Outline of underwater diving

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to underwater diving:

Surface-supplied divers riding a stage to the underwater workplace
See also: Glossary of underwater diving terminology, Index of underwater diving, Index of underwater divers, and Index of recreational dive sites

Underwater diving – as a human activity, is the practice of descending below the water's surface to interact with the environment.

What type of thing is underwater diving?

Underwater diving can be described as all of the following:

  • A human activity – intentional, purposive, conscious and subjectively meaningful sequence of actions. Underwater diving is practiced as part of an occupation, or for recreation, where the practitioner submerges below the surface of the water or other liquid for a period which may range between seconds to the order of a day at a time, either exposed to the ambient pressure or isolated by a pressure resistant suit, to interact with the underwater environment for pleasure, competitive sport, or as a means to reach a work site for profit or in the pursuit of knowledge, and may use no equipment at all, or a wide range of equipment which may include breathing apparatus, environmental protective clothing, aids to vision, communication, propulsion, maneuverability, buoyancy and safety equipment, and tools for the task at hand.

Diving activity, by type

Modes of underwater diving
Surface-supplied diver with helmet, bailout set and umbilcal cable

There are several modes of diving distinguished by the equipment and procedures used:

  • Freediving – Underwater diving without breathing apparatus
  • Scuba diving – Swimming underwater breathing gas carried by the diver
  • Surface-supplied diving – Underwater diving breathing gas supplied from the surface
  • Saturation diving – Diving for periods long enough to bring all tissues into equilibrium with the partial pressures of the inert components of the breathing gas
  • Atmospheric pressure diving – Diving where the diver is isolated from the ambient pressure by an articulated pressure resistant diving suit.
  • Unmanned diving – Diving by mechanisms under the direct or indirect control of remote human operators for observation, data collection or manipulation of the environment using on-board actuator devices

Diving procedures
Divers decompressing in the water at the end of a dive
Divers doing a buddy check
Sidemount diver pushing a cylinder in front
Solo diver surveying dive site. The bailout cylinder can be seen slung at the diver's left side

Diving procedures – Standardised methods of doing things that are known to work effectively and acceptably safely

  • Ascending and descending (diving) – Procedures for safe ascent and descent in underwater diving
    • Ear clearing – Equalising of pressure in the middle ears
    • Emergency ascent – An ascent to the surface by a diver in an emergency
      • Controlled emergency swimming ascent – A technique used by scuba divers to return to the surface in an out-of-gas emergency in shallow water
      • Controlled buoyant lift – A technique used by scuba divers to raise an incapacitated diver to the surface
  • Boat diving – Procedures specific to diving from boats
  • Decompression (diving) – The reduction of ambient pressure on underwater divers after hyperbaric exposure and the elimination of dissolved gases from the diver's tissues
    • Decompression practice – Techniques and procedures for safe decompression of divers
      • Pyle stop – A series of short deep decompression stops in addition to the standard profile
      • Ratio decompression – Rule of thumb for estimating a decompression schedule for a given set of breathing gases
  • Dive log – Record of diving history of an underwater diver
  • Dive planning – The process of planning an underwater diving operation
  • Diver communications – Methods used by underwater divers to communicate
  • Diver navigation – Underwater navigation by scuba divers
  • Diver rescue – Rescue of a distressed or incapacitated diver
  • Diver trim – Balance and orientation skills of an underwater diver
  • Drift diving – Scuba diving where the diver is intentionally transported by the water flow
  • Finning techniques – Techniques used by divers and surface swimmers using swimfins
    • Combat sidestroke – Variation of side-stroke swimming used by United States Navy SEALs
  • Scuba skills – The skills required to dive safely using self-contained underwater breathing apparatus
    • Buddy breathing – Technique for sharing breathing gas from a single mouthpiece
    • Buddy diving – Practice of mutual monitoring and assistance between two divers
      • Buddy check – Pre-dive safety checks carried out by two-diver dive teams
    • Gas blending for scuba diving – Mixing and filling cylinders with breathing gases for use when scuba diving
    • Low impact diving – Scuba diving that has minimal environmental effect
    • Penetration diving – Diving under a physical barrier to a direct vertical ascent to the surface
    • Rebreather diving – Underwater diving using self contained breathing gas recycling apparatus
    • Rule of thirds (diving) – Rule of thumb for scuba gas management
    • Sidemount diving – Diving using an equipment configuration where the scuba sets are clipped to the sides of the harness
    • Solo diving – Recreational diving without a dive buddy
  • Surface-supplied diving skills – Skills and procedures required for the safe operation and use of surface-supplied diving equipment
  • Underwater searches – Techniques for finding underwater targets

Underwater diving, by environment
Ice Diving - View from the top

Underwater diving environment – The underwater environment to which a diver may be exposed

  • Open-water diving – Diving in unrestricted water when the diver has unrestricted vertical access to the surface
  • Altitude diving – Underwater diving at altitudes above 300 m
  • Cave diving – Underwater diving in water-filled caves
  • Deep diving – Underwater diving to a depth beyond the norm accepted by the associated community
  • Ice diving – Underwater diving under ice
  • Muck diving – Recreational diving on a loose sedimentary bottom
  • Night diving – Underwater diving during the hours of darkness
  • Recreational dive sites – Specific places that recreational divers go to enjoy the underwater environment or are used for training purposes
  • Wreck diving – Recreational diving on wrecks

Occupational diving
Underwater welding.
NAUI Nitrox diver certification card
Pearl diver in Japan
Nesconset fire department scuba rescue team on training exercise
Salvaging a ship's propeller
A diver at work on hull maintenance
Sponge diver putting on his diving suit in Tarpon Springs, Florida.

