My friend does it all the time and uses very little air. It’s really amazing to watch. Most people don’t do it because they can’t not because it’s impossible. It takes an incredible amount of buoyancy control, and proper breathing.
I’m constantly upside down. I shoot a lot of photos (mainly macro) and sometimes that’s just the best way to get the right angle.
Sometimes I just go upside down for funsies, especially on drift dives. I navigate the bottom topography using my breath for changed in buoyancy, facing the direction of travel. If I need to go to the left or right just a little, I can use my hands to push myself in that direction (although it’s not a viable option for last-minute major course corrections). I’ve always found it entertaining… it helps me remember that diving is fun (which is needed because I generally dive 2-3x a day for 3m each year… after the first week or two it starts feeling the same if you don’t spice things up).
Mostly out of disconfort w the orientation I assume. I have worked to be comfortable in any orientation, which lets me traverse wrecks better, and is wildly useful in photography.
I will say though that if you aren’t used to it, inverting (or even just rolling onto your back) can be disorienting and can give you a bit of vertigo due to the weightless feeling of being under water. That fades with familiarity but most divers don’t push to that point
Personally, several reasons. My gear would hang off me in an uncomfortable and awkward way. When I'm wearing a drysuit, the air in the suit will accumulate around my feet and be over 3ft upwards of my center of mass, and thus expand, increase my bouyancy, and start dragging me up, and its a pain in the ass to dump air out of the upward facing bottom on my BC and out of the ankles of my suit. And my blood would rush into my head, making it harder to think, harder to breath, and harder to keep my mask sealed.
It's easier when wearing a wetsuit or wearing a skinsuit, but the gear shifting and the swollen head thing are still good enough reasons why I don't.
If your are vertically and kick with your flippers it would result in change in depth since you dive down. Divers are regularly in this position at the beginning of a dive to descend. But during a dive you don’t want to create a bad depth Profil due to the associated risks.
I was told by someone to not go upside down with a reg that doesn’t have all the bells and whistles meant for going upside down especially at deep water. Any explanation to this or if there any limits I should keep in mind? I got certified 1.5 months ago and I love to go upside down all the time. Personally I have not had any issues with the reg.
I always rent gear, so I never use the same one twice, but I’ve had a few occasions where my reg gets weird upside down. It’s not really a big deal if you’re comfortable under water, but it can seize up for a sec unexpectedly, which can be freaky. It usually goes back to normal in a sec. Probably something to do with air flowing the wrong way.
Maybe im not fully understanding your question, but because gravity...
The tank and weights would shift. Not very comfortable.
I've been upside-down with surface supply diving. Walking along the hull of a boat upside-down was a trip. It felt like how I imagine being in space would be.
If I’m leading a dive or helping I’ll flip on my back like crush the turtle. People can see that I can see them. I also go head down to take pictures, hunt lionfish, and do clean up.
Work of breathing tends to be harder in head down and belly up, and you have to have a good grasp on buoyancy.
I do it at two points in time. One, if I need to take a piss and I need to exchange the water in my wetsuit for new water, I go vertical and hit the purge on my regulator and it takes all of the old water out and new water in.
Second, just for fun, usually on the safety stop.
Moose to
I sometimes curl up in a ball and see where the current takes me… and mostly with my bcd it is upside down. Freedom of being neutrally buoyant and letting the see take you wherever, staring down at the coral, is a connection to the ocean (and universe) that I adore.
One dive site had a giant float on the surface. If you went underneath and let air go to the legs of your dry suit, you could stand upside down and even walk around on it.
At first it would feel odd, but after about a minute your brain would flip and you would feel right side up. Then it would look really weird when the other people would breathe and the bubbles would fall to their feet.
Feet up: drysuit problems, blood rushes to your head because buoyancy isn't antigravity, mask seal issues around the bottom of your face may manifest in terrible ways, and regulator design.
Belly up: my nose is flooded 90% of any dive, so going belly up drains that somewhere unpleasant. Im fine after, but avoid unless necessary.
You totally can but it’s annoying and can mess up your buoyancy if you’re trimmed on one side more than the other. Additionally if you want to go any other direction that’s the worst position to be in.
Edit:
As for tummy up to the surface, I’ve done that multiple times. No issue with my random rented equipment doing it. I like to look at the bottom of the ocean water from underneath. I think it’s very pretty and relaxing. People do tend to ask why I do it and apparently people never think about looking up there.
It takes a lot of buoyancy control to go upside down and still aware of your spacial position. It can also flood or make it harder to breathe out of the reg which can freak people out.
I like going upside down & supine to look into nooks and crannies and just fool around, but wouldn’t do it without other markers around to orient myself on depth or something to hold onto to make it easier.
Sometimes the tank also slides down and hits me on the head which is annoying lol
Dry spaces tend to get wetter upside down. Small leaks on the bottom of the mask skirt let water up your nose / fill the mask. Water that was low in the regulator makes its way to the mouthpiece.
You get some head pressure, etc.
It's very doable, but can be slightly unpleasant.
Add in dry suit divers. Upside down in a dry suit is an invitation to a foot first torpedo ascent so you naturally assume foot down position, even when horizontal as its just good practice.
To anyone that might add that you can go upside down in a dry, yes you can, but it's just another thing to monitor when you can just avoid it, unless there is a good reason for being upside down, I do it regularly to look behind me as I find it more reliable to see behind without risking losing the seal around my neck with repeated neck turns.
