NEWS + TRENDS: DIVING

The boot Düsseldorf is the traditional start into every new season for all water sports enthusiasts. For decades, diving has been a special focus at the big dive event close to the Rhine.

The novelty for 2022 is the new diving tower. It is a real wonder made of stainless steel and acrylic glass. Due to its special construction with slim steel struts and large glass surface, the viewer has an almost complete all-round view of what is happening in the water. With a volume of 200 cubic meters, it will be filled with 200,000 liters of water for the trade fair in Düsseldorf. It has a diameter of eight and a height of four meters. The diving tower will celebrate its inauguration on 22nd January at boot Düsseldorf 2022.

In halls 11 and 12 Messe Düsseldorf has provided the largest amount of space for the Neptune disciples since the start of boot. The foundation - as for all current events organized by Messe Düsseldorf - is a well thought-out, sophisticated hygiene concept with appropriate measures based on the applicable regulations.

Sport diving
The relaxed and versatile leisure activities under the water surface remain the strongest segment in underwater sports. It will continue to form the foundation of the diving industry and diving tourism with the sections training, diving trips and equipment.

The fascinating thing about diving: it is an ageless sport. It is also interesting to note that in winter sports, for example, socializing is often an important aspect, while underwater pleasure is benefiting from the growing trend towards a direct experience of nature.

The training of new divers is becoming more and more important; this is the only way the industry can maintain its foundation and avoid an ageing of underwater adventurers. The chances are good if the fascinating versatility of diving can be brought to the public again and again.

Even though the word "sport" seems to point in a very specific direction in the German and British-speaking world, the aspects of diving as a whole are more varied than in hardly any other leisure activity.

Of course, a certain basic fitness level should be available and a simple health check by a doctor must also ensure a problem-free start. Afterwards, however, nothing stands in the way of varied and above all ageless diving pleasure.

At the forefront is a natural experience that could hardly be more immediate. In the water, divers are constantly moving in a normally foreign element. Underneath the surface, they all perceive the pressure they have learned to deal with. Immediately everyone feels that they are moving in a different world. Detached from everything that concerns them on land.

There are not many situations that clear the mind as pleasantly as experiencing and experiencing the world under water - be it in your home waters or in one of the Seven Seas. However, the diving course as the first step in recreational diving is only the door opener to a whole range of highly interesting aspects.

The first impression is usually formed by the animal world under the water surface. In the fresh water of lakes and rivers as well as in the oceans, fauna and flora manifest the direct contact with nature. Unlike in an aquarium, people are right in the middle of it instead of just being there. You can't get any closer!

By the way, there is no oxygen in the diving tanks used by recreational divers, but simply compressed breathing air, just like we all breathe on land. If you still want to learn something about diving with oxygen cylinders, the diving halls at the Bundeswehr stand are the right place to go. There, the special divers of the Navy can inform about the purpose and background of so-called technical diving with oxygen.

Freediving
Even people without any affinity for diving technology - even if it is not magic - can take a relaxed look at the underwater landscapes and creatures. This is ensured by the simple ABC equipment in the form of a diving mask, a snorkel and a pair of fins.
An ongoing trend, based on comfortable snorkelling, is apnoea diving. Also known as free diving, this is diving to greater depths with the same equipment as for surface snorkelling. A wide range of apnea courses has been available for a long time. The aim is not to reach maximum depths, but to provide a non-technical experience below the surface.
For many freedivers their favourite activity has quickly become a kind of philosophy. This is not least because elements of yoga and meditative breathing exercises are also part of the training and preparation for a descent, and so there are more and more followers. This is a clear trend that is growing in interest from year to year.

Tech diving
The opposite of the way "back to the beginnings" is technical diving or tech diving for short. This variant builds on the courses of recreational diving.

Instead of the classic diving bottle with compressed air, rebreathers are used, in which the exhaled air is cleaned and treated so that it can be inhaled again following a cycle.

Another branch is diving with different gases, which are mixed under water depending on depth by means of highly technical diving computers. This makes diving adventures of several hours duration possible.

