Did you ever asked the question “What is SCUBA diving” We will try to answer this question for you. Did you know that scuba diving is one of the fastest growing extreme sports in the world today? Every year, millions of people go scuba diving, whether for a course, an introductory dive, or because they already have their diving license.
The Attraction
Scuba diving is mainly done for the attraction of the unattainable undersea world. It is one area of nature that mankind has not been able to fully control, we simply are not able to breathe underwater. Hence, scuba diving gives us an opportunity to be in that underwater world, even if it is just for a limited amount of time.
Of course, the underwater world is beautiful as well, with many people opting for scuba diving in Asia or scuba diving in the Red Sea or the Great Barrier Reef, said to be some of the world’s best scuba diving locations. The different colors and marine wildlife are so impressive in all these locations that people find themselves returning over and over again.
Technical Points
Diving underwater is something that has attracted mankind since they figured out that there was a living world under the seas. SCUBA is an abbreviation for Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus, in other words, equipment to allow us to breathe underwater.
The air that is in the tanks is compressed air as we know it outside, so parts nitrogen, parts oxygen, and some other gases as well. Many people mistakenly believe that the air is pure oxygen, but that would actually poison the divers! Because of the nitrogen in the compressed air, divers need to be very careful when diving to greater depths, as nitrogen narcosis can occur, which has the same effect as excessive alcohol. This is easily solved by going back up to shallower waters.
A more serious effect of nitrogen is known as Caisson’s Disease also known as decompression sickness, which is when nitrogen starts to form bubbles in the diver’s body. This becomes an issue when the diver returns to the surface and normal air pressure and can lead to death. This is why one of the most important things to remember for divers is to never go too deep too quickly and never to go back to the surface too quickly.
Safety
The main thing to remember with scuba diving is that [you need to be safe]. Do not go diving on your own and don’t be tempted into buying diving gear and simply giving it a go without the proper training. Research some good diving schools if you want to go scuba diving.
Scuba diving is incredibly popular, so whether you want to go diving in Asia or diving in the Red Sea, for example, diving in Sharm El Sheikh, or anywhere else in the world for that matter, you will be able to find good diving schools in those areas. Touristic places, like diving in Sharm El Sheikh, will probably have a range of diving schools, so see if you can do some research on them before your holiday.
Some Interesting fact
For recreational divers, the depth limit is between 30 and 40 meters (equating to 100 to 133 feet). If you want to go deeper, special training or a specially trained buddy is required.
Nuno Gomes holds the world record for deepest scuba dive at 318 meters (or 1044 feet). He defeated John Bennet (deceased), who dove to 308 meters (or 1016 feet). There is a French diver, Pascal Bernabé, who maintains that he has been able to dive deeper (330 meters or 1083 feet), but this is unconfirmed.
Some Interesting Dives
If you do enjoy scuba diving, there are a couple of things you can do to make it even more interesting. There are many artificial reefs, for example. These artificial reeds have been created either to restore destroyed coral or as a scientific experiment to see how coral grows and how it attracts other marine life. There are many wrecks, for example, that have been purposely sunken to create artificial reefs.
If you have nerves of steel, you may want to consider going for a dive with sharks! A cage dive with sharks can be the experience of a lifetime. You are basically enclosed in a steel cage and lowered into a shoal of shark, attracted by fish guts beforehand.
The main thing with scuba diving will always be: STAY SAFE and ENJOY.
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