page_title: Scuba skills
section_title: Entries and exits
hierarchical_section_title: Scuba skills / Basic open circuit scuba equipment skills / Entries and exits
caption_attribution_description: English: PORT ROYAL, Jamaica (July 27, 2011) Arnulfo Lopez, a diver assigned to the Guatemala navy, conducts a front step entry prior to search operations with Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit (MDSU) 2. MDSU-2 is participating in Navy Diver-Southern Partnership Station, a multi-national partnership engagement intended to increase interoperability and partner nation capability through diving operations. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Gregory N. Juday/Released)
context_page_description: Scuba skills are the skills required to dive safely using self-contained underwater breathing apparatus. Most of these skills are relevant to both open circuit and rebreather scuba, and many are also relevant to surface-supplied diving. Those skills which are critical to the safety of the diver may require more practice than is usually provided during training to achieve reliable long-term proficiency
  Some of the skills are generally accepted by recreational diver certification agencies as necessary for any scuba diver to be considered competent to dive without direct supervision, and others are more advanced, though some diver certification and accreditation organizations may consider some of these to also be essential for minimum acceptable entry level competence. Divers are instructed and assessed on these skills during basic and advanced training, and are expected to remain competent at their level of certification, either by practice or refresher courses.
context_section_description: Getting into and out of the water with scuba gear in a moderate range of circumstances appropriate to the certification is considered a necessary skill set for both recreational and professional divers. Divers with disabilities or otherwise physically unable to make a safe entry or exit are expected to recognize the conditions for which they need help, and to arrange for assistance, or to refrain from diving in those conditions.
  The default condition for water entry is with positive buoyancy, but there are situations where a negatively buoyant entry is an advantage, for example when a current is running at the surface. This skill is not listed as an entry level skill as it is generally considered a higher risk procedure, and requires greater care and more precise control of weighting and pre-dive deflation of buoyancy compensator and dry-suit, confidence in the ability to equalise the ears during rapid descent and the ability to control descent rate and achieve neutral buoyancy without delay if needed. An acceptably safe negative entry requires adequate pre-dive checks on regulator and BC inflation function, and reasonably accurate balance of BC and/or suit inflation to ballast weight excess. This becomes more complex when large amounts of breathing gas are carried, as the weighting must allow neutral buoyancy at the shallowest decompression stop when the gas is expended, and the diver is therefore relatively overweighted at the start of the dive.
  Common conditions where entries and exits may be made include:
  From the poolside
  From a small boat
  From a large boat
  From a beach or rocky shoreline
  From a jetty or dockside
  Into/out of deep water
  Into/out of shallow water
  Through a surf line
  Standard entry procedures which are generally taught to entry level divers may include:
  Stride entry: This is the standard method of entry from a standing position at a moderately low height above reasonably deep water. The diver simply steps forward and remains upright during the short drop to the water. The fins strike the water first and reduce in-pact. Depth of immersion can be limited by performing a scissor-kick stroke immediately after striking the water, and if there is an unexpected obstacle or the water is shallower than expected, the feet will hit  first. The regulator and mask are vulnerable to water impact in this entry technique, and it is generally recommended to hold them in place with one hand. If the buoyancy compensator is inflated, the buoyancy and drag will limit the depth of penetration. The diver may need to quickly clear the area below the gate so that other divers can take their turn when there is a large group, or a current running.
  Seated entry: Sometimes also known as a controlled seated entry or silent entry. This technique is suitable from a platform where the diver can sit facing the water with the legs hanging into the water, like the side of a swimming pool, a floating jetty, or a swim platform on a large boat. It requires sufficient upper body strength to support the divers weight on the arms while rotating to face the platform, then lowering oneself into the water in a controlled manner. The diver sits at the waterside in full equipment with feet over the side in the water, places both hands palm down both on the deck on the same side of the body, and takes their weight on straight arms as they swing their body to face the platform before lowering themself into the water.
  Backward roll: The backward roll entry is used from small boats where the diver completes the preparations to dive while seated on the side of the boat with their feet on the deck and the water behind them, and is particularly suited to inflatable boats and other small, open vessels with a gunwale freeboard of  about half a metre. Falling backwards into the water from this position is relatively safe and easy, and can be done simultaneously by all the divers seated along the gunwale. The backward roll is suitable when the distance to the water is short, it is safe and comfortable to sit on the side deck, tube or gunwale and the diver wil
caption: Stride entry or front step entry from a low dockside
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