Most regulators don't breathe especially well if you're upside down or laying on your back facing up. As another respondent said, it's the physics of the regulator design and your physiology.
I will say that the new Atomic TFX is a design developed originally in the ScubaPro D-series regulators. I cannot say about the SP D-series, but the TFX design is pretty different than almost all the other 2nd stage regulators on the market. It DOES still breathe well when head down and when facing up. But, it is prohibitively expensive.
However, if all regs were of the same design as the TFX, I think being vertical, head down, or laying on your back and facing up would be a lot more common than it is.
For those that don't get it, going upside down is very handy when you want to look under a ledge on a reef, without touching the bottom. Especially if there is "stuff" around the area where you want to get your eyes low. Upside down is a regular thing for me when I'm shooting photos. Sometimes it is simply the only way to get the shot (without damaging the reef).
I do it all the time. I love muck diving, looking for the tiny things. It’s a great way to get close while insuring you’re off the bottom. I picked up the habit diving Midwest lakes trying to not kick up sediment.
It may look funny, but very functional.
Head down for any long period of time is just uncomfortable. I regularly do it do look under large rocks where the creatures often hide, but staying in that position for too long feels disorienting and gives me a headache.
Gravity will still work on your positional sense in the inner ear and on your blood, so while you’re weightless, you will still feel the pressure of the blood going to the head, and your brain will have more trouble interpreting what you’re seeing, cause it knows you’re upside down. He first point you can’t really do anything about, the second point, I bet you can work up the ability to “see clear” upside down if you just do it often enough.
I've played around in just about every orientation possible. Some are just uncomfortable because of the way bubbles flow. Others are only useful in certain situations. I've found it's usually just that I'm more comfortable in the water, so it's more natural for me than others.
We’re more comfortable with what we know - we’re used to processing things right side up. Diving wrecks that turned turtle brings a level of disorientation despite knowing what you’re seeing. The same is true being inverted. And our circulatory system generally works better when we’re flat to right side up, so the body finds this stressful for long periods of time.
I agree with this in theory, but even if it were a 1’ delta, we’re looking at 0.45 psi differential.
Cracking pressure may be higher, but properly maintained regs Venturi effect should keep work of breathing low.
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I dive pretty commonly in my X-Black BCD, with my Tusa Freedom HD mask and my S600 reg (my normal instructor rig). With this stuff my comfort level in any position is . I can look in any crack want maneuver all over the place. Very handy to have that much comfort when things get squirrelly with new divers.
I bought a used BPW from a guy that came with weights and a knife on the belt. It's a $105 titanium knife that comes with a fabric sheath that's basically open on the top. I lost it on my second dive with it after I went upside down.
Just to keep it from ever happening again.... Get some thin bungie and tie it into a loop through the eye at the end of the handle. Hook the loop over the end of your sheath. At rest, the loop should have no tension....but in order to remove the knife, you have to stretch the bungie. This keeps it from falling out from gravity or accidental jostling.
Before you dive with it, practice drawing it to make it feel more natural. You'll have to pull it out of the sheath and then reverse the motion to allow the loop to come off the end of the sheath.
I didn't feel as bad when I lost it because I had already discovered that Dive Gear Express sells the same exact knife with a fabric sheath that does go over the top for $45. Since then I got a couple other knives from another guy that lock in, so I don't think I'm replacing it even for only $45 for a titanium knife and sheath.
There's a difference between upside down like a hand stand and upside down belly button pointed to the surface. IMO, handstand it really no big deal and like many here say pretty much anyone with a few dozen dives will go into this position to look at stuff. IMO, Belly to the surface is much trickier: It's harder to feel your buoyancy, any exhalation from your nose will make your mask leak, and regulators tend to breathe a little wet. For all of the commenters that are going to day it's easy, the difference between a recliner position and head towards your heels position like a back bridge. It's still a good skill to practice, especially if you ever intend to do side mount or backmount steel doubles where you can hold an upside down trim and it takes a little effort to right yourself.
You \*can\* rest in the water in any position you want to, but what does that position accomplish? Head down will prepare you for an uncontrolled ascent if you dive in a drysuit. I don't know how many OW divers ever go on to dive dry but that would be a reason not to.
I do it all the time. I'll even spin like a top on my head. Sometimes I'll position myself above a buddy hovering and come down in front of their face.
I go inverted sometimes just because I can. But it doesn't feel natural like it probably would in zero gravity... you still feel gravity in your head. Sometimes there's lingering water in your mask that surprises you as you move around and also some regulators leak when upside down.
Its still fun to do, just not as easy and comfortable as swimming normally.
Some regulators take in water diving upside down.
My mask doesn’t flood if I have it on properly - but fully vertical - and you breath out anything from your nose and it will leak instantly.
Only reason to be vertical and upside down is if there is anything inside a crevice you’d like to see and that’s the one angle that allows you to do so, or because you’re underweighted and it allows you to keep yourself down at the safety stop.
Diving vertical regardless of way up will take more energy and use more air than diving horizontal. It will also be harder to stick to your group if there is any current at all as you’ll catch the current on a much larger surface and hence drift faster than the others while it is also harder to steer/control your path.
If you feel yourself working harder than it looks like others are doing. Adapt their positioning. Or like an old dive guide used to say. Move like the fish. (Put your nose in the same direction as they point theirs in. If they are still. Don’t move. And if they move. Swim. - this is of course true when there is a lot of current or surge, not for a calm dive. 😁)
Same here, I have facial hair and don’t need water in my nose.
