have to deal with 'snot', what I do is before I dive down I will often lift my mask and blow my nose clear. It sounds tedious but a clear nose makes diving a whole lot mire comfortable.
-Sometimes water will get in your mask, even the best fitting ones. I have been on the bottom and realized that there is too much water in my mask for me to suck the air back.....thats unless I want to drink salt water through my nose first. What I find that works is to tilt my head to the side or even face upwards, so that the water drains from the nose piece and becomes clear.
- I have also found that on occasion I have to 'help' suck the air back by applying pressure to the mask. This helps push the air up your nose as you breath in.

I never thought this would help others until I shared it with a few friends that I saw bubbling to the surface. The feed back was very good so next time you are diving be more conscious of those fish chassing bubbles.

Cheers,
Chris