I tend to stay on the bottom, either head-down or on my back. That way there is little risk of getting lost, or of moving around and then ending up out of breath for ages.
The underwater compass navigation was a comedy act - I kicked my way through the silt on the bottom, moving in random directions as the compass pointed to the nearest metal object.
I know that mask clearing is an essential skill. I did get kicked and get some water in my mask, but it was not a big problem because I cleared it immediately and did not have to breathe in with the flooded mask. The thing which I don't like is breathing in with water on my face. It feels so awful that I can't face doing it again.