Professional diving, also known as Occupational diving – Underwater diving where divers are paid for their work

Recreational diving
Diver returning from a 600 ft (183 m) technical dive
Two underwater hockey players competing for the puck
Underwater photographer
Divers on the wreck of the Zenobia

Recreational diving – Diving for the purpose of leisure and enjoyment, usually when using scuba equipment

Diving and support equipment, tools and weapons
Small high-pressure breathing air compressor
A small scuba filling and blending station supplied by a compressor and storage bank
Three representative wrist-mount dive computers
International code flag Alpha indicates that a diver is underwater nearby
A closed bell used for saturation diving
Lifting bag used to move a heavy object underwater
The Newtsuit atmospheric diving suit
US Navy Diver using Kirby Morgan 37 diving helmet
Helmeted diver entering the water. He has a back mounted Draeger DM40 rebreather system in addition to the surface supply air hose
Scuba diver with bifocal lenses in half mask
A diver wearing an Ocean Reef full face mask
U.S. Navy divers in dry suits prepare to dive
Two men operating a rotary diver's air pump

Diving equipment

Diving equipment – Equipment used to facilitate underwater diving

  • Autonomous underwater vehicle – Unmanned underwater vehicle with autonomous guidance system
  • Breathing gas – Gas used for human respiration
  • Buoyancy control device – Diving equipment for controlling buoyancy by volume adjustment
  • Decompression equipment – Equipment used by divers to facilitate decompression
  • Dive light – Light used underwater by a diver
  • Diver propulsion vehicle – Powered device for diver mobility and range extension
  • Diving bell – Chamber for transporting divers vertically through the water
  • Diving mask – Watertight air-filled face cover with view-ports for improving underwater vision
  • Diving safety equipment – Equipment carried or worn by a diver or provided by the dive team to reduce risk or mitigate incidents
  • Diving suit – Garment or device designed to protect a diver from the underwater environment
    • Atmospheric diving suit – Articulated pressure resistant anthropomorphic housing for an underwater diver
    • Dry suit – Watertight clothing that seals the wearer from cold and hazardous liquids
    • Hot water suit – A wetsuit with a supply of heated water to keep a diver warm
    • Rash vest – Stretch garment for protection from abrasion, UV and stings
    • Wetsuit – Garment for water activities, providing thermal insulation but not designed to prevent water entering
    • Standard diving dress – Rubberised canvas diving suit with copper helmet and weighted boots
  • Diving weighting system – Ballast carried by underwater divers and diving equipment to counteract excess buoyancy
    • Weight belt – A ballasted waist belt worn by a diver
    • Diving weight – Ballast carried by a diver to counteract buoyancy or adjust trim
  • Remotely operated underwater vehicle – A tethered underwater mobile device operated by a remote crew
  • Snorkeling – Swimming while breathing through a snorkel represented by Snorkeling#Snorkel – Short curved tube used for face-down breathing at the surface
  • Swimfin – Finlike accessories worn on the feet, used for swimming, snorkeling and diving propulsion
    • Monofin – Single blade swimfin attached to both feet
  • Towboard – Underwater survey equipment used to tow a diver
  • Underwater breathing apparatus – Equipment which provides breathing gas to an underwater diver
    • Scuba set – Self contained underwater breathing apparatus
      • Diving cylinder – High pressure compressed gas cylinder used to store and supply breathing gas for diving
      • Diving regulator – Mechanism that controls the pressure of a breathing gas supply for diving
      • Rebreather – Apparatus to recycle breathing gas
    • Surface-supplied diving equipment – Equipment used specifically for surface supplied diving
      • Diving helmet – Rigid head enclosure with breathing gas supply worn for underwater diving
      • Diver's umbilical – A hose and cable bundle which supplies breathing gas, communications and other services to a diver

Autonomous underwater vehicles

Autonomous underwater vehicle – Unmanned underwater vehicle with autonomous guidance system

  • Autonomous Robotics Ltd – UK company developing an autonomous underwater vehicle
  • AUV-150 – An unmanned underwater vehicle in development in by Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute
  • AUV Abyss – An autonomous underwater vehicle for mapping of the seabed and water column data collection
  • Boaty McBoatface – Autonomous underwater vehicle, named from an online poll
  • DeepC – Autonomous underwater vehicle powered by a fuel cell
  • DEPTHX – Autonomous underwater vehicle for exploring sinkholes in Mexico
  • Echo Ranger – A marine autonomous underwater vehicle built by Boeing
  • Eelume – Autonomous underwater vehicle being developed by Eelume AS
  • Explorer AUV – Autonomous underwater vehicle from People's Republic of China
  • Intelligent Water class AUV – Autonomous underwater vehicle for the People's Liberation Army Navy
  • Intervention AUV – Type of autonomous underwater vehicle capable of autonomous interventions
  • iRobot Seaglider – Deep diving autonomous underwater vehicle for long term missions
  • Maya AUV India – Autonomous underwater vehicle from National Institute of Oceanography, India
  • Nereus (underwater vehicle) – Hybrid remotely operated or autonomous underwater vehicle
  • REMUS (AUV) – Autonomous underwater vehicle series
  • Sentry (AUV) – Autonomous underwater vehicle made by Woods Hole Oceanographic institution
  • Spindle (vehicle) – Ice penetrating two-stage autonomous underwater vehicle
  • SPURV – Self propelled underwater research vehicle built in 1957 for the US Navy
  • SPURV II – Special purpose underwater research vessel built to srudy submarine wakes
  • Theseus (AUV) – Large autonomous underwater vehicle for laying fibre optic cable
  • Petrel HUG – A Chinese hybrid underwater glider

