The history of scuba diving

The history of diving starts long before any tank or regulator — it starts with ancient peoples who held their breath to gather food from the seafloor. From pearl and sponge collecting to the earliest attempts at breathing underwater with improvised contraptions, humanity's drive to explore the ocean is ancient, and each technical leap over the centuries brought diving a little closer to the accessible activity we know today.

Long before any equipment existed, freediving was already a skill mastered by entire communities. The 'ama' divers of Japan and the 'haenyeo' of Korea have freedived for shellfish and seafood for centuries, a tradition that survives, in smaller numbers, to this day. These traditions show that, long before any technology, the human body was already being trained to tolerate pressure, cold, and extended breath-holding.

Between the 16th and 17th centuries, the push to stay underwater longer led to the first diving bells. In 1535, the Italian Guglielmo de Lorena built a bell that trapped a pocket of air, letting divers explore shipwrecks for longer than had ever been possible before. In 1690, English astronomer Edmond Halley improved the concept with a system of pressurized barrels that replenished the air inside the bell, enabling dives that could last for hours.

In the early 19th century, German-born, London-based engineer Augustus Siebe took a decisive step, developing, through the 1830s and 1840s, what became known as the 'standard diving dress' — a sealed metal helmet attached to a waterproof suit, fed by air pumped from the surface. Siebe's design became the industry standard for more than a century, used in harbor work, salvage operations, and shipwreck recovery around the world.

In 1878, English engineer Henry Fleuss took another major step by building one of the first working rebreathers — a device that recycled the diver's own exhaled air, scrubbing out carbon dioxide and allowing dives without relying on a hose connected to the surface. The invention was used, among other things, for flooded-tunnel rescues, and decades later it would inspire the military rebreathers used in World War II.

The real turning point, though, came in 1943, in the middle of World War II: French naval officer Jacques Cousteau and engineer Émile Gagnan developed the Aqua-Lung, a demand regulator that released compressed air only when the diver inhaled. For the first time, a diver could carry their own air supply on their back and swim freely, with no helmet, no hose, and no dependence on the surface — modern scuba diving was born.

After the Aqua-Lung, recreational diving spread quickly around the world, alongside the rise of certification agencies, structured courses, and increasingly safe equipment, from buoyancy control devices to dive computers. Today, more than eight decades after that breakthrough in occupied France, millions of people dive recreationally every year — including right here in Búzios, one of Brazil's most sought-after dive destinations.