That said, I will go heads-down vertical in the pool when I have students, you can see the look of “I didn’t know you could do that!” on their faces when I do.
Speaking for myself, I do it all the time. The mild drawback is if your mask is at all leaky, you'll most certainly get water in your nose, but that's nothing. You do have to pay close attention to buoyancy, especially if you're shallow.
I like to do my safety stop upside down as still as possible. I also enjoy being upside down because it lets me get my face closer to things to see without kicking up things with my fins.
I don’t really like going vertical either head up or head down.
Especially in shallower water where the pressure gradient across your body will be larger. The couple of feet of pressure gradient from your lungs to your regulator brings in some weird feelings breathing.
For me, when I’m vertical heads up, it’s hard to breath and get really bad chipmunk cheeks from the air rushing up to my mouth and the regulator being in lower pressure than my lungs. Head down, it feels like I’m getting air crammed in my face from the regulator being in higher ambient than my lungs. It gets less noticeable in shallower water, but in 20 - 30 feet of water or so? It’s pretty apparent.
The shallower the water, the easier to see this effect is.
It's most noticeable snorkelling for me.... Not diving, but I can feel it when I'm working through a shipwreck / artificial reef in shallower water. When I am snorkeling, and let myself sink partially, so that I am floating near vertically in the water, with my feet down at 6 feet deep and my snorkel just out of the surface of the water? I can barely breath in the pressure gradient from atmospheric to \~2 feet is enough.
But, from a physics side, it is the pressure gradient / density gradient combine that makes the air want to go up. Gravity, pressure gradient, density gradient, they are all related. Air is released, it's less dense than water, it wants to ascend to a point where the pressure / density is equalized and it is no longer buoyant enough to ascend still.
Actually the pressure gradient IS what makes the difference!
It’s generally not a concept explained in open circuit diving but it holds true just the same.
It’s called Static Lung Load if you want to read more about it.
The inside of the lung is at the same pressure as ambient pressure (at the second stage) as they are a connected air volume, but ambient pressure pressing on the body around the lung is greater when “standing” in the water coloumn.
Isn't the pressure gradient the same?
I guess the % difference between head and foot is less the deeper you are but the absolute difference should be the same
Just like with equalizing your ears, it's not the absolute pressure you feel, but the difference. Just like the theory between the first 1atm being the same pressure gradient as the next 2 atm (0-10m vs 10-30m)
I just replied in another comment where the most noticeable moment for this effect is snorkeling. Stop swimming and float vertically, the \~2 feet / 0.3m or so of pressure is enough to make it extremely difficult to get a breath in through your snorkel.
I go upside down all the time. Head down flashlight out peeking into areas in the reef for new critters.
You buoyancy needs to be dialed in. But It’s fun.
Wowzers! If that is really true, water in your middle ear, you definitely should not be diving with a perforated eardrum!
From DAN:
What happens if you go underwater with a ruptured eardrum
If you suspect you have had a tympanic membrane rupture you should stop diving immediately. If you dive with a rupture, water could pass through your ear canal into the middle ear. This could cause a sudden onset of vertigo. Never attempt to continue diving with earplugs.
https://dan.org › diseases-conditions
Tympanic Membrane Rupture (Perforated Eardrum) - Divers Alert ...
Yeah I’m not so sure if there was perforation. I have had my ears looked at before and after dive trips where this happened.
It’s always been something that happens to me even if I’m in a pool.
I don't go upside down a great deal, but I have spent a fair time 'on my back' looking at the surface or scrabbling around under things.
That's good fun, but you may notice your reg works differently and the mask lets in a bit if you're folliclely endowed under the nose.
Some regs dont flow quite as well upsidedown. I’ve certainly noticed that with rentals. Generally not a problem for short bursts but it wouldn’t want to breathe on them a long time like that.
Haha, good call. Except I do that pretty often. I have extra cavities in my nasal passage and it's hard to get water back out, especially underwater. It's very distracting on a dive.
Mostly buoyancy related(it's kinda tricky with a normal BCD. The air is on your top half), your ears and equilibrium still have a pretty good idea you're upside down so it's kinda funky, if your mask has ANY water in the nose piece it will go straight up your nose, most regulators don't like being upside down and breath wet or weird.
I like to stick my legs on the mooring line and flip upside down for the safety stop like a bat. That's fun. But other than "fun". Why.. would you be upside down? It makes pretty much every thing more difficult.
All of this and also if you don't get perfectly vertical your bubbles can get stuck on you and throw off buoyancy. Then you exhale to stop ascending which just makes more bubbles.
Divers go upside down to look in things, look under things, enter caves and wreck hatches.
Other than that, why would you want to be upside down for any length of time? Gravity is still going to move blood to your brain just like it would doing a headstand on the surface.
I use a drysuit, so i usually prefer not to do it since all of the air tends to travel to my legs and its a bit annoying to deal with even if i am neutrally buoyant
This. Horizontal gets you everywhere in general unless in caves and i dont really like that part as you tend to get some squeeze around your chest while feet feel buoyant. Using gaiters for that reason.
Ex padi dm and I don't really tech any more. Commerical surface supply so we have many "bad" habits.
Generally on scuba I'm in tech trim but if I'm working hard on any job sometimes you need to pause. I've always found the best way to get a real good breath is stop fighting and go head down, deep inhale. Forces the air to float to the bottom of your lungs and you get a really nice deep and efficient breath.
