Recreational diving and snorkelling

Recreational diving

Businesses and undertakings in Queensland conduct a range of recreational water activities including recreational diving, snorkelling and recreational technical diving. Typically recreational diving is done using compressed air without the need for decompression stops.

Key risk areas for recreational diving include poor medical fitness, inexperience, inadequete skills, panic and decompression illness.

Recreational diving includes:

• resort or introductory  diving
• training for recreational diving qualifications - such as entry level or open water qualifications
• recreational diving conducted for certificated divers.

Learn about recreational technical diving.

Recreational snorkelling

Recreational snorkelling in Queensland is usually conducted during tours or from vessels at reef or island locations.

Tragically more snorkellers than divers die in Queensland.

Common factors contributing to cause of death are:

• cardiac related with age
• pre-existing conditions
• weight and fitness.

Other risk areas include inexperience, particularly for non-English speaking snorkellers, and hypoxic blackout. Often also called shallow water blackout, hypoxic blackout usually affects young males engaged in extended breath hold snorkelling.

Generally the requirements for snorkelling are similar to many of the requirements for recreational diving.