Scuba-Do!

Not since NOAH set off in the ark has man been so preoccupied with water. Ecologically, scientifically and recreationally, the oceans have increasingly become a focal point for our energies. And with good reason; the sea covers over 70 percent of the earth and its depths constitute the largest uncharted frontier this side of outer space. Over the centuries, diving devices have ranged from the primitive (hollow reeds) to the highly advanced (a closed-circuit rebreather system that allows the wearer to stay below up to six hours). It was in 1943 that Captain Jacques Cousteau, a French naval officer, jumped into the sea with his new invention, a scuba (self-contained underwater breathing apparatus) tank, strapped to his shoulders--and made a wave that swept across the world. Within a few years, thousands of swimmers had happily sunk below the surface to discover the diverse delights of the aqualung. More are joining them every day.

Scuba diving is a sport that's relatively easy to master--and once you've mastered it, there's a whole new kingdom to explore. The tank of compressed air on your back will enable you to stay below for about an hour and the rubber fins on your feet will provide a surprisingly effective aid to propulsion. For an underwater holiday, after you've completed a scuba course (most Y. M. C. A.s offer them), you'd do well to follow the example we've set on these pages by flying to the Bahamas, where the water is clear and warm and the denizens of the deep are (text continued on page 112) Scuba-Do!(continued from page 98) both colorful and varied. The aquatic underworld off the western tip of New Providence (the island on which Nassau is located) is a spectacular panorama of coral gardens and reefs. Novice scuba divers often select this area for initial undersea excursions, as conditions are reliably tranquil, beaches are virtually tideless and none of the rivers empties into the ocean; thus, there's little turbulence to stir up sediment and the water is almost always gin-clear. Furthermore, the water temperature seldom drops below 70 degrees and often hovers around the 75-to-80 mark. You can begin the day, as we did, with an early splashdown, then explore during the morning and pause at noon for a leisurely lunch break and a short siesta. Later, you'll be back into the sea for more sport down below, perhaps ending your underwater excursion with a nocturnal dive.

There's another reason why many scuba divers are drawn to the Bahamas--shipwrecks. Because of the wicked offshore reefs and shoals, hundreds of ships went to the bottom in this area before the development of sophisticated navigational equipment. It's estimated that there's still $150,000,000 in gold, silver and other valuables awaiting lucky finders.(One ship, the El Capitan, which sank in 1719, was carrying more than $2,000,000 worth of gold alone.) Nassau is an ideal jumping-off spot for treasure hunting, as is Freeport on Grand Bahama Island, where the headquarters of the International Underwater Explorers Society is located. (By joining this organization, you'll have use of its extensive facilities, which include a two-story practice-dive tank, a library stocked with books on the aqualung and marine life, and a number of craft specifically designed for underwater exploration.)

Bermuda is reputedly surrounded by the clearest waters in the western Atlantic. On an average day, you can easily see 100 feet, and visibility for 200 feet is not unknown. Water temperatures range from a low of 61 degrees in the winter to a high of 84 in the summer, and here, too, there are wrecks galore. On one ancient ship, the San Pedro, divers discovered a gold-and-emerald cross valued at $75,000, perhaps the single most valuable find in recent years.

The U. S. Virgin Islands are part of the curving chain known as the Lesser Antilles. Scuba conditions around most of the Virgins are excellent. Just off St. Croix, for example, you'll find Buck Island Reef National Park, an under water wonderland offering nature trails along which divers can glide while reading the various strategically positioned signs that identify the many varieties of coral. First-timers may wish to practice at Pelican Cove, near Christiansted Harbor, as the water there is warm and quite shallow. But if you've already acquired your undersea legs and can handle tricky currents and other more arduous conditions without losing your cool, then you'll probably prefer to scuba off Seven Mile Reef or near East End, not surprisingly at the extreme eastern tip of the island. Keep in mind that both these areas are for experts only.

