With mask and snorkel, in apnea or with bottle, from a beach or a boat, as a professional or as a leisure activity, scuba diving has its variants and some more or less confidential derived disciplines such as underwater photography, underwater fishing or underwater field hockey. There are even underwater concerts. But whatever the case, diving is always... evolving under water.
Professional diving
It concerns underwater workers in the industrial sector who dive from oil platforms or ports, coral harvesters, aquaculturists or various military diving specialists. Then there are the marine biologists who observe underwater life, the archaeologists who search for the remains of ancient civilizations on the seabed, and the photographers of the underwater flora and fauna. Not to mention the instructors who accompany you to the best diving spots. You can find them on site to dive in Bora Bora as well as in Thailand
To dive with or without a theme
Vacation or passion version, beyond the classic scuba diving to observe the underwater beauties, the diving can be colored with a particular theme. For example, equipped with a tank and diving equipment, you can dive underground in caves or siphons or dive in search of wrecks. Other specialized divers include wreck hunters and photographers in search of beautiful underwater images. Other divers go beyond 60 m without any theme, just for the pleasure of a deep dive.
Freediving for sport
Neither scuba nor tank for sport diving. It is a free dive where you have to stay underwater while holding your breath. This type of diving is practiced for hunting fish with a crossbow or fishing for shells. The same is true for underwater field hockey players, a sport that is played in teams in a pool, underwater.
Diving from a boat or from the shore
This is the most common type of scuba diving. You dive from a boat, dinghy, rowboat, etc., depending on the dive club you choose at your vacation spot. Wherever you dive, your instructors will accompany you in a unique exploration of the marine treasures. You can also dive from the shore. You can equip yourself on the beach or on the dock before going directly into the water. This way you can discover very close sites in freedom and autonomy, simply by diving with your buddy. But, beforehand, for a safe practice, it is necessary to know the safety rules
Drift diving
Drift diving is a specialty adapted to experienced divers and swimmers, as it is quite risky. It is practiced when the sea is rough or in a river with strong currents. Drift diving means letting yourself be carried along by the current rather than moving forward with your fins. This type of diving requires good physical skills, a thorough knowledge of scuba diving to control buoyancy and good equipment. Among the quiet dives to introduce you to this type of diving and to start diving in general in splendid waters, go diving in Egypt, in the northern Red Sea, particularly at the site of Shark and Yolanda (Ras Mohamed)
Snorkeling, ancient and renewed
An ancient practice necessary for the subsistence of certain peoples in the world, in Japan, Polynesia or in the Mediterranean, rediscovered in France during the war through underwater fishing for food, freediving has since become a leisure activity in its own right that Luc Besson's film, The Big Blue, has largely contributed to bring out of the shadows. Freediving has its stars, its rules, its competitions, its trainings.
Freediving, free diving
Without worrying about competition, many freedivers practice just for the fun of it and the exhilaration of the depth, in the sea, in a pool, in a natural or artificial lake. Federal freediving instructors and instructors have been trained to meet the expectations of a public in search of new sensations, up to a depth of 40 m.
The different disciplines of freediving
Freediving requires mastered techniques, a good knowledge of one's abilities and basic safety instructions. The rest is a matter of curiosity, shared passion and freedom. This "free" and magical diving can be done in the pool, in static apnea, dynamic apnea, in sprint, in verticality, in free immersion without fins, in constant or variable weight, in heavy wreck (with a machine)... The choice is yours!
Sport diving in the pool
This is a recent sport whose first competition was organized in Spain, in Zaragoza in 2000, with the usual scuba diving equipment in the context of individual or team events carried out in the pool. This sport combines the fun aspects of diving with a competitive framework. It takes place in several timed events that require a good control of its aquatic movements as well as speed and dexterity.
The Clusters, queens of freediving
Finally, let's pay tribute to the Amas or "women of the sea" from Japan and their sisters from South Korea, the Haenyo from Jeju-do Island, the only ones in the world to continue a multi-millennial practice of fishing abalone and pearls underwater at a depth of several dozen meters. There used to be several tens of thousands of them in Japan, compared to barely 2,000 today. The Amas use a unique breathing technique, the isobue or "whistle of the sea". Their snorkeling was designated in 2017 by Unesco as intangible heritage of humanity.