Breathing gas

Breathing gas – Gas used for human respiration

  • Bailout gas – Emergency breathing gas supply carried by the diver
  • Bottom gas – Gas breathed during the deep part of a dive
  • Breathing air – Air quality suitable for safe breathing
  • Decompression gas – Oxygen-rich gas used for accelerated decompression
  • Emergency gas supply – Alternative independent breathing gas supply carried by a diver
  • Heliox – A breathing gas mixed from helium and oxygen
  • Nitrox – Breathing gas, mixture of nitrogen and oxygen
  • Oxygen – Chemical element with atomic number 8
  • Travel gas – Gas breathed during the descent part of a dive
  • Trimix (breathing gas) – Breathing gas consisting of oxygen, helium and nitrogen
  • Electro-galvanic oxygen sensor – Device which produces a voltage by a chemical reaction with oxygen proportional to partial pressure
  • Gas blending – Producing special gas mixtures to specification

Decompression equipment

Decompression equipment – Equipment used by divers to facilitate decompression

  • Decompression buoy – Inflatable surface marker buoy deployed from underwater
  • Decompression cylinder – Scuba cylinder carrying decompression gas
  • Decompression trapeze – Horizontal bars suspended at decompression stop depths
  • Dive computer, also known as Decompression computer – Instrument to record dive profile and calculate decompression obligations in real time
  • Dive tables – Tabulated data that allow divers to determine a decompression schedule for a given dive profile and breathing gas
  • Diving bell – Chamber for transporting divers vertically through the water
  • Diving chamber – Hyperbaric pressure vessel for human occupation used in diving operations
  • Diving shot, also known as Shot line – Substantial weighted near-vertical line with buoy
  • Diving stage – A platform on which one or two divers stand which transports them vertically through the water
  • Jonline – A short line used by scuba divers to clip themselves to something
  • Recreational dive planner
  • Saturation system – A surface hyperbaric complex including a living chamber, transfer chamber, closed diving bell and the infrastructure to operate them

Diver propulsion vehicles

Diver propulsion vehicle – Powered device for diver mobility and range extension

Diving safety equipment

Diving safety equipment – Equipment carried or worn by a diver or provided by the dive team to reduce risk or mitigate incidents

  • Alternative air source – Emergency supply of breathing gas for an underwater diver
  • Buddy line – A line physically tethering two scuba divers together underwater to avoid separation in low visibility conditions
  • Decompression buoy, also known as DSMB – Inflatable surface marker buoy deployed from underwater
  • Distance line, also known as dive reel or guide line – Line deployed by scuba divers for navigation
  • Diver surface detection aids – Equipment to make a surfaced diver easier to find
  • Diver's cutting tool – A tool to assist in extricating the diver from entrapment by lines or nets
  • Diver's knife – A tool to assist in extricating the diver from entrapment by lines or nets
  • Diving safety harness, also known as bell harness – A harness by which the diver can safely be lifted
  • Jonline – A short line used by scuba divers to clip themselves to something
  • Lifeline, also known as tether – A rope connecting the diver to an attendant, usually at the surface
  • Line marker – Marker used on cave guide lines to provide safety information to divers
  • Shotline – Substantial weighted near-vertical line with buoy
  • Surface marker buoy – A buoy towed by a scuba diver to indicate the diver's position

Rebreathers

Rebreather – Apparatus to recycle breathing gas

Remotely operated underwater vehicles

Remotely operated underwater vehicle – A tethered underwater mobile device operated by a remote crew

  • 8A4-class ROUV – A Chinese work class remotely operated underwater vehicle
  • ABISMO – Japanese remotely operated underwater vehicle for deep sea exploration
  • Atlantis ROV Team – A high-school underwater robotics team from Whidbey Island, Washington, United States
  • CURV – Early remotely operated underwater vehicle
  • Épaulard – A French remotely operated underwater vehicle of the Ifremer
  • Global Explorer ROV – A deep water science and survey remotely operated vehicle
  • Goldfish-class ROUV – A light class of Chinese remotely operated underwater vehicle
  • Kaikō ROV – Japanese remotely operated underwater vehicle for deep sea exploration
  • Long-Term Mine Reconnaissance System – An American torpedo tube-launched underwater search and survey unmanned undersea vehicle
  • Mini Rover ROV – A small, low cost observation class remotely operated underwater vehicle
  • OpenROV – Open-source remotely operated underwater vehicle
  • ROV KIEL 6000 – A remotely operated vehicle built by Schilling Robotics, Davis, California for scientific tasks
  • ROV PHOCA – A remotely operated underwater vehicle of the COMANCHE type
  • Scorpio ROV – A work class remotely operated underwater vehicle
  • Sea Dragon-class ROV – A Chinese deep diving work class remotely operated underwater vehicle
  • Seabed tractor – A special purpose class of remotely operated underwater vehicle
  • Seafox drone – A remotely operated anti-mine marine drone
  • Seahorse ROUV – A Chinese scientific and maintenance remotely operated underwater vehicle
  • SeaPerch – A remotely operated underwater vehicle educational program
  • SJT-class ROUV – A series of Chinese remotely operated underwater vehicles
  • T1200 Trenching Unit – A remotely operated seabed trenching unit
  • VideoRay UROVs – A series of inspection class remotely operated underwater vehicles

Underwater breathing apparatus

Underwater breathing apparatus – Equipment which provides breathing gas to an underwater diver