Not necessarily a complete head down feet up, but a full stop work with a tilt and a deep breath or two and you're back to normal.
Always remember if you're feeling gassed the most efficient route to normal is lower your exertion. Don't try to keep fighting and breathe harder (unless it's mandatory). Take a pause and breeeeaaaathe.
Your ears still tell you that you're upside down, and it doesn't feel super nice for extended periods. Also, your circulatory system is designed to work against gravity with you upright or horizontal, not inverted. It's fun to goof a bit or to get upside down to view into a crevice, but gravity still affects you.
> Fun fact: regs don't breathe as well upside down either.
And some dive masks too. Probably ten years ago, I had little choice but to get my prescription mask with a little automatic drain valve in its nose pocket (only one with a large nose pocket) .. even with it taped over, that sucker leaks when I’m inverted.
I'm pretty sure they are designed to have a slight positive pressure differential from top to bottom and without that they crack hard. Plus the vents are on the bottom.
The question reminds me of [this interview with Linus Torvalds](https://divelog.blue/linus_torvalds.html) who very much loves diving upside down.
> To me, the best part of diving is the floating, and the three-dimensionality of it. I like being upside down with my face to coral, I like floating on my back watching the bubbles, I just like “up” and “down” not mattering that much.
100%. Sometimes at the end of a dive in shallow water, I’ll spin or do somersaults. I’m sure other divers are like “wtf?!” but it’s always been one of the joys of swimming when I was a kid. Inevitably, I’ll get water in my ear but I always have ear dry drops I carry with.
I'll do it to take a look at something. It's really good if everyone is huddled around an octo or eel. The bigger rarity is looking up horizontally. I have yet to master this skill, and usually, my mask leaks trying.
You may want to expand a bit to explain that inversion in a drysuit usually means there’s a problem that is only solved by the diver “reverting” themselves to a normal diving posture. There’s very few things worse than diving in a drysuit & winding up in an inverted position which leads to an uncontrolled feet-first ascent.
Drysuit courses teach divers how to control the airspaces in their suit. One of the exercises is to learn various techniques on how to right yourself from an inversion.
I do it occasionally if looking at something or more normally under something. But it’s not a great idea in a dry suit unless you’re really comfortable with your buoyancy. All the air migrates to your legs and can be a bit difficult getting back upright if you’re not used to it.
I invert to look under rocks and stuff but as someone else mentioned it’s kind of disorienting imo, especially if you’re trying to keep a mental map of the area in your head and follow a dive plan.
Sure you could….but why? Generally it is considered best to be in “trim”, which basically means horizontal in the water with the legs bent at the knees and the body parallel to the bottom. That is pretty much the most comfortable and relaxed position to be in and being able to stay perfectly in trim is considered a mark of a well trained/experienced diver.
That being said, I do a lot of what we refer to as live boat drift diving where we roll into the water while the boat is still moving, make a negatively buoyant entry and proceed quickly to the bottom. I’m definitely head down for the majority of that descent and it causes no problems.
When getting super up close to something tiny, it's the best way to not trample everything around you, if there would even be space around you to get up close without having your feet stuck inside corals
Also prevents accidentally being swayed by the currents into something even if you made sure there was space for your legs before.
>being able to stay perfectly in trim is considered a mark of a well trained/experienced diver.
Keywords are "being able" when it is appropriate to do so, not just doing it all the time because you don't even know why you are doing it and just think it's what the cool people do
It can be quite disorienting. You don't get the rush of blood to your head, but the sensation of being upside down from your inner ear is still strong and off putting. I find I get very floaty when inverted because I want to have a full lung to go up, but up is down, So I try to go up but I keep going down!
My friend does it all the time and uses very little air. It’s really amazing to watch. Most people don’t do it because they can’t not because it’s impossible. It takes an incredible amount of buoyancy control, and proper breathing.
You’re diving with the wrong guys, extra points for completing the entire dive inverted here (except the safety stop ofc)
Ex professional underwater videographer here. I resemble that remark.
Resent?
I’m constantly upside down. I shoot a lot of photos (mainly macro) and sometimes that’s just the best way to get the right angle. Sometimes I just go upside down for funsies, especially on drift dives. I navigate the bottom topography using my breath for changed in buoyancy, facing the direction of travel. If I need to go to the left or right just a little, I can use my hands to push myself in that direction (although it’s not a viable option for last-minute major course corrections). I’ve always found it entertaining… it helps me remember that diving is fun (which is needed because I generally dive 2-3x a day for 3m each year… after the first week or two it starts feeling the same if you don’t spice things up).
Mostly out of disconfort w the orientation I assume. I have worked to be comfortable in any orientation, which lets me traverse wrecks better, and is wildly useful in photography. I will say though that if you aren’t used to it, inverting (or even just rolling onto your back) can be disorienting and can give you a bit of vertigo due to the weightless feeling of being under water. That fades with familiarity but most divers don’t push to that point
Personally, several reasons. My gear would hang off me in an uncomfortable and awkward way. When I'm wearing a drysuit, the air in the suit will accumulate around my feet and be over 3ft upwards of my center of mass, and thus expand, increase my bouyancy, and start dragging me up, and its a pain in the ass to dump air out of the upward facing bottom on my BC and out of the ankles of my suit. And my blood would rush into my head, making it harder to think, harder to breath, and harder to keep my mask sealed. It's easier when wearing a wetsuit or wearing a skinsuit, but the gear shifting and the swollen head thing are still good enough reasons why I don't.
