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A
re you dependent upon your
GPS, or do you rely on your
innate sense of direction?
Whichever method you use, you
can count on the fact that neither is a reliable
way to navigate the underwater environment.
Whether you are searching for that
snapper hole on the reef or attempting to
find the anchor line at the end of a dive,
swimming in the right direction can be
critically important for every diver at some
point in his or her diving career. Additionally,
good navigation skills have the potential to
make virtually any dive more informative
and enjoyable. Underwater navigation seems
to come easy for some divers and is harder
for others. But any diver can master the
art of underwater navigation by applying a
small amount of background knowledge and
obtaining some experience.
Types of NavigaTioN
There are three types of navigation:
natural, instrument and practical. Natural
navigation is what most divers try to
practice on every dive by using underwater
landmarks, geological features and other
man-made or naturally occurring references
on the bottom. Instrument, or compass,
navigation entails following your compass
closely throughout the course of your dive.
Instrument navigation can make a dive
tedious if the whole dive is spent focused on
the compass. Practical navigation is a hybrid,
combining attributes of the other two types
into something more useful than either one
by itself. Using practical navigation, divers
will take directional and distance cues from
the terrain surrounding them and couple
that with spot checks of the compass to
formulate a complete mental picture of the
site they are diving.
Underwater Navigation
T E X T B Y M I K E A N G E / P H O T O S B Y S T E P H E N F R I N K
38
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WINTER 2012
RESEARCH, EDUCATION & MEDICINE
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A D V A N C E D D I V I N G
Quickly recognizable underwater features
make great navigational aids.
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