Diving support equipment

Diving support equipment – Equipment used in the support of an underwater diving operation

  • Booster pump – Machine to increase pressure of a fluid
  • Cascade filling system – Filling pressurised gas from a series of storage cylinders
  • Communications panel, also known as Diver's telephone – Surface control panel for underwater diving voice communications system
  • Diver down flag – Flag signal indicating divers are in the water nearby
  • Diver's pump – Manually powered surface air supply for divers
  • Diving air compressor, also known as Diving compressor – Machine used to compress breathing air for use by underwater divers
  • Diving chamber – Hyperbaric pressure vessel for human occupation used in diving operations
  • Diving spread – The topside base for commercial diving operations
    • Air spread – The topside base for surface-supplied air diving operations
    • Saturation spread – The topside base for saturation diving operations
      • Saturation system – A surface hyperbaric complex including a living chamber, transfer chamber, closed diving bell and the infrastructure to operate them
  • Diving support vessel – A ship used as a floating base for professional diving projects
    • HMS Challenger – Royal Navy saturation diving support vessel
    • Liveaboard – Way of using a boat
    • Dive boat – Boat used for the support of scuba diving operations
    • Diving ladder – Ladder to facilitate egress from the water by divers
    • Diving platform (scuba) – Low freeboard platform on a dive boat to give divers easy access to the water
    • Moon pool – An opening in the base of a hull, platform, or chamber giving access to the water below
  • Echo sounder, also known as fish finder – Measuring the depth of water by transmitting sound waves into water and timing the return
  • Gas panel, also known as Diving gas distribution manifold – Breathing gas distribution panel for surface-supplied diving
  • Helium analyzer – Instrument to measure the concentration of helium in a gas mixture
  • Marine VHF radio – Radios operating in the very high frequency maritime mobile band
  • Nitrox production – Methods of producing nitrox mixtures
  • Proton magnetometer, also known as metal detector – Instrument which measures very small variations in the Earth's magnetic field
  • Recreational Dive Planner (RDP) – A PADI no-decompression dive table also available as a circular slide rule and electronic calculator
  • Remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV) – A tethered underwater mobile device operated by a remote crew
  • Satellite navigation – Use of satellite signals for geo-spatial positioning
  • Subsurface (software)
  • Trongle – Device used on submarines to help swimmers to locate a submerged submarine

Underwater work tools and equipment
Soviet SPP-1 underwater pistol
Airlift dredging
ROV at work in an underwater oil and gas field. The ROV is operating a subsea torque tool (wrench) on a valve on the subsea structure.

Underwater work tools and equipment – Tools and equipment used for underwater work

Underwater weapons

Underwater weapons – Weapons that are intended for use underwater

Science of underwater diving

Physics of underwater diving
Views through a flat mask, above and below water

Physics of underwater diving – Aspects of physics which affect the underwater diver

  • Buoyancy – Upward force that opposes the weight of an object immersed in fluid
  • Diffusion – movement of molecules, atoms, or ions from a region of high concentration to a region of low concentration
    • Molecular diffusion – The thermal motion of liquid or gas particles at temperatures above absolute zero
    • Permeation – The penetration of a liquid, gas, or vapor through a solid
  • Force – Any action that tends to maintain or alter the motion of an object
    • Weight – Force on a mass due to gravity
  • Ideal gas law – The equation of state of a hypothetical ideal gas
    • Combined gas law – Combination of Charles', Boyle's and Gay-Lussac's gas laws
    • Amontons' law – Relationship between pressure and temperature of a gas at constant volume.
    • Boyle's law – Relationship between pressure and volume in a gas at constant temperature
    • Charles's law – Relationship between volume and temperature of a gas at constant pressure
    • Gay-Lussac's law – Relationship between pressure and temperature of a gas at constant volume.
  • Pressure – Force distributed continuously over an area
  • Psychrometric constant – Relation of the partial pressure of water in air to temperature
  • Solubility – Capacity of a substance to dissolve in a solvent in a homogeneous way
    • Henry's law – Relation of equilibrium solubility of a gas in a liquid to its partial pressure in the contacting gas phase
    • Solution – Homogeneous mixture of a solute and a solvent
    • Supersaturation – State of a solution that contains more solute than can be dissolved at equilibrium
  • Surface tension – Tendency of a liquid surface to shrink to reduce surface area
    • Hydrophobe – molecule or surface that has no attraction to water
    • Surfactant – Substance that lowers the surface tension between a liquid and another material
  • Underwater vision – Effects of the underwater environment on (human) vision
    • Snell's law, also known as Law of refraction – The relation between the angles of incidence and refraction of waves crossing the interface between isotropic media
  • Work of breathing (WoB) – The energy expended to inhale and exhale a breathing gas

The diving environment
Plunging breaker
Lago Licancabur, site of world's highest ever altitude dive.
Entrance to Peacock Springs Cave System

Underwater diving environment – The underwater environment to which a diver may be exposed

