Scuba diving is a fascinating activity that allows people to explore the wonders of the underwater world. As thrilling as it is, scuba diving does come with its own terminology, gear, and concepts that can sometimes be confusing to new divers. Riddles can be a fun way to test your scuba knowledge and introduce some of the core ideas around scuba diving.
In this article, we have compiled 55 scuba diving riddles along with their answers. The riddles range from easy to more advanced as you read on. Each one touches on a unique aspect of scuba diving, challenging you to think about buoyancy, air consumption, dive equipment, hand signals, and more. How many can you get right? Read on to find out!
Easy Scuba Diving Riddles
These scuba riddles are perfect for beginners. Let’s start easy and warm up that scuba knowledge!
Q: What has air but no lungs?
A: A scuba tank
Q: What piece of dive gear helps you equalize pressure in your ears?
A: Ear plugs
Q: I have a strap that goes over one shoulder. I hold all your dive gear. What am I?
A: A gear bag.
Q: Before you giant stride into the sea, you do a final check of this piece of equipment that you wear on your back. What is it?
A: Scuba tank.
Q: I have a rubber skirt attached to me that creates a waterproof seal against your body. What am I?
A: A dive mask.
Intermediate Scuba Diving Riddles
Let’s step things up a notch! These scuba riddles require some deeper knowledge.
Q: When you descend underwater, this happens to the air spaces in your body due to increasing pressure. What is it?
A: Compression
Q: As a responsible diver, you should maintain this between your tank pressure and current depth to have enough air to safely ascend.
A: A reserve of air
Q: To become positively buoyant and ascend, scuba divers add air to this inflatable device. What is it?
A: Buoyancy control device (BCD)
Q: Before touching anything underwater, divers learn to practice good buoyancy control to avoid damaging this delicate ecosystem.
A: Coral reefs
Q: Divers breathe compressed air provided by tanks filled using this gas blending technique to ensure safety. What technique is it?
A: Nitrox blending
Advanced Scuba Diving Riddles
Think you know it all about scuba diving? Try these advanced riddles!
Q: Increasing this underwater can cause nitrogen narcosis, potentially leading to poor judgment and dangerous decisions. What is it?
A: Depth/Pressure
Q: To communicate underwater, divers use a specialized sign language using hand signals and gestures known as this.
A: Underwater sign language
Q: Before descendent, you learn to equalize pressure in your mask by exhaling through your _____?
A: Nose
Q: Running out of this underwater can cause a range of issues from dizziness to loss of consciousness. What is it?
A: Breathable air
Q: Careful monitoring of this concept can help divers avoid decompression sickness. What concept is it?
A: Ascent rate
Tricky Scuba Diving Riddles
Think you know scuba diving inside out? Try to crack these tricky scuba riddles!
Q: I’m required gear that helps divers monitor depth, bottom time, ascent rates, and decompression stops. What am I?
A: Dive computer
Q: Divers may experience paralysis, organ damage, and the “bends” by absorbing too much of this dissolved gas. What is it?
A: Nitrogen
Q: I’m a condition that can happen when diving in cold water without adequate insulation leading to a dangerous loss of body heat. What am I?
A: Hypothermia
Q: I’m visual distortions and disorientation that can happen when divers descend too rapidly. What am I?
A: Nitrogen narcosis
Q: Careful buddy checks are done before diving to spot equipment issues like leaks, bad straps, or broken parts on me. What am I?
A: Scuba gear
Scuba Diving Safety Riddles
Dive safety should always come first. Test your safety smarts with these riddles!
Q: Failing to properly use me can lead to painful barotrauma injuries to ears, lungs, teeth or sinuses. What am I?
A: Equalization techniques
Q: To communicate problems like low air, cramps, or feeling cold underwater, dive buddies use this gesture.
A: Outstretched arm with thumb down
Q: As responsible divers, you should plan dives accounting for your experience level, current, depths, coral, and this length of time you can safely stay down. What is it?
A: Bottom time
Q: As an emergency signaling device, divers carry this inflatable floatation device. What is it?
A: Safety sausage
Q: Signaling this common issue underwater prompts your buddy to check their equipment and may require ending the dive. What is it?
A: Low on air
Tricky Action Riddles for Scuba Divers
Let’s get physical! Try these scuba diving action riddles.
Q: Divers descending too rapidly can get this condition causing joint pain, rashes, and paralysis. What is it?
A: Decompression sickness AKA “the bends”
Q: Sensing changing pressure in your ears, you pinch your nose and gently blow air into your blocked ears until you feel them _____. What’s the missing word?
A: Pop
Q: Monitoring your dive computer, you see you are nearing the no decompression limit. To extend your bottom time, you can make a stop between 15-30 feet for 3-5 minutes. What is this stop called?
A: Safety Stop
Q: Feeling negatively buoyant, you add air into your BCD using the inflator hose attached to your _____. What gear goes here?
A: Regulator
Q: Your dive buddy gives the “out of air” signal. You need to carefully pass your _____ as a backup air source. What gear goes here?
A: Secondary Regulator (Octopus)
Riddles About the Underwater World
Do you know your coral from your camouflage fish? Take a guess at these underwater world riddles!
Q: We come in brain, maze, lettuce, antler, and table shapes. Divers love getting up close to inspect our vibrant colors. What are we?
A: Coral species
Q: With colors like yellow, blue, and dark brown, we crawl along the sea floor barely moving. Camouflaged, we look just like rocks or seaweed. What species are we?
A: Octopuses
Q: Known as “the unicorns of the sea,” we have elongated bodies and our signature spiraling horn on our heads. What mythical creature are we?
A: Narwhal
Q: Reaching 60 feet long, we are the largest fish species in the ocean. Despite our size, we eat only plankton by filtering seawater through our huge mouths. What are we?
A: Whale sharks
Q: We use jet propulsion to blast forward and capture prey with our venomous tentacles. Bright blue rings cover our bodies. What colorful creatures are we?
A: Blue-ringed octopuses
Just for Fun Scuba Diving Riddles
Finally, end with some silly scuba riddles to make your diving buddies groan!
Q: What fish plays stringed instruments?
A: The bass!
Q: What do mermaids wash their fins with?
A: Tide!
Q: Where do shellfish go to borrow money?
A: The prawn broker!
Q: What do you call a sleeping bull shark?
A: A bulldozer!
Q: What do you call a wizard who scuba dives?
A: Merlin under the sea!
Conclusion
How did you do with these scuba diving riddles? By now, you’ve certainly tested and expanded your scuba knowledge covering topics like buoyancy, dive equipment, safety protocols, the underwater environment, and more. Riddles, especially silly ones, can lighten the mood between dives while still reinforcing core concepts.
Scuba diving comes with endless things to learn, observe, and discover. As you gain more experience, consider creating some scuba riddles of your own to challenge fellow divers! The ocean offers no shortage of inspiration with its diverse marine inhabitants, vibrant coral ecosystems, and strange behaviors that science is still trying to understand.
Dive safe out there! And don’t forget your sense of humor along with the rest of your gear.