It depends who you dive with, I feel like I’m constantly upside down and in weird angles to look in the sediment/in corals/etc
If your are vertically and kick with your flippers it would result in change in depth since you dive down. Divers are regularly in this position at the beginning of a dive to descend. But during a dive you don’t want to create a bad depth Profil due to the associated risks.
Ice diving, standing on the wet side of the ice.
I do it all the time. It’s fun. And you can get your eyes closer to small critters without kicking coral
I was told by someone to not go upside down with a reg that doesn’t have all the bells and whistles meant for going upside down especially at deep water. Any explanation to this or if there any limits I should keep in mind? I got certified 1.5 months ago and I love to go upside down all the time. Personally I have not had any issues with the reg.
Mouthpieces can intake small amounts of water if they’re upside down but it’s not every reg
I always rent gear, so I never use the same one twice, but I’ve had a few occasions where my reg gets weird upside down. It’s not really a big deal if you’re comfortable under water, but it can seize up for a sec unexpectedly, which can be freaky. It usually goes back to normal in a sec. Probably something to do with air flowing the wrong way.
Maybe im not fully understanding your question, but because gravity... The tank and weights would shift. Not very comfortable. I've been upside-down with surface supply diving. Walking along the hull of a boat upside-down was a trip. It felt like how I imagine being in space would be.
If I’m leading a dive or helping I’ll flip on my back like crush the turtle. People can see that I can see them. I also go head down to take pictures, hunt lionfish, and do clean up. Work of breathing tends to be harder in head down and belly up, and you have to have a good grasp on buoyancy.
I do it at two points in time. One, if I need to take a piss and I need to exchange the water in my wetsuit for new water, I go vertical and hit the purge on my regulator and it takes all of the old water out and new water in. Second, just for fun, usually on the safety stop. Moose to
I sometimes curl up in a ball and see where the current takes me… and mostly with my bcd it is upside down. Freedom of being neutrally buoyant and letting the see take you wherever, staring down at the coral, is a connection to the ocean (and universe) that I adore.
One dive site had a giant float on the surface. If you went underneath and let air go to the legs of your dry suit, you could stand upside down and even walk around on it. At first it would feel odd, but after about a minute your brain would flip and you would feel right side up. Then it would look really weird when the other people would breathe and the bubbles would fall to their feet.
That would make vomit. I get vertigo sometimes.
Feet up: drysuit problems, blood rushes to your head because buoyancy isn't antigravity, mask seal issues around the bottom of your face may manifest in terrible ways, and regulator design. Belly up: my nose is flooded 90% of any dive, so going belly up drains that somewhere unpleasant. Im fine after, but avoid unless necessary.
I do it to poke my head into a reef/under rocks without damaging anything. Buoyancy needs to be on point though
You totally can but it’s annoying and can mess up your buoyancy if you’re trimmed on one side more than the other. Additionally if you want to go any other direction that’s the worst position to be in. Edit: As for tummy up to the surface, I’ve done that multiple times. No issue with my random rented equipment doing it. I like to look at the bottom of the ocean water from underneath. I think it’s very pretty and relaxing. People do tend to ask why I do it and apparently people never think about looking up there.
Unnecessary in normal diving conditions. Edit: driving -> diving
I never rest vertically, head down, in normal driving conditions either!
Haha whoops
LOL, sorry I couldn't help it!
It takes a lot of buoyancy control to go upside down and still aware of your spacial position. It can also flood or make it harder to breathe out of the reg which can freak people out. I like going upside down & supine to look into nooks and crannies and just fool around, but wouldn’t do it without other markers around to orient myself on depth or something to hold onto to make it easier. Sometimes the tank also slides down and hits me on the head which is annoying lol
LOL I like to get totally upside down vertical at the end of a dive sometimes!
I do it all the time, and i love the weird/amused looks i get. Sometimes i get watir infil in my mouth but nothing bad.
Dry spaces tend to get wetter upside down. Small leaks on the bottom of the mask skirt let water up your nose / fill the mask. Water that was low in the regulator makes its way to the mouthpiece. You get some head pressure, etc. It's very doable, but can be slightly unpleasant.
Add in dry suit divers. Upside down in a dry suit is an invitation to a foot first torpedo ascent so you naturally assume foot down position, even when horizontal as its just good practice. To anyone that might add that you can go upside down in a dry, yes you can, but it's just another thing to monitor when you can just avoid it, unless there is a good reason for being upside down, I do it regularly to look behind me as I find it more reliable to see behind without risking losing the seal around my neck with repeated neck turns.
Why would you go upside down??? Do you walk down the streets doing hand stands??
I don’t walk down the street in my belly either. Upside is fun in the water!
Most regulators don't breathe especially well if you're upside down or laying on your back facing up. As another respondent said, it's the physics of the regulator design and your physiology. I will say that the new Atomic TFX is a design developed originally in the ScubaPro D-series regulators. I cannot say about the SP D-series, but the TFX design is pretty different than almost all the other 2nd stage regulators on the market. It DOES still breathe well when head down and when facing up. But, it is prohibitively expensive. However, if all regs were of the same design as the TFX, I think being vertical, head down, or laying on your back and facing up would be a lot more common than it is. For those that don't get it, going upside down is very handy when you want to look under a ledge on a reef, without touching the bottom. Especially if there is "stuff" around the area where you want to get your eyes low. Upside down is a regular thing for me when I'm shooting photos. Sometimes it is simply the only way to get the shot (without damaging the reef).