If you'd like to really get away from it all--above as well as below the water--then consider the island of Cozumel, located just 11 miles off the Yucatán Peninsula. Scuba aficionados have ranked it as one of the five outstanding areas in the world for diving--along with the Red Sea, the Indian Ocean, French Polynesia and Australia's Great Barrier Reef. Although Cozumel is not yet developed for large-scale tourism (the population is about 3900), diving facilities are excellent, with compressors and air tanks available on a rental basis. Once suitably equipped, you'll want to head for the six-mile-long Palancar Reef, lying just offshore. The reef extends downward at an acute angle into the depths of the Caribbean Sea. As you drift through sand-bottomed canyons, you may see huge sea turtles, red snapper, yellowtail and parrot fish and perhaps even a barracuda.

With 6000 miles of coast line washed by warm, crystal-clear water, Mexico is well suited to scuba diving, and equipment can be purchased or rented in all the major areas. Acapulco, of course, offers a full complement of luxurious hotels, clubs and restaurants, thus ensuring that your hours spent ashore will be as memorable as those spent in the sea. When you've eaten and drunk your fill and are already for a change of scenery, both above and below the water line, take the 150-mile drive up the coast from Acapulco to the undeveloped fishing village of Zihuatanejo. The small hotels there have rental equipment and the local scuba guides will gladly take you to the most rewarding diving areas. It's definitely worth the trip.

If you'd prefer to do your diving within our own coastal waters, the area around La Jolla, California, called the La Jolla Caves, is claimed to be the birthplace of diving in the United States. It was there that one of the nation's first diving clubs, the Bottom Scratchers, made the first scubaless descent in the late Twenties. And there, too, is the famed Scripps Institution of Oceanography, which attracts the world's top undersea scientists and explorers. Although the water temperatures around La Jolla aren't the bathtub-warm readings you'll have experienced farther south, they are comfortable; a wet suit (a foam-neoprene outfit that uses the water as a heat insulator) is needed only during the colder months. Winter water temperatures never dip below 56 degrees and summer usually finds the undersea thermometer hovering between 65 and 68. Visibility can be as high as 80 feet or as low as 25 during heavy surf. San Diego has recently outlawed spearfishing near the Caves and turned this area into a marine preserve.

Farther north on Highway One, just south of Carmel, you'll find Point Lobos State Reserve, a 775-acre underwater park--one fourth of which is open to sport diving. (The rest is reserved for research purposes.) Though the water temperature there averages a cool 54 degrees, Point Lobos is an extremely popular diving ground, especially with underwater photographers, since it's one of the few places where species of fish and plant life of the north and south coasts overlap. Equipment can be easily purchased or rented; there are two dive shops within ten miles of the park. Regulations for Point Lobos are typical of what you'll encounter at most supervised diving grounds. You must wear an inflatable vest (which can be opened underwater for quick buoyancy or when you reach the surface) and display a diver's flag attached to a flotation device. The flag warns boaters that there are divers in the area and, according to marine custom, they must stay outside a 100-foot radius of your marker. You must also dive with a buddy--an excellent rule to follow whether using an aqualung or just skindiving with face mask, flippers and snorkel.

Other California underwater areas that you may with to explore include the waters off Santa Catalina Island and around the Channel Islands of San Nicolas, Santa Cruz, Anacapa and Santa Barbara. Farther south, near the Mexican, border, you should try the Coronado Islands, and up north, off San Francisco, are the Farallones. Equipment shops for the latter are conveniently located in San Francisco, Berkeley and Oakland.

If you prefer to do your diving off Miami, you'll have picked an ideal locale: Just south of the city is the only living coral reef within the continental waters of the United States. One of the reef's most spectacular stretches can be found off Key Largo in John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park--an incredibly beautiful underwater kingdom dotted with a number of sunken ships.

