From the beginning of time people have lived near water: at the seashore, on the lake side and by the side of rivers. Water was essential for life, it provided food as well as a secure barrier from dangerous animals and enemies. It was also the easiest and fastest way of travelling. People could simply not exist without water, but in spite of thousands of years of living close to the oceans, lakes and rivers, water just like the sky remained a distant and mysterious element. You can touch the sea with your hand to make waves and sprays, you can walk into the sea until the water reaches your knees and chest, for a short while you even can stay under the water, but water does not give-up it's secrets easily so if you want to live you have to come up to the surface sooner rather than later. There are only a few seconds for seeing the stones and sand on the seabed, the mane of green seaweed and shoals of fearful fish before your body is starved of air. Even the strongest is not able to stand this starvation for long.

People have always been fascinated with the idea of discovering the secrets of the sea. What is hidden under the waves? Unfamiliar creatures, long forgotten cities or even horrible monsters? Those who were not frightened to dive into the mysterious deep generated almost unbelievable legends. Experienced divers who dived in order to search for precious pearls or rare shells were said to have mystical characteristics such as friendships with the lords of the underworld and some were even said to be related to fish, but they were only human beings and human strength is not boundless as even the strongest still need air to breath. Therefore scientists worked on combining the needs of the human body with the challenges of the underwater environment. So many ideas and so many failures, but the work of scientists and engineers was not fruitless. Step by step people were able to venture beneath the surface and stay longer and longer under water.

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The majority of technological advances in scuba diving can be credited to the military. Military personnel have long understood the opportunities provided to them by the seas. It might seem unbelievable but the first divers ventured out in the 18th century and almost immediately the first scuba diving schools were established. With the development of new technology and equipment, scuba diving became accessible to more and more people. As the years moved on, the monopoly of the military on scuba diving was weakened.

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In 1933 the first scuba diving club was opened in the USA and around the same time a French marine officer called Jaques-Yves Cousteau, working together with engineer Emil Gagnan created the first aqualung, an underwater breathing apparatus working on compressed air rather than air pumped down a pipe which was fixed to the surface. After a successful trial in a small French river, the aqualung was put into large scale production immediately after the end of the second world war, so now everybody can access the sea.

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The term "diving" emerged only late in the 20th century, before then scuba diving was simply referred to as swimming under water and as a kind of sport, investigation or adventure. The term "diving" which was initially only known by a small group of professionals has, over the past 30 years, become a by-word for everybody who knows the essence of relaxation and entertainment.

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Whatever takes your fancy, you can try many different types of scuba diving experience….

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Wreck-diving — diving to sunken objects, mainly shipwrecks and aircraft where the delight of scuba diving is often countered by great tragedy making an extraordinary and fabulous mix. Only qualified scuba divers can try it, any wrong move can make the dive challenging, which is why experts rate wreck-diving so highly. Frames of the ancient sailing vessels covered with seaweed and masses of shells and ships that have sunken long ago but now inhabited by the omnipresent fish-life. To see the deck of a ship that sank hundreds or thousands of years ago and to explore fanciful routes among the forever sunken cabins and decks, to search eternity's face, all that is wreck-diving. Those who know it will understand!

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Drift diving - or flight diving. The scuba diver dives into an undercurrent that pushes them along without the need to swim, allowing the diver to admire the scenery of the underwater world effortlessly. It makes you feel like you are the Lord of the Universe! So good in fact that you would sing if you didn't have a mouth piece preventing you from doing so!

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Drifting in groups is much more exciting, the main thing is not to get lost as the undercurrent can break-up the group to such a degree that it is sometimes difficult to get back together afterwards.

Night diving - this is something more exciting than Goethe's "Faust"! If the sea is a new reality then the sea by night must be measured on a different scale, the unique beauty and emotions that one feels are beyond description. Your floodlight cuts through the water creating so fantastic a picture that reason prevents you from believing that such a scene exists.

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The underwater world during the night differs from that during the day. The ray of light picks out underwater dwellers as they swim around doing their business in a sea so dark that it is incomprehensible for humans. Countless numbers of unthinkable creatures dance all around you as if in a magical carnival.

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So now do we understand what scuba diving is all about? Diving is a unique opportunity to talk with that old wizard named the Sea. He has the power to realise any of your wishes. You starve for adventure and new emotions so take them! You want peace and unity with nature, just swim through water where the sun pierces with rods of light. Your soul asks for mystery and secrets so explore the oceans! You want to make your friends jealous, so tell them about your scuba diving experiences! Salt water posses a wonderful affinity, it washes people of their worries, stress and fatigue. Diving is the highest level of relaxation and cleans the consciousness. When people are under the water, they feel as if they are born again, long forgotten childhood enthusiasm, happiness and the simple joy of life are recalled in the freedom of the water. Divers relationships are based on a common love of the water, they often say that they are "of one blood". The underwater world is deprived of the insincerity and deceptions of land life: you will go under the surface with a colleague and gain a new friend…

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Where does the secret of scuba diving popularity lie? The answer is simple, once you have seen the beauty of the underwater world, heard the sea singing and really felt part of the eternal oceans, you are sure to want the weight of the scuba tank on your shoulders again. Diving is a dream from which you cannot escape. Diving is a game of colours, feelings, and emotions…..so let's play this game! For centuries people have struggled to penetrate under the cover of the element which is so close and at the same time so distant.

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