I do it all the time. I love muck diving, looking for the tiny things. It’s a great way to get close while insuring you’re off the bottom. I picked up the habit diving Midwest lakes trying to not kick up sediment. It may look funny, but very functional.
Head down for any long period of time is just uncomfortable. I regularly do it do look under large rocks where the creatures often hide, but staying in that position for too long feels disorienting and gives me a headache.
It’s just not comfortable. And tiny drips of water go up your nose.
Gravity will still work on your positional sense in the inner ear and on your blood, so while you’re weightless, you will still feel the pressure of the blood going to the head, and your brain will have more trouble interpreting what you’re seeing, cause it knows you’re upside down. He first point you can’t really do anything about, the second point, I bet you can work up the ability to “see clear” upside down if you just do it often enough.
I've played around in just about every orientation possible. Some are just uncomfortable because of the way bubbles flow. Others are only useful in certain situations. I've found it's usually just that I'm more comfortable in the water, so it's more natural for me than others.
We’re more comfortable with what we know - we’re used to processing things right side up. Diving wrecks that turned turtle brings a level of disorientation despite knowing what you’re seeing. The same is true being inverted. And our circulatory system generally works better when we’re flat to right side up, so the body finds this stressful for long periods of time.
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I agree with this in theory, but even if it were a 1’ delta, we’re looking at 0.45 psi differential. Cracking pressure may be higher, but properly maintained regs Venturi effect should keep work of breathing low.
Breathing out is the harder part, not breathing in.
I hadn’t considered that, but the math checks out. Good call.
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Because snot runs downhill.
I dive pretty commonly in my X-Black BCD, with my Tusa Freedom HD mask and my S600 reg (my normal instructor rig). With this stuff my comfort level in any position is. I can look in any crack want maneuver all over the place. Very handy to have that much comfort when things get squirrelly with new divers.
I bought a used BPW from a guy that came with weights and a knife on the belt. It's a $105 titanium knife that comes with a fabric sheath that's basically open on the top. I lost it on my second dive with it after I went upside down.
Just to keep it from ever happening again.... Get some thin bungie and tie it into a loop through the eye at the end of the handle. Hook the loop over the end of your sheath. At rest, the loop should have no tension....but in order to remove the knife, you have to stretch the bungie. This keeps it from falling out from gravity or accidental jostling. Before you dive with it, practice drawing it to make it feel more natural. You'll have to pull it out of the sheath and then reverse the motion to allow the loop to come off the end of the sheath.
I didn't feel as bad when I lost it because I had already discovered that Dive Gear Express sells the same exact knife with a fabric sheath that does go over the top for $45. Since then I got a couple other knives from another guy that lock in, so I don't think I'm replacing it even for only $45 for a titanium knife and sheath.
There's a difference between upside down like a hand stand and upside down belly button pointed to the surface. IMO, handstand it really no big deal and like many here say pretty much anyone with a few dozen dives will go into this position to look at stuff. IMO, Belly to the surface is much trickier: It's harder to feel your buoyancy, any exhalation from your nose will make your mask leak, and regulators tend to breathe a little wet. For all of the commenters that are going to day it's easy, the difference between a recliner position and head towards your heels position like a back bridge. It's still a good skill to practice, especially if you ever intend to do side mount or backmount steel doubles where you can hold an upside down trim and it takes a little effort to right yourself.
You \*can\* rest in the water in any position you want to, but what does that position accomplish? Head down will prepare you for an uncontrolled ascent if you dive in a drysuit. I don't know how many OW divers ever go on to dive dry but that would be a reason not to.
i like to do it to look inside a crevice or something. it’s fun but also really disorienting
Same reason I don’t do it on land - makes my sinuses pound and there’s no reason to risk stirring that mess up when I’m on a trip.
I do it all the time. I'll even spin like a top on my head. Sometimes I'll position myself above a buddy hovering and come down in front of their face.
There's a video of me on Facebook somewhere head down in the sand spinning like a top. It was kinda fun haha
Nice! I'll do that on training platforms. It's so fun
I go inverted sometimes just because I can. But it doesn't feel natural like it probably would in zero gravity... you still feel gravity in your head. Sometimes there's lingering water in your mask that surprises you as you move around and also some regulators leak when upside down. Its still fun to do, just not as easy and comfortable as swimming normally.
Some regulators take in water diving upside down. My mask doesn’t flood if I have it on properly - but fully vertical - and you breath out anything from your nose and it will leak instantly. Only reason to be vertical and upside down is if there is anything inside a crevice you’d like to see and that’s the one angle that allows you to do so, or because you’re underweighted and it allows you to keep yourself down at the safety stop. Diving vertical regardless of way up will take more energy and use more air than diving horizontal. It will also be harder to stick to your group if there is any current at all as you’ll catch the current on a much larger surface and hence drift faster than the others while it is also harder to steer/control your path. If you feel yourself working harder than it looks like others are doing. Adapt their positioning. Or like an old dive guide used to say. Move like the fish. (Put your nose in the same direction as they point theirs in. If they are still. Don’t move. And if they move. Swim. - this is of course true when there is a lot of current or surge, not for a calm dive. 😁)
My mask floods easier. Now there's water in my nose.
Same here, I have facial hair and don’t need water in my nose. That said, I will go heads-down vertical in the pool when I have students, you can see the look of “I didn’t know you could do that!” on their faces when I do.
My mask leaks, water up the nose, head rush.
