Scuba Diving and Scuba Diving Sites of the World - Grand Bahama Island

Scuba diving is rapidly becoming one of the most popular of all recreational water sports in the world today.

The corresponding growth in increased and easier to use transportation links now makes the more obscure and hard to get to diving locations now much more within the reach of the average diver.

In this article I really want to take a basic look at Scuba diving but also take a look at one of the world�s leading scuba diving locations in Grand Bahama Island.

The activity of swimming underwater whilst using a scuba set is not unsurprisingly known as Scuba Diving. By carrying and using an independent source of compressed air, Divers are able to stay underwater for much longer than they would normally be able to.Scuba equipment gives divers the ability to stay underwater for periods way in excess of normal usage.

The additional advantage to all of this as far as the diver is concerned is that it frees them up from being hindered and attached to some form of surface powered air system.

The usual technique for swimming or propulsion underwater is by way of using large flippers attached to their feet Some divers also move around with the assistance of a diver propulsion vehicle (DPV). This vehicle is commonly known as a scooter or they can also sometimes move around by using devices known as sleds tethered to boats on the surface.

The original equipment from which modern day scuba equipment was developed came from the use of oxygen rebreathers developed and sued by US Navy frogmen in World War II.Nowadays the term has been assimilated into general usage and more often refers to the equipment developed by Emile Gagnan and Jaques-Yves Cousteau in which compressed gas is inhaled from a tank and then exhaled into the water.

The term SCUBA though originally an acronym of the phrase �self-contained underwater breathing apparatus� has now alongside other such terms found itself part of the English language as a word in itself such as scuba diving, scuba equipment etc.

So to Grand Bahama Island. The reputation of Grand Bahama Island as a diver's paradise has been growing ever since the earliest episodes of the TV Series "Sea Hunt" were filmed there.The surrounding seas off the coasts of the Island boast such a wildly diverse range of diving attractions that there are very few types of diving that the Island cannot accommodate.

Grand Bahama Island is of course also famous for its "blue holes" � these are spectacular azure portals in the reefs through which you can descend, surrounded by reef wall on all sides. Depending on which way the current is going at any one time these holes can be �blowing� or �sucking� and the currents here can be quite strong and as a result quite dangerous if you are not an experienced diver.

The geographical sub structure on which the Island is based is a massive limestone base and tied into this is also one of the other major reasons why people flock to this area of the world for diving and that is the massive underwater cave network that exists here.

The underwater cave network that is located by and large within the Lucayan National Park is the second largest of its type in the world.

The caves are still being explored, and there are numerous special dive programs that can take you into them (provided you are cave certified).

Stephen Morgan writes regularly about leisure activities and if you want to find out more about Scuba Diving Sites then visit http://www.divemaster.com