  • List of diving environments by type – The variety of environments that people may dive in
  • Underwater environment – The aquatic or submarine environment
  • Open-water diving – Diving in unrestricted water when the diver has unrestricted vertical access to the surface
  • Altitude diving – Underwater diving at altitudes above 300 m
  • Cave diving – Underwater diving in water-filled caves
  • Deep diving – Underwater diving to a depth beyond the norm accepted by the associated community
  • Ice diving – Underwater diving under ice
  • Muck diving – Recreational diving on a loose sedimentary bottom
  • Night diving – Underwater diving during the hours of darkness
  • Recreational dive sites – Specific places that recreational divers go to enjoy the underwater environment or are used for training purposes
  • Wreck diving – Recreational diving on wrecks
  • Physical and biological aspects of the diving environment
    • Algal bloom – Rapid increase or accumulation in the population of planktonic algae
    • Breaking wave, also known as Surf – A wave that becomes unstable as a consequence of excessive steepness
    • Ocean current – Directional mass flow of oceanic water generated by external or internal forces
    • Current (stream) – Flow of water in a river due to gravity
    • Ekman transport – Net transport of surface water perpendicular to wind direction
    • Halocline – Stratification of a body of water due to salinity differences
    • Hazards of the aquatic environment represented by List of diving hazards and precautions#The aquatic environment –
    • Hazards of the specific diving environment represented by List of diving hazards and precautions#The specific diving environment –
    • List of diving hazards and precautions – List of the hazards to which an underwater diver may be exposed, their possible consequences and the common ways to manage the associated risk
    • Longshore current – A current parallel to the shoreline caused by waves approaching at an angle to the shoreline
    • Overfall current – A turbulent area of water caused by a strong current over an underwater ridge, or by currents meeting.
    • Rip current – Narrow current of water that moves directly away from the shore, cutting through the lines of breaking waves
    • Stratification – Stable water layers of different properties that act as a barrier to vertical mixing
    • Surge (wave action) currently represented by Waves and shallow water – the component of wave motion close to and parallel with the bottom
    • Thermocline – A distinct layer in a large body of fluid in which temperature changes more rapidly with depth than it does in the layers above or below
    • Tidal race – A fast-moving tidal flow passing through a constriction, forming waves, eddies and strong currents
    • Tide – Rise and fall of the sea level under astronomical gravitational influences
    • Turbidity – The cloudiness of a fluid caused by large numbers of particles that are generally invisible to the naked eye
    • Undertow (water waves) – Return flow below (nearshore) water waves.
    • Upwelling – The replacement by deep water moving upwards of surface water driven offshore by wind

Physiology of underwater diving
Diagram of the human circulatory system
Decompression profiles based on the Thermodynamic model compared with the US Navy table for the same depth and bottom time
Diagram of the human respiratory system

Human physiology of underwater diving – Influences of the underwater environment on the physiology of human divers

  • Circulatory system – Organ system for circulating blood in animals
    • Patent foramen ovale – A congenital heart defect in which blood can flow through an opening between the atrial chambers of the heart
    • Blood–air barrier – Membrane separating alveolar air from blood in lung capillaries
    • Blood shift – Blood flow to the extremities redistributed to the head and torso during a breathhold dive
    • Perfusion – Passage of fluid through the circulatory or lymphatic system to an organ or tissue
    • Pulmonary circulation – The part of the circulatory system which carries blood from heart to lungs and back to the heart
    • Systemic circulation – The portion of the cardiovascular system which transports oxygenated blood away from the heart (between heart and body cells)
  • Cold shock response – Physiological response to sudden exposure to cold
  • Dead space (physiology) – The volume of inhaled air that does not take part in the gas exchange
  • Diving reflex – The physiological responses to immersion of air-breathing vertebrates
  • Metabolism – The set of life-sustaining chemical transformations within the cells of organisms
  • Physiology of decompression – The physiological basis for decompression theory and practice
  • Respiration (physiology) – Exchange of carbon dioxide and oxygen between environment and tissues
  • Underwater vision – Effects of the underwater environment on (human) vision

Diving medicine, disorders and treatment
Oxygen therapy in a multiplace hyperbaric chamber is often delivered via built in breathing systems.
Monoplace chambers can be used for hyperbaric oxygen therapy if the patient is stable

Diving medicine

Diving medicine – Diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disorders caused by underwater diving

  • Fitness to dive, also known as Medical fitness to dive – Medical fitness of a person to function safely underwater under pressure
  • Diving medical examiner – A medical practitioner registered to assess medical fitness to dive
  • Diving medical practitioner – A medical practitioner registered to assess medical fitness to dive, manage diving accidents, plan safety for professional diving operations, provide advanced life support, acute trauma care and general wound care.
  • Diving medical technician – a member of a dive team who is trained in advanced first aid and fit to provide treatment in a hyperbaric chamber in an emergency
  • Hyperbaric medicine – Medical treatment at raised ambient pressure

Diving disorders and treatment
Mask squeeze - a mild form of barotrauma
Staged image showing how victims may black out quietly underwater, often going unnoticed.

Diving disorders – Physiological disorders resulting from underwater diving

A dive team listens to a safety brief from their dive supervisor
Early testing for oxygen toxicity in divers
Tags in place in a powerplant after it was shut down
Folding lockout hasp, allowing six padlocks to lock out one device.
Checklists reduce the risk of omitting a step in a procedure

