MAIN Recreation Beaches Diving

Diving to explore the deep sea, blue holes, sunken wrecks or the animals and plants that thrive beneath the water has excited humans since ancient times.

What is the fascination that the world under the sea holds for humans ... who need to breathe air to survive? The muted sounds, the filtered light, the pressure of the surrounding water are completely alien, but somehow familiar at the same time.

Diving holds an attraction for many that is irresistible. Even the novice snorkeler trying a swim on vacation glimpses the allure of swimming below the water... taking a visit to the world where animals fly through the water like birds soar in the air. For a few moments becoming a part of that world... Jacques Cousteau said it well, "The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever."

Dive right in for snorkeling, skin diving, scuba diving and free diving info including expert training, photo tips, related equipment and gear, messageboards and forums for learning more about the best places around the globe for underwater adventure...

The earliest deep water divers were free divers. Sponge divers in ancient Greece and pearl divers have been reported to stay under water for amazing amounts of time on just one breath.

Free diving is basically staying under the water unassisted by any apparatus that provides air for you to breathe. Many include snorkeling as a type of free diving because the apparatus does not hold air - it just provides access to the air above the swimmer.

The modern sport covers breathhold spearfishing, freedive photography, apnea competitions snorkeling. What most people associate with the term is deep underwater dives — for minutes at a time ...competitive apnea. As with any dive, competitors are advised to always buddy up in case of emergency.

Diving Resources

Freedive Central
Apneamania - International Associations (...& more)
Wikipedia Free-diving | Deep water blackout

Throughout history people have used reeds and other natural hollow tubes to allow them to breathe under water. Modern snorkeling apparatus is a bit more complex, but based on the same principal. While you are beneath the water you breathe through a tube whose other end is above the water. This makes it possible to spend longer times looking around and exploring the fish and plants that swimmers normally don't get a chance to see.

Snorkeling Resources
Snorkel Maui - A Snorkel FAQ
NPCA Snorkeling Tips

The Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus (SCUBA) that gives this sport its name was developed from the aqua-lung. Jacques-Yves Cousteau was one of the developers of this easily portable diving equipment. He needed an apparatus that was more user friendly than the diving bells and other underwater breathing apparatus that was available to assist in his underwater explorations.

While modern scuba gear is generations away from those early aqua-lungs, the concept remains the same. An air tank provide divers with oxygen so that they can explore the world that exists under the water. Scuba divers must be certified before they can attempt diving, but once the training is complete, the worlds beneath the oceans, lakes, Blue Holes, caves and canyons where fish and other marine life can be observe are open to them.

Scuba Diving - Wikitravel
Scuba Diving Magazine
Skin Diving Magazine
diveoz.com.au
Dive Territory

NAUI Online - "Information for Serious Divers," at the well-respected international training organization offering membership info, online registration, training locator, a comprehensive, searchable Q&A database for diving safety and medicine, related resources.

DIVERNET - Diver Magazine on line - Diving central for the UK and European diving community with the latest news and feature stories, details on diving holidays, online tips and training, forums, a related directory, personal ads, books, videos, and more.

also see -> California Beaches | Florida Beaches

Hawaii Beaches | Aruba | Bahamas

also see in Photography -> Underwater Photography

also see in Travel -> Cozumel, Mexico - World Class Scuba Diving

Scuba Diving In the Bahamas