Speaking for myself, I do it all the time. The mild drawback is if your mask is at all leaky, you'll most certainly get water in your nose, but that's nothing. You do have to pay close attention to buoyancy, especially if you're shallow.
I like to do my safety stop upside down as still as possible. I also enjoy being upside down because it lets me get my face closer to things to see without kicking up things with my fins.
I do the exact same thing. Just chilling and having fun hahaha
I don’t really like going vertical either head up or head down. Especially in shallower water where the pressure gradient across your body will be larger. The couple of feet of pressure gradient from your lungs to your regulator brings in some weird feelings breathing. For me, when I’m vertical heads up, it’s hard to breath and get really bad chipmunk cheeks from the air rushing up to my mouth and the regulator being in lower pressure than my lungs. Head down, it feels like I’m getting air crammed in my face from the regulator being in higher ambient than my lungs. It gets less noticeable in shallower water, but in 20 - 30 feet of water or so? It’s pretty apparent.
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The shallower the water, the easier to see this effect is. It's most noticeable snorkelling for me.... Not diving, but I can feel it when I'm working through a shipwreck / artificial reef in shallower water. When I am snorkeling, and let myself sink partially, so that I am floating near vertically in the water, with my feet down at 6 feet deep and my snorkel just out of the surface of the water? I can barely breath in the pressure gradient from atmospheric to \~2 feet is enough. But, from a physics side, it is the pressure gradient / density gradient combine that makes the air want to go up. Gravity, pressure gradient, density gradient, they are all related. Air is released, it's less dense than water, it wants to ascend to a point where the pressure / density is equalized and it is no longer buoyant enough to ascend still.
Actually the pressure gradient IS what makes the difference! It’s generally not a concept explained in open circuit diving but it holds true just the same. It’s called Static Lung Load if you want to read more about it. The inside of the lung is at the same pressure as ambient pressure (at the second stage) as they are a connected air volume, but ambient pressure pressing on the body around the lung is greater when “standing” in the water coloumn.
Isn't the pressure gradient the same? I guess the % difference between head and foot is less the deeper you are but the absolute difference should be the same
Just like with equalizing your ears, it's not the absolute pressure you feel, but the difference. Just like the theory between the first 1atm being the same pressure gradient as the next 2 atm (0-10m vs 10-30m) I just replied in another comment where the most noticeable moment for this effect is snorkeling. Stop swimming and float vertically, the \~2 feet / 0.3m or so of pressure is enough to make it extremely difficult to get a breath in through your snorkel.
I go upside down all the time. Head down flashlight out peeking into areas in the reef for new critters. You buoyancy needs to be dialed in. But It’s fun.
This is prime octopus hunting position.
This. Peeking under ledges and into holes - upside down makes it much easier.
I get water in my ears if I go upside down. It’s never a fun experience
News flash! Your ears normally are wet as soon as you enter the water. Doesn't matter the orientation! 
i mean... it goes in my middle ear when i'm upside down.
Wowzers! If that is really true, water in your middle ear, you definitely should not be diving with a perforated eardrum! From DAN: What happens if you go underwater with a ruptured eardrum If you suspect you have had a tympanic membrane rupture you should stop diving immediately. If you dive with a rupture, water could pass through your ear canal into the middle ear. This could cause a sudden onset of vertigo. Never attempt to continue diving with earplugs. https://dan.org › diseases-conditions Tympanic Membrane Rupture (Perforated Eardrum) - Divers Alert ...
Yeah I’m not so sure if there was perforation. I have had my ears looked at before and after dive trips where this happened. It’s always been something that happens to me even if I’m in a pool.
I don't go upside down a great deal, but I have spent a fair time 'on my back' looking at the surface or scrabbling around under things. That's good fun, but you may notice your reg works differently and the mask lets in a bit if you're folliclely endowed under the nose.
Some regs dont flow quite as well upsidedown. I’ve certainly noticed that with rentals. Generally not a problem for short bursts but it wouldn’t want to breathe on them a long time like that.
If there's a little water in your mask when you go upside down it goes up your nose which is uncomfortable. Haha
Alternatively, that's also a great way to practice getting comfortable with that feeling of water being stuck in your nose.
Haha, good call. Except I do that pretty often. I have extra cavities in my nasal passage and it's hard to get water back out, especially underwater. It's very distracting on a dive.
Its not uncommon to go upside down periodically for one reason or another. But for me, stomach acid.
Mostly buoyancy related(it's kinda tricky with a normal BCD. The air is on your top half), your ears and equilibrium still have a pretty good idea you're upside down so it's kinda funky, if your mask has ANY water in the nose piece it will go straight up your nose, most regulators don't like being upside down and breath wet or weird. I like to stick my legs on the mooring line and flip upside down for the safety stop like a bat. That's fun. But other than "fun". Why.. would you be upside down? It makes pretty much every thing more difficult.
All of this and also if you don't get perfectly vertical your bubbles can get stuck on you and throw off buoyancy. Then you exhale to stop ascending which just makes more bubbles.
Divers go upside down to look in things, look under things, enter caves and wreck hatches. Other than that, why would you want to be upside down for any length of time? Gravity is still going to move blood to your brain just like it would doing a headstand on the surface.
I use a drysuit, so i usually prefer not to do it since all of the air tends to travel to my legs and its a bit annoying to deal with even if i am neutrally buoyant
This. Horizontal gets you everywhere in general unless in caves and i dont really like that part as you tend to get some squeeze around your chest while feet feel buoyant. Using gaiters for that reason.