Diving safety

Diving safety – Safety of underwater diving activities

  • Checklist – An aide-memoire to ensure consistency and completeness in carrying out a task
  • Code of practice (CoP) – A set of written rules which specifies how people working in a particular occupation should behave
  • Dive team – A group of people working together to enhance dive safety and achieve a task
    • Professional diving – Underwater diving where divers are paid for their work
    • Diving supervisor – Professional diving team leader responsible for safety
    • Stand-by diver – A member of a dive team who is ready to assist or rescue the working diver
    • Bellman (diving) – The member of a dive team who acts as stand-by diver and tender from the diving bell
    • Diver's attendant – The member of a dive team who assists the diver at the surface and tends the diver's umbilical or lifeline
    • Life support technician – A member of a saturation diving team who operates the surface habitat
    • Chamber operator – A person who operates a diving chamber
    • Diving systems technician – A competent person who maintains and repairs diving life-support equipment
  • Divemaster – Recreational dive leader certification and role
  • Diving hazards – The agents and situations that pose a threat to the underwater diver
    • Silt out – Reduction of underwater visibility by disturbing silt deposits
    • Task loading – The relationship between operator capacity and the accumulated activities that must be done
  • Diver rescue – Rescue of a distressed or incapacitated diver
    • Rescue Diver – Recreational scuba certification emphasising emergency response and diver rescue
  • Doing It Right (scuba diving) (DIR) – Technical diving safety philosophy
  • Human factors in diving safety – The influence of physical, cognitive and behavioral characteristics of divers on safety
  • Hazardous Materials Identification System – A numerical hazard rating using colour coded labels
  • Occupational safety and health, also known as Occupational health and safety – Field concerned with the safety, health and welfare of people at work
    • Safety culture – The attitude, beliefs, perceptions and values that employees share in relation to risks in the workplace
  • Operations manual – Authoritative document of how things should be done in an organisation
    • Emergency response plan
    • Evacuation plan – Removal of personnel from a high risk area or a developing incident to a safer place
    • Standard operating procedure (SOP) – A set of detailed instructions compiled by an organization Or a manager to help workers carry out operations safely and effectively
  • Risk management – Set of measures for the systematic identification, analysis, assessment, monitoring and control of risks
    • Hazard identification and risk assessment (HIRA)
      • Hazard analysis (HAZID) – The identification of present hazards as the first step in a process to assess risk
      • Job safety analysis (JSA) – Procedure to integrate safety practices into a particular task
      • Risk assessment – Estimation of risk associated with exposure to a given set of hazards
    • Risk control – Process in which identified risks are reduced or mitigated
    • Incident pit – Conceptual model for explaining incident development and recovery
    • Lockout–tagout (LOTO) – Isolation of dangerous machinery
    • Permit To Work
    • Redundancy – Duplication of critical components to increase reliability of a system
    • Safety data sheet, also known as Material safety data sheet – System for cataloging information, potential hazards and instructions for safe use associated with a material or product
  • Scuba diving fatalities – Deaths occurring while scuba diving or as a consequence of scuba diving.
  • Single point of failure – A part of a system that, if it fails, will stop the entire system from working
  • Water safety – Human safety in the vicinity of bodies of water

Notable diving incidents rescues and fatalities
The decompression chamber at the moment the Byford Dolphin accident occurred. D1–D4 are divers; T1 and T2 are dive tenders.

Legal aspects of diving – how underwater diving and divers are affected by law

Geography of diving
Main article: Outline of recreational dive sites
Recreational diver over a coral reef in the Red Sea

Recreational dive sites are specific places that recreational scuba divers go to enjoy the underwater environment. They include recreational diver training sites and technical diving sites beyond the range generally accepted for recreational diving. In this context all diving done for recreational purposes is included. Professional diving tends to be done where the job is, and with the exception of the recreational diving service industry, does not generally occur at specific sites chosen for their easy access, pleasant conditions or interesting features.

Recreational dive sites may be found in a wide range of bodies of water, and may be popular for various reasons, including accessibility, biodiversity, spectacular topography, historical interest and artifacts (such as shipwrecks), and water clarity. Tropical waters of high biodiversity and colourful sea life are popular recreational diving vacation destinations. South-east Asia, the Caribbean islands, the Red Sea and the Great Barrier Reef of Australia are regions where the clear, warm, waters and colourful and diverse sea life have made recreational diving an economically important tourist industry.

Recreational divers may accept a relatively high level of risk to dive at a site perceived to be of special interest. Wreck diving and cave diving have their adherents, and enthusiasts will endure considerable hardship, risk and expense to visit caves and wrecks where few have been before. Some sites are popular almost exclusively for their convenience for training and practice of skills, such as flooded quarries. They are generally found where more interesting and pleasant diving is not locally available, or may only be accessible when weather or water conditions permit. (Full article...)

History of underwater diving
Siebe's improved design in 1873.

History of underwater diving – History of the practice of descending below the water's surface to interact with the environment

Frogman operations
Italian Maiale manned torpedo "Siluro San Bartolomeo" displayed at the Royal Navy Submarine Museum, Gosport, UK.

Notable underwater salvage operations
Salvage of Royal George

Diver training, certification, registration and standards
Commercial diver training at Blue Rock Quarry

Diver training
  • Diver training – Processes by which people develop the skills and knowledge to dive safely underwater
  • Recreational diver certification represented by Diver certification – Certification as competent to dive to a specified standard
    • Advanced Open Water Diver – Recreational scuba diving certification slightly above minimum entry level
    • Autonomous diver – International minimum standard for entry level recreational scuba diver certification
    • CMAS* scuba diver – Entry level recreational diving certification from CMAS
    • Divemaster – Recreational dive leader certification and role
    • Diving instructor – Person who trains and assesses underwater divers
    • Open Water Diver – An entry-level autonomous diver certification for recreational scuba diving
    • Master Instructor – A certificate given in recognition of a minimum level of experience in training divers after certification as a Diving Instructor, issued by PADI and SSI
    • Master Scuba Diver – The highest non-leadership recreational scuba diver certification issued by some agencies
    • Rescue Diver – Recreational scuba certification emphasising emergency response and diver rescue
    • Supervised diver – Minimum requirements for a recreational diver to dive in open water under direct supervision
    • Introductory diving – Non-certification scuba diving experience
    • Universal Referral Program – A system to complete recreational scuba training with another instructor

Diver certification organisations

List of diver certification organizations – Agencies which issue certification for competence in diving skills

Organisations setting international standards and codes of practice for diving and diver training

Commercial diving schools

Underwater diving organisations

Diver membership organisations

Diver membership organisations

Diver nature conservation organisations

Diving industry trade associations

Underwater environmental research organisations

Diving medical research organisations

Underwater diving publications

Books and manuals
  • The Darkness Beckons – A history of UK cave diving by Martyn Farr
  • Goldfinder – Autobiography of British diver and treasure hunter Keith Jessop
  • The Last Dive – Non-fiction book by Bernie Chowdhury about a double wreck diving fatality
  • Shadow Divers – Book by Robert Kurson recounting the discovery of a World War II German U-boat wreck
  • The Silent World: A Story of Undersea Discovery and Adventure – Book by Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Frédéric Dumas
  • Basic Cave Diving: A Blueprint for Survival – Book on cave diving safety by Sheck Exley
  • Exploration and Mixed Gas Diving Encyclopedia
  • Deep diving: an advanced guide to physiology, procedures and systems
  • Diving manual A document providing extensive general information on the equipment, procedures and theoretical basis of underwater diving.
    • NOAA Diving Manual – Training and operations manual for scientific diving Scientific diving manual published by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration
    • Professional Diver's Handbook John Bevan Ed. A manual of offshore diving
    • U.S. Navy Diving Manual – Training and operations handbook
  • Diving Medicine for Scuba Divers
  • Bennett and Elliott's physiology and medicine of diving
  • The Underwater Handbook: A Guide to Physiology and Performance for the Engineer

Legislation
  • Diving at Work Regulations 1997

Codes of practice

(National or international codes of practice for diving)

  • Code of practice – A set of written rules which specifies how people working in a particular occupation should behave
  • IMCA Code of Practice for Offshore Diving A voluntary code of industry best practice followed by members of the International Marine Contractors Association.
  • Code of Practice for Scientific Diving: Principles for the Safe Practice of Scientific Diving in Different Environments

Standards

(National or international standards relating to diving equipment or practices)

Breathing apparatus

  • EN 14143-2003 Respiratory equipment - Self-contained re-breathing diving apparatus
  • BS EN 1802:2002 Transportable gas cylinders. Periodic inspection and testing of seamless aluminium alloy gas cylinders
  • BS EN 1968:2002 Transportable gas cylinders. Periodic inspection and testing of seamless steel gas cylinders

Swim fins

Swim fin sole showing compliance with German standard DIN 7876:1980
  • MIL-S-82258:1965 Military specification. Swim fins, rubber.
  • GOST 22469:1977 Ласты резиновые для плавания. Общие технические условия. Swimming rubber flippers. General specifications.
  • DIN 7876:1980 Tauchzubehör. Schwimmflossen. Maße, Anforderungen und Prüfung. Diving accessories for skin divers. Flippers. Dimensions, requirements and testing.
  • BN-82/8444-17.02 Gumowy sprzęt pływacki - Płetwy pływackie (Rubber swimming equipment - Swimming fins).
  • MS 974:1985 Specification for rubber swimming fins.
  • ÖNORM S 4224:1988 Tauch-Zubehör; Schwimmflossen; Abmessungen, sicherheitstechnische Anforderungen, Prüfung, Normkennzeichnung. Diving accessories; fins; dimensions, safety requirements, testing, marking of conformity.
  • MS 974:2002 Specification for rubber swimming fins. First revision.
  • EN 16804:2015 Diving equipment. Diving open heel fins. Requirements and test methods.
GOST 20568:1975 compliant Russian and Ukrainian diving masks

Diving masks

A range of 1970s snorkels made to British Standard BS 4532:1969
  • BS 4532:1969 Specification for snorkels and face masks. Amended 1977.
  • GOST 20568:1975 Маски резиновые для плавания под водой. Общие технические условие. Rubber masks for submarine swimming. General specifications.
  • DIN 7877:1980 Tauch-Zubehör. Tauchbrillen. Sicherheitstechnische Anforderungen und Prüfung. Diving accessories for skin divers. Diver's masks. Requirements and testing.
  • BN-82/8444-17.01 Gumowy sprzęt pływacki - Maski pływackie (Rubber swimming equipment - Swimming masks).
  • ANSI Z87.11:1985 Underwater Safety. Recreational Skin and Scuba Diving. Lenses for Masks.
  • ÖNORM S 4225 Tauch-Zubehör; Tauchmasken (Tauchbrillen); Sicherheitstechnische Anforderungen, Prüfung, Normkennzeichnung. Diving accessories; divers’ masks; safety requirements, testing, marking of conformity.
  • CNS 12497:1989 潛水鏡. Diving mask.
  • CNS 12498:1989 潛水鏡檢驗法. Method of test for diving mask.
  • EN 16805:2015 Diving equipment. Diving mask. Requirements and test methods.

Snorkels

  • BS 4532:1969 Specification for snorkels and face masks. Amended 1977.
  • DIN 7878:1980 Tauch-Zubehör; Schnorchel; Maße, Anforderungen, Prüfung. Diving accessories for skin divers. Snorkel. Technical requirements of safety, testing.
  • ÖNORM S 4223:1988 Tauch-Zubehör; Schnorchel; Abmessungen, sicherheitstechnische Anforderungen, Prüfung, Normkennzeichnung. Diving accessories; snorkels; dimensions, safety requirements, testing, marking of conformity.
  • DIN 7878:1991 Tauch-Zubehör; Schnorchel; Sicherheitstechnische Anforderungen und Prüfung. Diving accessories for skin divers. Snorkel. Safety requirements and testing.
  • EN 1972:1997 Diving accessories. Snorkels. Safety requirements.
  • EN 1972:2015 Diving equipment. Snorkels. Requirements and test methods.

