So we’ve established that the ‘act’ of diving is adventurous; but in this broad category of activity there are different variations or ‘types’ of diving, some a little more ‘risky’ than others. This article will examine just a few, the first being drift-diving.

This happens when you, the diver, are ‘transported by the currents caused by the tide’, a motion often compared to the sensation of flying as very little energy is actually exerted as you float through the water. Another advantage therefore (linked to exerting less energy) is that you obviously use less air, meaning that you get more tank for your money.

A second diving type is cavern and cave diving, the latter said to be amongst the top ten most dangerous sports in the world. To differentiate between the two: ‘cavern’ is when the entrance to the cave is still in sight, as you descend no more than 130 feet, leaving a guideline in your wake should you need to make a hasty ascent back to the entrance. On the contrary, cave diving is considered more a technical as opposed to recreational dive, as you would require more specialised equipment (and skill) due to the potentially stronger currents within the cave, as well as the fact that your equipment could be ruptured or broken on outlays of rock. An example of such ‘specialised equipment’ then would be the gas-delivery system, which would supply gas to different regulators so that if one ruptures for example, the other can be used as you find your way out. Much of this equipment is not readily available at normal diving stores and often needs to be sourced through online shopping.

The third type is wreck diving, which will be covered in a separate article due to the amount of information (and wrecks) available to the avid diver. But linked to cave, wreck (and ice) diving is something called ‘penetration’ or ‘no clear surface’ diving, where the obvious route back to the surface of the water (and therefore the availability of air) is not evidently clear. Because of the risky nature of this type of diving though, you would be compelled to make use of cylinders, distance lines as well as ‘breathing gases other than air’.

A fourth type of dive under consideration is deep water diving. What usually springs to mind here is the bends (decompression sickness) which happens when nitrogen dissolves into the nerve membranes thereby ‘altering the state of consciousness’, as if you were inebriated. This would be considered a somewhat unfortunate state of being!

A final (for now) type of dive is night diving, where you would be exposed to a whole new underwater scene, as many marine creatures are actually nocturnal by nature. What you would need to consider here however is the fact that you could easily loose your sense of depth and direction, as there would be no sun present as a guiding light. Another (nocturnal) phenomenon would be the presence of sharks, and so to avoid attracting unwanted attention (depending on the location of your dive) some have been known to opt for a more vertical beam of light as opposed to a broad flashlight of attraction. Exhilarating though: is what a night dive is!