History of Scuba Diving | Learn to Dive in Charlotte NC – Sink or Swim Scuba
Brent Clevenger Jun 12, 2025
Posted by Sink or Swim Scuba – Charlotte & Gastonia’s Premier Dive Training Center
Visit Our Dive Shop in Gastonia: https://sinkorswimscuba.com/contact/
Humans have explored the underwater world for thousands of years—long before tanks, dive computers, or even masks. From ancient pearl divers to today’s advanced scuba training, the evolution of diving is a fascinating story of courage, innovation, and science.
At Sink or Swim Scuba, we’re proud to carry that legacy forward through expert training, public safety support, and a commitment to the diving community here in Charlotte, Gastonia, and the Lake Norman area.
Let’s take a dive into where it all began—and how far we’ve come.
Ancient Free Divers: The Original Aquanauts
Free diving—or breath-hold diving—is the earliest known form of underwater exploration. Cultures like Japan’s Ama and Korea’s Hae-Nyu dove for pearls and shellfish over 4,000 years ago. Even the Greek military used free divers to sabotage enemy ships by cutting underwater barriers.
These divers used nothing more than lung capacity and occasionally hollow reeds (primitive snorkels) to stay submerged longer—remarkable, considering they were the pioneers of an art we now teach every day.
Diving Bells and Early Innovations
The concept of breathing air underwater took a leap forward with the diving bell, used as early as 330 B.C. by Alexander the Great. By the 1600s, inventors like Edmund Halley were improving these chambers to allow for longer, safer descents.
These bells evolved into the closed bells used in modern commercial diving—but with limited mobility, they weren’t ideal for exploration.
Hard-Hat Diving and Surface-Supplied Air
In the 1800s, Augustus Siebe developed the first functional helmet diving system using surface-supplied air and a sealed suit. It allowed divers to salvage wrecks like the Royal George in 1839.
These “hard-hat divers” paved the way for commercial and military diving. While the gear was bulky, it was a giant step toward today’s public safety diving systems—like those we train ERDI divers to use in North Carolina.
Explore our ERDI Public Safety Diver Programs:
https://sinkorswimscuba.com/public-safety-dive-training/
SCUBA Revolution: Freedom to Explore
Everything changed in 1943 when Jacques Cousteau and Emile Gagnan introduced the Aqua-Lung—a self-contained underwater breathing apparatus (SCUBA). With a tank and a regulator, divers were no longer tethered to the surface.
Today, scuba systems allow recreational and professional divers to experience the underwater world in complete freedom. Whether you’re exploring a reef or conducting a search and recovery, SCUBA gear is at the heart of it.
New to scuba? Start with our SDI Open Water Diver Course in Charlotte, NC:
https://sinkorswimscuba.com/scuba-courses/open-water-scuba-diver/
Saturation Diving: Living at Depth
In the 1950s, the U.S. Navy pioneered saturation diving, allowing divers to live under pressure for days or weeks. This technique is essential for deep-sea work and scientific exploration.
NOAA built on that legacy with undersea habitats like Hydrolab and Aquarius, where divers could live and conduct research beneath the waves. These missions helped shape what we know about decompression, gas mixtures, and hyperbaric treatment—knowledge we still use in technical and public safety diving today.
NOAA’s Lasting Impact on Scuba Diving
Since its formation in 1970, the NOAA Diving Program has set standards for diving safety, nitrox use, decompression tables, and diver training. Their introduction of nitrox for scientific diving became a major milestone—one we now incorporate into our Nitrox Diver Courses.
Explore the SDI Nitrox Diver Course:
https://sinkorswimscuba.com/scuba-courses/nitrox-diver/
With over 10,000 dives annually and one of the best safety records in government diving, NOAA’s work continues to support divers worldwide—including those right here in the Carolinas.
Start Your Diving Journey With Us
At Sink or Swim Scuba, we believe in honoring the past while training for the future. Whether you're a recreational diver, a first responder, or a future dive professional, you're part of a rich tradition of exploration.
Visit our dive shop: 4310K Wilkinson Blvd, Gastonia, NC 28056
Call us: 704-823-0501
Contact us: https://sinkorswimscuba.com/contact/
Ready to dive in? Explore our full range of SDI and ERDI scuba training near Charlotte and Lake Norman:
https://sinkorswimscuba.com/scuba-courses/
Fins Up!
— The Team at Sink or Swim Scuba
