How To Clear Mask When Scuba Diving

How to clear a mask when scuba diving is for many new scuba divers the hardest diving skill to complete in their diving course. However, in many cases people overthink it and with some practice and a good diving instructor this skill is not so hard to master.

First of all I recommend you to not overthink the how to clear a scuba mask skill. In the end you breath into your mouth and out of your nose to clear it. But as soon as you start to overthink it, you start to worry. This leads to loss of confidence and when we loose confidence we have a tendency to shake, not think clearly and sometimes do the opposite of what we want to do. In this case we see new diving students breath into their nose instead of their mouth. If this happens you get water in your throat and that leads to panic.

Clearing a Partially Flooded Mask

So we learn that confidence is key in completing the mask clearing skill while scuba diving. In the PADI Open Water Diver Course you will be practicing how to clear your scuba mask many times to ensure mastery before getting your diving certification.

In the PADI Open Water course you will practice the mask skills first in confined shallow water. This makes it easy for you to stand up if somethings go wrong and it makes people relax knowing they can stand up if needed. In confined water you will practice in order: Partially Flooded Mask, Fully Flooded Mask, Mask Removal and Replacement, Mask Removal and Replacement breathing for 1 minute and No Mask Swim. Then on the open water dives you will repeat: Partially Flooded Mask, Fully Flooded Mask and Mask Removal and Replacement. All these mask skills need to be completed in a comfortable, fluid and most importantly repeatable manner to ensure completion of the course and achieving your PADI Certification.

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Here are some easy tips and trick on How To Clear Mask When Scuba Diving

1. Remain calm and think that it will feel the same as putting your face under the shower
2. Believe that this skill is easy, and it is in a way. Into your mouth and out of your nose
3. Put water in the scuba mask from the bottom and not the top of the scuba mask
4. Put water just under eye level
5. Try NOT to look down, like many scuba dive instructors teach, just look forward
6. Important: Just tilt your head SLIGHTLY up,
7. Take a relaxed and MOST important slow breath into your mouth
8. Exhale through your nose, while again just slightly looking up
9. If there is still some water in the scuba mask, then relax and repeat breathing out of your nose until the mask is clear.

This is How To Clear a Mask When Scuba Diving in an Easy Way.

If you are a Diving Instructor then check out this article with great tips on how to teach the scuba clearing skills

Improve your mask clearing skills by owning your own scuba mask

Owning your own scuba mask is great as it will fit you much better than most rental masks. It is very easy to travel with a scuba mask, much more hygienic and the latex will seal much better on your face. This prevents the mask from leaking and good latex will also make it much easier to clear it from water. Have a look at these 3 masks I recommend you get: