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Introduction to Skindiving
Skin diving -- better referred to as free diving -- is one of the fastest-growing sports in the world. Each year many thousands of people experience for the first time the sensation of gliding through the cool seas on equal terms with the fish.. We who live in Thailand are unusually well situated to enjoy this modern sport. Our oceanic surroundings in the Gulf of Thailand and the Indian Ocean are an almost inexhaustible reservoir of warm, clear and abounding in undersea life.
The world of the diver is new and strange. When you first put on a face mask and see it clearly, when you realize the balanced ease of movement imparted by swim fins and weight belt, you will learn the joy free flight and the zest of endless exploration. Each clump of coral may hide a mystery, each cave is an adventure.
The newcomer to diving need note unduly fear the fabled terrors of the deep. Sharks and sea snakes do exist, it is true; they are far less numerous and infinitely less like to harm you than the cars on any well-traveled highway. A diver using normal common sense can enjoy his sport in the knowledge that he is as safe as he would be in any of his daily activities. All he requires is to be in moderately good physical condition, and to learn the few and simple basic techniques that can be taught him in a swimming pool.
Soon you will attain proficiency in basic diving, and may wish to go on to the specialized activities. Spearfishing will put your skill and ingenuity against the fast and wary game as hunting does on land. Underwater photography, a rapidly growing branch of the diving sport, will help you capture your impressions of the sea and its creatures, as evidenced by the pictures of Thailand's surrounding waters which appear in this booklet.
By using SCUBA a diver can enormously extend the range and duration of his ventures into the deep. The apparatus consists of a compress-air tank and