Buoyancy compensators

  • EN 1809:1998 Diving accessories. Buoyancy compensators. Functional and safety requirements, test methods.
  • EN 1809:2014+A1:2016 Diving equipment. Buoyancy compensators. Functional and safety requirements, test methods.

Wet suits

  • CNS 11251:1985 濕式潛水衣. Diving Wet Suit.
  • EN 14225-1:2005 Diving suits. Wet suits. Requirements and test methods.
  • EN 14225-1:2017 Diving suits. Wet suits. Requirements and test methods.

Dry suits

  • EN 14225-2:2002 Diving suits. Dry suits. Requirements and test methods.
  • EN 14225-2:2017 Diving suits. Dry suits. Requirements and test methods.

Depth gauges

  • EN 13319:2000 Diving accessories. Depth gauges and combined depth and time measuring devices. Functional and safety requirements, test methods.

Diver training

  • ISO 24801 Recreational diving services – Requirements for the training of recreational scuba divers
  • ISO 21417 Recreational diving services – Requirements for training on environmental awareness for recreational divers

Recreational diving practices

  • ISO 21416 Recreational diving services – Requirements and guidance on environmentally sustainable practices in recreational diving

Journals and magazines
  • AquaCorps Magazine on technical diving, founded and edited by Michael Menduno
  • Alert Diver Quarterly magazine of DAN om diving safety and recreational diving matters
  • South Pacific Underwater Medical Society Journal
  • Journal of Undersea and Hyperbaric Medicine

Repositories
  • Rubicon Research Repository – On-line repository of documents relating to research on diving physiology, medicine, safety, equipment and procedures

Recreational dive site guides

Notable dive site guides with Wikipedia article.

Authors of publications about diving
Bob Halstead

Authors of general non-fiction works on diving topics who are the subjects of Wikipedia articles.

Documentaries

Documentary movies focused on underwater diving.

Movies, novels, TV series and shows, comics, graphic art, sculpture, games, myths, legends, and misconceptions. Fiction in general relating to all forms of diving, including hypothetical and imaginary methods, and other aspects of underwater diving which have become part of popular culture.

Researchers in diving medicine and physiology
John Scott Haldane c. 1910
Paul Bert

Underwater divers

Underwater divers are people who take part in underwater diving activities – Underwater diving is practiced as part of an occupation, or for recreation, where the practitioner submerges below the surface of the water or other liquid for a period which may range between seconds to order of a day at a time, either exposed to the ambient pressure or isolated by a pressure resistant suit, to interact with the underwater environment for pleasure, competitive sport, or as a means to reach a work site for profit or in the pursuit of knowledge, and may use no equipment at all, or a wide range of equipment which may include breathing apparatus, environmental protective clothing, aids to vision, communication, propulsion, maneuverability, buoyancy and safety equipment, and tools for the task at hand. (Full article...)

Pioneers of diving
Jacques Cousteau
  • James F. Cahill – American scuba diving pioneer
  • Alphonse and Théodore Carmagnolle – French inventors of the first anthropomorphic armoured diving suit
  • Charles Condert – Inventor of an unsuccessful early scuba system
  • Jacques Cousteau – Inventor of scuba-diving apparatus and film-maker
  • Charles Anthony Deane – Pioneering diving engineer and inventor of a surface supplied diving helmet
  • Guglielmo de Lorena – Italian inventor of a diving bell used for archaeological work on the Roman ships of lake Nemi
  • Auguste Denayrouze – French inventor of a demand air supply regulator for underwater diving
  • Frédéric Dumas – French pioneer of scuba diving
  • Ted Eldred – Australian inventor of the single hose diving regulator
  • Maurice Fernez – French inventor and pioneer in underwater breathing apparatus
  • Émile Gagnan – French engineer and co-inventor of the open circuit demand scuba regulator
  • Bret Gilliam – Pioneering technical diver and author.
  • Edmond Halley – English astronomer, geophysicist, mathematician, meteorologist, and physicist
  • Hans Hass – Austrian biologist, film-maker, and underwater diving pioneer
  • Stig Insulán – Inventor of an adjustable automatic exhaust valve for variable volume dry suits
  • Jim Jarret – Diver who test dived the first successful atmospheric diving suits
  • Yves Le Prieur – French naval officer and inventor of a free-flow scuba system
  • John Lethbridge – English wool merchant who invented a diving machine in 1715
  • William Hogarth Main – Cave diver and scuba configuration experimentalist
  • Phil Nuytten – Canadian deep-ocean explorer, scientist, and inventor of the Newtsuit
  • Joseph Salim Peress – pioneering British diving engineer
  • Benoît Rouquayrol – French inventor of an early diving demand regulator
  • Dick Rutkowski – American pioneer in hyperbaric and diving medicine and use of mixed breathing gases for diving
  • Joe Savoie – Inventor of the neck dam for lightweight helmets
  • Augustus Siebe – German-born British engineer mostly known for his contributions to diving equipment
  • Charles Spalding – Scottish confectioner and amateur diving bell designer
  • Robert Sténuit – Belgian journalist, writer, underwater archeologist and the first aquanaut.
  • Arne Zetterström – Diver involved in experimental work with Hydrox breathing gas

Underwater art and artists
Christ of the Abyss at San Fruttuoso, Liguria

Miscellaneous

Awards and events

See also

References
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