The great adventure

Hans Hass and Jacques Cousteau started it all more than 50 years ago. Since then, millions of people have followed them into the depths of the oceans. What makes them do it ?

I have often thought of doing that, is a phrase that most divers have heard when it has become known that diving is their interest. It almost always comes from people who feel they are missing something - that there is a great adventure in which they secretly want to take part but haven't yet got around to.

They are, in fact, absolutely right, for they are missing something, and diving is a great adventure!

Is it for you !!

SCUBA diving - as it is popularly known - has become one of the most appealing of all leisure activities, totally hooking many of those who take part. What is it about this seemingly dangerous sport that has caused it to boom? There are, in fact, more answers than questions, more reasons to go diving than most people can possibly imagine.

Firstly, one is rarely too old to dive. So long as you are sound in wind and limb, you can take the plunge at almost any age with comparative impunity, and many are the people with bus passes who dive regularly.

The same applies to the sexes. Once thought of as an activity for hairy-chested macho types only, diving now has a significant female following. More than 35 per cent of

Diving with Seals on Lundy Island

A popular regular trip for Coventry Branch

Technical and Advanced

Using advanced equipment and techniques, it is now possible to dive to great depths to explore sunken ships such as the Lusitania, which rests at a depth of more than 300ft, and there is a growing band of adventurous souls whose ambition is to explore new frontiers.

But shallower depths are much more attractive for most divers, because this is where light reaches and life is therefore more abundant. Shallow waters are, for example, the favoured domain of underwater photographers, who are able to take their time to compose and shoot stunning pictures of the underwater environment.

Be that as it may, there are vast areas, open to all divers, yet to be explored. Not for nothing has the sea been called "the last wilderness", and that is part of its appeal.

Opportunities

Diving also, however, presents opportunities that exist in no other sport or pastime, such as the study of the extraordinary marine life that exists only underwater. A dive at one spot during the day presents a vastly different scene at night, when life on a reef changes dramatically. Many divers are excited by the possibility of finding treasure underwater - and some do - and the more serious take to underwater archaeology. Others become involved in marine conservation projects, both in Britain and overseas.

For the majority, though, there is the sheer joy and privilege of entering what is largely an unknown and fascinating world where life has survived unchanged for millions of years. Also, too, the opportunity briefly to share an environment with wonderful creatures such as seals, turtles, manta rays, dolphins, whales - even sharks.

As for the physical dangers of diving, they are widely exaggerated, for training and equipment these days is highly advanced and state of the art.

There are wetsuits and drysuits to keep you warm; regulators to make breathing easy; lifejackets for buoyancy and safety; computers to give you all the information you need; watches and gauges for back-up, and all manner of ancillary equipment for pleasure.

In short, diving is no longer only a pastime for the hardy few, but for anyone seeking new adventures and horizons. It is a sport that could change and enhance your entire life.