> The word "scuba" is an acronym. What does the letter A stand for?And the answer: apparatus. While we might think of scuba diving when someone says "scuba," the word wascoined in 1952 as an acronym for "Self-Contained Underwater BreathingApparatus."Photo credit: Gustavo Gerdel [https://instagram.com/GustavoGerdel_com].Fordecades, scuba has offered a means of exploring the undersea world. Attached toair tanks with compressed oxygen, nitrogen and other gasses, scuba divers canexplore depths without ever having to come up for a breath of air. In fact, it'sbetter if they don't! The nitrogen of the tanks can cause Caisson's Disease ifthe swimmers return to the surface too quickly – that's when nitrogen starts toform bubbles in the diver’s body. A rule of thumb in diving: don't rise fasterthan your bubbles!The standard diving depth limit is around 100-133 feet. Diving any deeper thanthat requires special training as well as a specially-trained buddy to accompanyyou. That being said, some divers have made it a goal to be the one to dive thedeepest on record. To date, Nuno Gomes holds the world record for deepest dive,clocking in at a whopping 1,044 feet deep. There are popular scuba diving spots all over the world, yet some spots arespecifically renowned for the experience they offer. The Galapagos Islands, offthe coast of Ecuador in South America, offer coral reefs teeming with diverseforms of life, while Fiji is the soft coral capital of the world. Learn moreabout the best diving spots here[https://www.bluewaterdivetravel.com/best-scuba-diving-world].