Easterners intent on going down into the sea this summer should figure on wearing wet suits, for the waters, especially along the New England coast, are notoriously chilly. In some areas of New England, diving is illegal because of (continued on page 222)Scuba--Do!(continued from page 112) the large number of fishermen and swimmers present. Farther north, especially off the Maine coast, scuba divers all but have the ocean to themselves.

Obviously, you don't have to live near a body of salt water to strap on an aqualung and jump for the deep. Freshwater diving is an equally popular pastime and many lakes, rivers and even quarries are ripe for exploration. Flathead Lake in northwestern Montana, Lake Mead, Lake Tahoe and parts of Lake Michigan, for example, all offer excellent conditions for both novices and experienced divers. If you don't belong to a local scuba club, consider joining one; most sporting-goods stores can direct you to the chapter in your area.

It should hardly be necessary to point out that, when buying scuba equipment, quality is imperative. The few dollars saved by purchasing a second-rate piece of gear can eventually prove far more costly than you figured; it's no fun to find that your air supply has stopped functioning because of poor workmanship when you're 40 feet below the surface. If you're not yet wet behind the ears when it comes to scuba diving--but wish to be--here, basically, is what the sport is all about. Air is compressed and stored in a tank that is strapped onto the diver's back. This compressed air is then fed into a device called a regulator, which reduces the air pressure to a level that's equal to the pressure surrounding the diver. The diver obtains oxygen by inhaling it through a rubber mouthpiece; he exhales carbon dioxide back into the mouthpiece, where it empties out through exhaust ports, forming bubbles that rise to the water's surface. A mask that covers the eyes and nose, a pair of rubber swim fins, a weight belt, a back pack and an inflatable safety vest comprise the rest of his basic equipment. The entire outfit--tank, back pack, regulator, mask, fins, weight belt and safety vest--will cost about $250. (Plus about two dollars each time an air tank is refilled.) Or you can purchase everything but the air tank (which weighs close to 34 pounds) and then go to a scuba location where you can rent the tank for the duration of your stay. Incidentally, in most states, you'll need to show a diving card stating that you have graduated from an accredited scuba course before a shop will fill your air tank or rent you equipment.

After the $250 initial outlay for basic equipment has been made, the really serious underwater enthusiast can spend additional thousands on highly sophisticated options that will give him greater speed and maneuverability down below. For the diver seeking supplementary gopower, Farallon Industries offers a handheld, torpedo-shaped accessory called a Diver Propulsion Vehicle ($395), which will tow the user at about two knots, thus enabling him to cover a wide area in a relatively short period of time. (A tow vehicle similar to the DPV was featured in the James Bond film Thunderball.) Farallon also manufactures the SeaPlane (pictured on page 101), a nine-foot-long battery-powered underwater sled with a built-in air supply that can be drawn upon in case of an emergency. The SeaPlane is exceptionally simple to operate, giving you full aircraftlike maneuverability through a single control stick. Price, F. O. B. the factory in Belmont, California, is $1995.

The Subliminos Sea-Shell (pictured on page 101) is a unique underwater product. It consists of a Plexiglas half sphere attached by ropes to a wire platform filled with weights. When lowered over the side of a boat, the weighted platform sinks to the sea bottom, pulling the dome under water and trapping air inside; it thus provides an oasis under which divers may surface, remove their masks and mouthpieces and talk--hence its nickname, "underwater phone booth." Oxygen released from the divers' own tanks keeps the bubble filled to capacity. It will soon be available for about $200.

If treasure hunting is your bag, you may wish to check out a ferromagnetic underwater-detection device called the Discoverer II ($895). Manufactured by AZA Scientific, it can easily be held in the hand while swimming and will signal the presence of, say, a small anchor at about ten feet, even if covered with sand.

