The surface of the planet is 71 percent water and scattered with hot dive spots like the Red Sea, the great barrier reefs of Belize and Australia and Sipadan, off Borneo. You can find kaleidoscopic tropical reefs, ice dive in Rocky Mountain lakes and the very subzero waters of Antarctica, explore deep freshwater caves in Florida's Ocala region, and "muck dive" (skimming silty-bottomed waters in search of strange critters) in northern Sulawesi.
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"Divers are like hunters looking for the next great place," says Robert Young Pelton, author of The World's Most Dangerous Places and an avid diver.
The geographical, geological and biological are what to look for in a dive spot. Personal interest, budget and time are key factors in picking a dive trip. "If you don't have a lot of time, the Caribbean is a good option for Americans," says dive master Jenny Collister. Easy access and good infrastructure make the famous aqua waters of the Caribbean relatively affordable options from quintessential dive spots such as the Caymans (good for beginners) to more serious action: the blue holes in the outer barrier reef of Belize, Saba Island (Netherlands Antilles) pinnacles and the wall dive on the east side of the South Caicos.
"Macrophotographers underwater photographers looking for large marine creatures head to open water spots like Cocos Island," Collister says. The marine reserve, 375 miles west of Costa Rica, is a choice place to get shots of mantas, whale sharks and schooling hammerheads; it will put you back around $2,500 for a week. On the other hand, if you want to get up close to psychedelic explosions of reef life, Sipadan, Malaysia, and Namena Island, Fiji, are top destinations.
Divers swim the chilly waters off South Africa for encounters with great white sharks. While on the other side of the globe, cold-water divers hit rich Pacific Northwest waters in Washington's Puget Sound to see wolf eels and giant octopuses (their tentacle span can reach 16 feet), or the coast of Alaska, where they might run into Pacific white-sided dolphins, orcas and humpback and gray whales. The Atlantic coast of North America is a hotspot for wreck diving‹including the fabled Andrea Doria (for experts only), which sank about 60 miles south of Nantucket in 1956.
First you need to get certified through organizations such as PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors) or NAUI (National Association of Underwater Instructors). Courses are typically one class a week for six weeks followed by two days of open-water testing. Or get certified at a diving locale in four or five days. By getting certified at home (courses are offered everywhere from the local high school swimming pool to urban YMCAs) you can maximize your underwater time at a dive destination. On the other hand, it's often cheaper to be certified outside North America. This is a good option if you have time to burn and don1t mind spending travel time with your face in the pages of a manual.
Diving's technical and gear-oriented nature keeps it from being a mainstream, come-one-come-all activity. Being submerged, a small creature in a vast expanse of water whose life depends on a small apparatus in the mouth, does not appeal to everyone. We've all heard about the dreaded bends and nitrogen narcosis and seen Jaws. But as with any adventure, many of the inherent risks can be avoided if you have respect for and knowledge of the water and the activity itself.
"Mishaps are usually due to human error," Collister says. "Do your homework and listen to the dive briefing. Familiarize yourself with a particular dive site's dangers." If you don't, a strong current could slam you into a reef, resulting in nasty cuts; you might touch something poisonous; you might forget some crucial piece of equipment. Decompression sickness, or the bends, is most often caused by surfacing too quickly. Nitrogen in the bloodstream forms bubbles that block circulation. Other risks such as nitrogen narcosis (also called "rapture of the deep"), oxygen toxicity and simply running out of air are due to a diver's own negligence. Safety depends on your being organized and well-informed.
As adventure sports go, diving requires less physical fitness than, say, mountaineering or surfing, but being in good condition will enhance your experience and is safer too. "If you dive once a year, even suiting up can be draining. Be honest with yourself," says marine biologist and dive master Tundi Agardy. Cardiovascular workouts to develop stamina will prep you for situations that might cause shortness of breath.
When it comes to choosing a dive operator to head to your destination, don't just look at the excursions they offer—be sure the staff divers have current NAUI or PADI certification.
Apart from auto racing, air adventures and polo, diving requires some of the most expensive and complicated equipment of any sport. But most dive operators will supply the technical gear (regulators to link you to your air supply and control the amount of air flowing into your lungs, and a BC (Buoyancy Compensator) to control your rate of ascent and descent). Selecting the right basic gear is easy. There are just a few essentials needed to explore the underwater planet and still make it back to terra firma to watch the sun set.
The first thing to pack is a well-fitting mask. A good mask is essential to a good dive. Nothing ruins a dive faster than a waterlogged face where you can't see the undersea life! Try Zeagle's Ebon mask (800-771-5568, www.zeagle.com, $65) which offers excellent horizontal field of view. Fins are the next most crucial piece of gear. Efficiency is key when it comes to diving. You want to conserve energy and oxygen. You also want fins that fit not pinch. Atomic Aquatic's Splitfin (800-270-8595, http://www.atomicaquatics.com/ , $189) couples the latest fin design with the company's legendary buckle system to produce a fin that maximizes energy in and out of the water. Finally, a snorkel completes your basic diving arsenal. Rather than suck on a snorkel that hundreds of people have used, bring your own. Using a snorkel when swimming to and from the dive site will save precious tank air. Scubapro's Flip Snorkel (800-728-2277, www.scubapro.com, $42) folds in half and can be stored in a BC pocket.
The difference between surf and dive wetsuits is basically that surf suits are designed to allow for greater range of motion that surfers need paddling to the break and catching waves. Most use thin (1 mm or so) material around the armpits, shoulders and knees. Because surfers spend a lot of time above the water, warmer than under the water, surf suits generally are constructed using 3 mm material or thinner. Dive suits, on the other hand, are designed to keep divers warm for extended periods submerged underwater. For the most part, divers don1t move around a whole lot under water so keeping divers warm is more important than providing a wide range of motion. Typically, a heavy dive suit is over 5 mm thick. When diving in warm water, try a neoprene skin like Bare Sportswear's Thermalskin jumpsuit (800-663-0111, www.bare-wetsuits.com, $140) for its slick outerskin and insulating warmth between dives. In those chilly southern hemisphere currents or the cool water of North America, stay warm with a hefty wetsuit like Parkway's 7 mm Shark-Skin-In Titanium (800-587-2822, $469). Add a vest with attached hood for added comfort and longer exposure under water. Henderson Aquatics1 Gold Core hooded vest (800-222-0347, www.hendersonusa.com, $130) is one of the warmest on the market. Add gloves and boots to keep the appendages happy. Try Dacor's 6 mm neoprene boots with water-seal gussets and the company's TEK 5 mm, five-finger gloves (203-852-7079, www.divedacor.com, gloves $39, boots $45).
The next tier of dive gear is the pricey but fun technical realm. A good dive watch is Citizen's Aqualand Duplex (800-321-1023, www.citizenwatch.com, $495), which measures depth, water temp, dive time and even has a rapid ascent warning. It is waterproof to 200 meters.
Since night diving is one of the highlights of this activity, a good light is essential. Princeton Tec 400 (609-298-9331, www.ptsportlights.com, $36) really shines in a compact package. And if you're a tech head, a dive computer typically performs the same functions as a dive watch, but to a greater degree. Scubapro's Aladin Air Z (800-728-2277, www.scubapro.com, $1,100) will let you track air supply and depth, read time and even link to your home computer if you're techy enough to want to track stats. Its ease of reading, ability to painlessly connect to a PC and range of functions accommodate beginners and professionals alike. The most notable feature of the Air Z is that it has an upper and lower screen to separate essential and advanced functions. The lower screen displays the most important info, like air left, and water temp, while the upper shows complex functions like decompression schedules. Explore the reefs without fear.