Quote Originally Posted by malinghi View Post
Well, not to burst anyone's bubble, but I don't think it will be that great. Have you been scuba diving? You can't move very quickly or gracefully. The cool part about SCUBA diving is being able to look around, not the sensation of movement, which even with a tail will be clumsy. Then again, I'm not that experienced. Maybe other divers can swim better.
Really malinghi? I might not be licensed (again, not for lack of trying) but I have gone on a number of dives, both as part of resort crash courses with guided trips and as part of my training and certification. I found the freedom of movement while SCUBA diving to be exciting and ecstatic (I don't THINK I got rapture of the deep my first time, but I was attempting to build sand castles on the ocean floor while surrounded by a reef and watching the sand drift away, so maybe), and I didn't notice any movement limits besides the fact that one has a tank on your back (so maybe tails with dorsal fins shouldn't consider diving with them). I didn't notice anything that fouled the movement of my legs in any sense, and with the lightness of the water, it was possible to dolphin kick fairly easily. Tanks might make that undulating full-body swimming style popular among mers more difficult, what with the difficulty moving your torso, but with a decent monofin or pair of flippers, it shouldn't impact your speed very much. Also, not having to surface or swim near a source of air does expand one's swimming range and options substantially.