What should you do while performing a bottom search wearing goggles or mask, a snorkel, and fins?

Using your hands forward and sweeping them to the sides is the most effective method during a bottom search while wearing goggles or a mask, a snorkel, and fins. This technique allows for increased tactile awareness and ensures that you can effectively feel for any objects or individuals that may be submerged. Keeping your hands forward allows for better orientation and enables you to sweep across a wider area, enhancing your chances of locating someone in need of assistance.

Additionally, this approach reduces the risk of exhausting yourself and allows you to maintain your position in the water without the need for excessive movement, which can lead to inefficient searching. It is also important to maintain a calm and controlled motion, which this technique promotes, especially in potentially stressful situations where you may be looking for someone.

While other methods, such as kicking with fins or moving your arms in a freestyle stroke, might seem logical for speed or propulsion, they do not facilitate the necessary tactile search required in this scenario. Those methods may also lead to a less thorough search as they do not utilize the body's ability to feel and sense the surrounding environment effectively.