Last Updated on May 11, 2026 by Candice Landau

On my recent dive trip to the Bahamas, I lost a lot of hair.

After each dive, I’d head back to my cabin on All Star’s Cat Ppalu, undo the tiny braid I’d plaited before the day, reach for my Stream2Sea leave-in conditioner, work it through, and start brushing. Even with the conditioner, my wet brush kept coming away full. The leave-in helped (I’d have lost tons more without it) but it wasn’t enough.

For people with thick hair, or even normal hair, a bit of shedding here and there is nothing. For people like me with super fine hair, it’s a nightmare. Even minimal loss is visible, leaving behind a stringy, threadbare look.

Hair is a bit like a body part. Scrap that, it is one. For those lucky enough to have long, thick, luscious locks, you’ve no idea how forgiving they are, or how much they add. Call me vain, but stringy hair doesn’t make me feel great, which is why after a few dive trips I always end up cutting mine into a pixie.

The trouble is the pixie comes with its own cost. It makes me feel entirely unfeminine. I used to love my pixie cuts when I was young (they made me feel tough, independent and sporty), but paired with the weight I put on during a stretch of stressful, deadline-driven, always-on work, they seem to be doing the opposite of what I wanted. Perhaps the problem is me and I need to get over being so self critical but still, I can’t imagine others don’t feel this way too.

I’m writing this post on a mission. I’ve ordered a neoprene beanie from Oceanarium (it’s quite cute, covered as it is in nudibranchs) and dug into some basic hair-care techniques for swimmers. I used to do this when I swam in chlorine pools, though the products were slightly different. Now, before every dive, I’ll saturate my hair with fresh water, slick in the leave-in, braid it the way I usually do, and tuck the whole thing into the hood, even if I look a little silly. I’m hoping that without my hair floating up into a halo around my head it’ll stay less tangled. And, if you’re wondering why not a regular neoprene hood, well it’s because I find those also have a tendency to rip out fine hair like mine.

I’m genuinely curious to see what difference this approach makes. Most of the diver hair advice out there assumes female divers are working with long, thick hair, which is a shame, because I’d give anything for that. The problem is infinitely harder with fine hair. One thing to note: I did start using my Spacefish Army headband toward the latter end of the trip and I did feel my hair got a bit better so perhaps that’s another thing to keep in mind. Of course, it didn’t help the braided bit but perhaps it helped the top of my hair? The jury is out. I’ll report back post trip.