People don’t just like diving, they’re crazy about it. Recreational diving has been around for centuries. People have always wanted to explore underwater landscapes, environments, and treasures. Diving can give a person a feeling of psychological well-being.
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As with many advanced sports, diving involves lots of preparation and intricate training. Courses will educate the amateur on safety regulations, dangers, medical conditions incurred during diving, and the realities of water pressure. The pressures involved when diving are similar to those when flying at high altitudes – the difference however with diving is obviously the obvious water factor.
A whole new world
When under water, a diver is exposed to a range of sounds that are usually muted. Water provides excellent support to the body, so more movement is possible than when you are subjected to the normal physical limitations brought about by gravity. For example, someone who is recovering from an operation may be able to exercise in water, but would be unable to do aerobics in a gym.
Recreational or sport diving makes up the largest of the diving sectors. There is a huge product support market and diving shops are popular, especially in the coastal regions.
At the amateur enthusiast level, diving is mostly a seasonal activity – it happens during holidays, a good fishing season, during amateur marine biology expeditions, to name but a few. On a more commercial level, diving can involve the tourism industry (including diving charters).
Not for the faint-hearted
Then you get those adrenalin junkies who choose to do extreme deep diving. This is an entirely different kettle of fish to the odd surface scuba dive. There is more teamwork needed, and it involves more technically focused elements. These include diving with mixed gases and using re-breathers. Cave-diving, deep record attempts, and other extremist diving would fall under this category. The extreme activity levels are the most sensational and dangerous types of diving, as they push the limits of technical and physical endurance.
(Health24, June 2006)
Information obtained from Jos Beer, Safety and Training Manager, Cape Diving (Pty) Limited.
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