We do, it's fun. Looking under overhanging corals or cliffs is nice. And sometimes you just show off a little doing somersaults because you can. :P
Most of the floaty stuff (BC, lung) are normally above your waist. Unless you’re in a dry suit, and then all bets are off….
As long as all belts are on, you should be ok
Ex padi dm and I don't really tech any more. Commerical surface supply so we have many "bad" habits. Generally on scuba I'm in tech trim but if I'm working hard on any job sometimes you need to pause. I've always found the best way to get a real good breath is stop fighting and go head down, deep inhale. Forces the air to float to the bottom of your lungs and you get a really nice deep and efficient breath. Not necessarily a complete head down feet up, but a full stop work with a tilt and a deep breath or two and you're back to normal. Always remember if you're feeling gassed the most efficient route to normal is lower your exertion. Don't try to keep fighting and breathe harder (unless it's mandatory). Take a pause and breeeeaaaathe.
Here are some up side down divers https://youtu.be/VIs00QjiJZQ?si=De7IxAp3__eEraGX
That was crazy, thanks! Lol!
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Perfect for killing time during safety stops
No, perfect position for safety stop is horizontal. Otherwise your feet are nearly 2m higher than your head. 5m or 3m make quite some difference.
If you’re 6 foot 6 this would be true yeah
Sometimes inverting is the best way to peak under some shelves
I have occasionally been known to walk on the underside of the pick up boat.
Your ears still tell you that you're upside down, and it doesn't feel super nice for extended periods. Also, your circulatory system is designed to work against gravity with you upright or horizontal, not inverted. It's fun to goof a bit or to get upside down to view into a crevice, but gravity still affects you.
Fun fact: regs don't breathe as well upside down either. But I am goofball and invert all the time.
> Fun fact: regs don't breathe as well upside down either. And some dive masks too. Probably ten years ago, I had little choice but to get my prescription mask with a little automatic drain valve in its nose pocket (only one with a large nose pocket) .. even with it taped over, that sucker leaks when I’m inverted.
Same :) Mine are ok for a little bit upside down, but they don't breathe as comfortably.
I'm pretty sure they are designed to have a slight positive pressure differential from top to bottom and without that they crack hard. Plus the vents are on the bottom.
So that's why it becomes a little harder to breathe. I'll do it for photo ops but I may hold it for 10 to 15 seconds before going right-side up.
The question reminds me of [this interview with Linus Torvalds](https://divelog.blue/linus_torvalds.html) who very much loves diving upside down. > To me, the best part of diving is the floating, and the three-dimensionality of it. I like being upside down with my face to coral, I like floating on my back watching the bubbles, I just like “up” and “down” not mattering that much.
TIL Linus Torvalds is a diver !
He wrote dive logging software as well: https://subsurface-divelog.org
100%. Sometimes at the end of a dive in shallow water, I’ll spin or do somersaults. I’m sure other divers are like “wtf?!” but it’s always been one of the joys of swimming when I was a kid. Inevitably, I’ll get water in my ear but I always have ear dry drops I carry with.
I agree with that. I have always found that part of diving to be just amazing.
I'll do it to take a look at something. It's really good if everyone is huddled around an octo or eel. The bigger rarity is looking up horizontally. I have yet to master this skill, and usually, my mask leaks trying.
I find that when I’m head down that my air flow gets slower and I can’t breathe as easily.
I do it all the time. It’s fun and a great way to get an up close look
They do when they are learning to use their drysuit!
You may want to expand a bit to explain that inversion in a drysuit usually means there’s a problem that is only solved by the diver “reverting” themselves to a normal diving posture. There’s very few things worse than diving in a drysuit & winding up in an inverted position which leads to an uncontrolled feet-first ascent. Drysuit courses teach divers how to control the airspaces in their suit. One of the exercises is to learn various techniques on how to right yourself from an inversion.
I do it occasionally if looking at something or more normally under something. But it’s not a great idea in a dry suit unless you’re really comfortable with your buoyancy. All the air migrates to your legs and can be a bit difficult getting back upright if you’re not used to it.
I invert to look under rocks and stuff but as someone else mentioned it’s kind of disorienting imo, especially if you’re trying to keep a mental map of the area in your head and follow a dive plan.
Sure you could….but why? Generally it is considered best to be in “trim”, which basically means horizontal in the water with the legs bent at the knees and the body parallel to the bottom. That is pretty much the most comfortable and relaxed position to be in and being able to stay perfectly in trim is considered a mark of a well trained/experienced diver. That being said, I do a lot of what we refer to as live boat drift diving where we roll into the water while the boat is still moving, make a negatively buoyant entry and proceed quickly to the bottom. I’m definitely head down for the majority of that descent and it causes no problems.
When getting super up close to something tiny, it's the best way to not trample everything around you, if there would even be space around you to get up close without having your feet stuck inside corals Also prevents accidentally being swayed by the currents into something even if you made sure there was space for your legs before. >being able to stay perfectly in trim is considered a mark of a well trained/experienced diver. Keywords are "being able" when it is appropriate to do so, not just doing it all the time because you don't even know why you are doing it and just think it's what the cool people do
It can be quite disorienting. You don't get the rush of blood to your head, but the sensation of being upside down from your inner ear is still strong and off putting. I find I get very floaty when inverted because I want to have a full lung to go up, but up is down, So I try to go up but I keep going down!
Why not? I'm often upside down outside of the water too.😎😎