The study was carried out for the preparation and evaluation of a buoyant hydrogel matrix (BHM), which is buoyant in a neutral or in pH 2.0 buffer solution, by the aspects of buoyancy, swelling, and drug release. Physical mixtures of HPC and CP in various molar ratio were employed as a mucoadhesive polymer which swells and controls the rate of drug release. Anhydrous citric acid and sodium bicarbonate in the molar ratio of 1:3 were employed as effervescing agents which provide a buoyancy for the mucoadhesive polymeric matrix. The buoyancy in vitro was expressed as both floating time$(T_{fl})$ and surfing time$(T_{sf})$, which are the time required for floating from the bottom to the surface of the medium and the time to keep the floated state at the surface of medium during release studies, respectively. A close relationship was observed between the buoyancy and the amount of effervescing agent added. $T_{fl}$ of the buoyant hydrogel matrices were decreased to about 10 seconds linearly with increasing the amount of effervescing agent in the range of 5 to 15%. $T_{sf}$ of the buoyant hydrogel matrices were varied from 1 to 3 hr depending on the amount of effervescing agent. The swelling was observed by changes in diameter of the buoyant hydrogel matrices in distilled water or acidic buffer solution, resulted in dependences on pH and the amount of effervescing agents. The release of hydrochlorothiazide from the buoyant hydrogel matrices were followed by apparent zero-order kinetics, while the buoyant hydrogel matrices were floated at the surface and maintaining their swollen shapes.