You’ve been looking forward to your scuba diving vacation for months. Now it’s finally here, but on your very first dive, a (fill in the blank) problem has caused you to end it. You’re miserable, sitting on the boat while everyone else is in the water having a blast. How can you prevent these common issues — ear clearing, seasickness, leg cramps or being cold underwater — from ruining your vacation in paradise?

Don’t let these common issues keep you from diving! Read about:
Preventing Seasickness | Dealing with Leg Cramps | Best Ear-Clearing Tips

Best Tips for Staying Warm Underwater

Do you call dives because you’re cold and all you can think about is getting back on the boat and into dry clothes? Don’t let cooler water temps keep you from staying toasty-warm underwater.

Why It Happens: You lose heat rapidly even in water as warm as 80 degrees Fahrenheit because your body can’t generate enough heat to keep pace with how much is being dumped into the ocean or water around you. When your body gets cold, your body constricts blood vessels in your arms and legs and near your skin to conserve heat, but it doesn’t constrict those in your head — and your noggin accounts for 20 to 40 percent of your heat loss while you’re diving. “Being cold is the scourge of novice divers and instructors alike,” says Kell Levendorf, director of training and development at Divers Direct in Key Largo, Florida. “We lose our body heat 20 times faster in water than in air.”

And it can be dangerous. “Uncontrollable shivering means the first stages of hypothermia are setting in,” warns PADI technical development executive Karl Shreeves. “Ideally, be out of the water before that happens, but in any case, make getting out and getting warm a priority.”

How to Deal:

1. Exposure protection is key. “Size does matter,” says Levendorf. “An improperly fitting wetsuit will allow water movement to leech away heat faster than you can say ‘ice diver.’ Make sure that the thickness is appropriate for the conditions too — a dive skin is no good in subtropical water in, say, February.” (Is your wetsuit thick enough? Check our temperature guide.)

2. Layering can help your body hang onto precious heat. Wear a hood and add a vest or shorty to help keep your core region warm.

Pro Tip: “It’s important to stay warm on your surface interval as well as underwater,” says Jo Mikutowicz, managing partner of Divetech on Grand Cayman. Get out of your wetsuit and into dry clothes, even during short surface intervals. “Stay out of the wind,” advises Parkinson. “Don’t sit around letting your core temperature drop. This happens faster then you might think.”

If you are very cold underwater, it's time to consider diving in a drysuit. The experts at Divers Alert Network break down what you need to know about drysuit diving.

We've got lots more practical advice and tips related to dive safety, health and training on the Training section of our website.