Underwater photography is probably the most popular aquatic pastime, since it doesn't take a great deal of expertise to return to the surface with some fantastic shots. Watertight camera housings, many made of clear Plexiglas, are available for most cameras at prices that begin around $20. But if you'd care to invest in a camera that works equally well on land as it does in the sea--and needs no special housing--then give the Nikonos II a try. All you do is load the camera, leap into the water and you're off and shooting, all for about $200. The camera's watertight case keeps the film perfectly dry, while the oversized controls allow for easy manipulation.

For the semiprofessional or professional underwater photographer, Giddings Underwater Enterprises manufactures Niko-Mar III camera housings for use with two exceptionally sensitive pieces of equipment--the Nikon F and the Nikon Motor Drive 35mm. Prices for the housings alone are $350 and $395, respectively. To accompany these units, the same company offers a hand-held, rechargeable 3400 K movie lamp ($129.50) that will aid in lighting the murkiest of sea bottoms. Or if you'd prefer to try your hand at making underwater movies, Canon offers the Scoopic 16, a 16mm reflex camera with zoom lens, all housed in a Plexiglas casing mounted on a planing board for additional stability in the water. Price for the complete outfit is $1925.

Gliding through the depths in a world without signs or markers calls for full confidence in the gear that you have with you. The most important piece of equipment you can carry--after your air tank and regulator, of course--is a diver's watch. This precision instrument comes in a variety of models; all have been pressure-tested to various depths and all feature a rotating bezel that makes it simple to compute the length of your dive, the remaining air in your tank and even the approximate distance you've traveled under water. For $150, you can own the Seamaster 300, by Omega, a good-looking watch that's been pressure-tested to 650 feet. The price includes a steel-link band. Unusually severe diving conditions call for an extra-sturdy diving watch--a Doxa Chronograph, for example, which has been pressure-tested to 900 feet and temperature-tested to 76 degrees below zero. Available from U. S. Divers for $250, the Doxa comes with an additional built-in bonus--a stop watch. If you're still a fledgling diver and don't wish to invest this much in a chronograph, Seiko offers a Japanese underwater calendar watch (also with rotating bezel) that's been pressure-tested to 492 feet. And, best of all, it'll set you back only $75. At the other end of the price spectrum, you'll find Rolex's 18-kt.-gold Date Submariner chronometer ($1275), an exceptionally fine instrument that's been pressure-tested to 660 feet. Each Submariner comes with a special slip-lock band that enables the owner to wear it over a wet-suit cuff as well as on his bare wrist.

Of course, there are dozens of other pieces of equipment that you can carry. Dacor, for example, manufactures a highly sensitive oil-filled depth gauge ($38.50) that indicates how far you've descended. Scubapro has solved the complicated procedure of determining decompression time on deep or repetitive dives with a device called the Automatic Decompression Computer ($60). It computes the rate at which a diver should ascend, so he won't suffer the bends. Finally, two inexpensive items that will come in handy down under include: a U. S. Divers water-temperature gauge ($5.95), which can be attached to your watch band, and a Dacor underwater compass ($12.95) that features an adjustable wristband and a black luminous dial.

Today, serious underwater technology and the fun-packed sport of scuba diving are both growing at equally rapid rates. And relatively soon--possibly within this decade--you can expect their paths to cross in a most spectacular manner. Currently on the drawing board is a watertight module (called a habitat) that's designed to serve as an underwater hideaway. Within a few years, you should be able to purchase one and have it sunk where you choose, at depths up to 33 feet. Then, say, on Friday after work, you'll tie your boat to a marker buoy and you and a friend will slip on your scuba equipment and descend to your glass-enclosed getaway pad, which will serve as a submerged home base for a few hours--or a weekend--of exploration. (The habitat, of course, will have its own air supply and the interior will be as comfortable as it is contemporary.) Then, later, you'll lock the door of your pied-à-mer, ascend to the surface, and your waiting craft will whisk you back to urbia, relaxed and refreshed.

So scuba diving is more than just a sport, it's an exciting way of life. For pictorial proof, we refer you back to the photos of our Bahamian idyl, which begin on page 98. Bon voyage and scuba-do!