Trend targets
The Mediterranean has been considered a European domestic sea since ancient times. Even though it has become more and more the focus of divers since 2020, the water with its diverse riparian states has long been a fixed point of underwater sports for many of you. After all, it all started here: the cradle of all diving adventures of modern times was in the South of France.

Long before Jacques Cousteau laid the foundation for modern recreational diving technology, the biologist Louis Marie-Auguste Boutan, born in Versailles in 1859, took the first underwater photos in the Mediterranean as early as 1893.

Eastern Mediterranean Sea
Nowadays, divers like to spend the most precious days of their time in countries like Turkey, for example at the dive site along the Lycian coast. The waters of Greece's numerous islands are another trendy destination for divers. Greece has long since eliminated bureaucratic obstacles for divers, and with its moderate water temperatures and the family atmosphere of the islands, EU-member Greece is a diving destination almost all year round.

Croatia
The country on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea has long been considered a classic diving destination, not only in southern Germany and Austria, because it can be reached quickly and easily by car from there. This destination will certainly become even more important for divers in the future. Probably also because another trend is emerging: holidays with a motorhome. Croatia with its numerous campsites is also a good choice for this. Several diving centers from Croatia have been represented on the boot for many years.

Italy
With the Mediterranean diving centers near Portofino in the Gulf of Genoa, which are the closest to Switzerland and Germany, there are real top diving areas of the European Sea within striking distance. Although a little further afield, Elba and Giglio, two of the islands of Tuscany - also known as the pearls of Venus in ancient times - also fall into this category. There are also German guided diving schools there.

The archipelago captivates with wonderful reefs with red and yellow sea fan corals in extensive marine reserves. There you can observe a species-rich fish population even at easy diving depths. Starting with large brown groupers, through large schools of barracudas to cleaning stations where - as in tropical waters - cleaning shrimp take care of morays.

Spanish mainland, Canary Islands and Balearic Islands
At first glance, locating the Costa Brava as a trendy destination may sound implausible. But the fact is: there, where the first German bases founded (German) diving tourism in the 1960s, underwater fans can easily travel there by car. Because fauna and flora are intact in the marine parks off the Wild Coast, more and more underwater fans are enjoying the area. This is all the more true in view of the current situation.

If the Balearic Islands are also initially a question mark as a trendy destination for divers, their increasing popularity is quickly becoming apparent. As a rule, these perfect family destinations are far away from the hotspots of the party miles.

The same applies to the Canary Islands. Fuerteventura, with its long beaches, does not have the nimbus of a pleasure island. As a result, very few or no Covid19 cases occurred there over long periods of time. This is also true for the natural island of La Palma, the versatile Tenerife with various diving areas and the highest mountain in Spain, Lanzarote with its largely original character and the other islands of the archipelago.

Maldives
As soon as the possibilities of hygiene concepts at airports and on the routes to and from the destination are at the required level, the archipelago in the Indian Ocean will also be in great demand again. Even if divers and other holidaymakers cannot - as at present - make excursions to other islands, they will be rewarded with fantastic dive sites. Nearly every island has a diving area where you can experience manta rays and sharks as well as the typical reef dwellers - and with a bit of luck even the biggest fish in the world, the harmless whale shark, swims by.

About boot Düsseldorf
boot Düsseldorf is the largest boat and water sports fair in the world and the meeting point for the entire industry every year in January. The exhibitors present their interesting innovations, attractive new developments and maritime equipment. The next boot will take place in Düsseldorf from 22 to 30 January 2022. The nine-day fair with 220,000 square meters in 17 different halls will host the international market and offer an exciting insight into the entire world of water sports. There is something for everyone here. The focus is on boats and yachts, engines and engine technology, equipment and accessories, services, canoes, kayaks, kitesurfing, rowing, diving, surfing, wakeboarding, windsurfing, SUP, fishing, maritime art, marinas, water sports facilities, destination seaside and chartering. All necessary information can be found on the boot Düsseldorf website, boot.com.

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