Doctor’s Orders: Why Diving Is Not Just Fun but Also Great for Your Health!

Wouldn’t it be great if, instead of medication, doctors could prescribe dive trips to improve our health? While we haven’t yet met a doctor who prescribes scuba courses – much less a health insurance company willing to cover a dive holiday – the idea isn’t as far-fetched as it sounds.

From improved fitness over mental relaxation to connection with nature and our community, diving has tremendous benefits for both our mental and physical health.

Let’s have a look at all the different ways in which diving is good for us:

Physical activity

Compared to running or lifting weights in a gym, diving hardly feels like a sport – after all you’re just flapping your fins a little while floating around weightlessly. It’s easy to forget about the effort that goes into diving when it doesn’t feel exhausting. But carrying heavy equipment builds muscles, long surface swims and fin kicks increase endurance and diving in general lowers blood pressure – all while being a sport that’s easy on the joints!

Vitamin D

Unless you’re a cave diver or an arctic diver, you probably get a lot of sun exposure while preparing for a dive, enjoying a warm surface interval or packing up your gear afterwards. That’s a lot of time that you naturally spend soaking up the sun and getting that precious Vitamin D instead of sitting inside.

Mental relaxation

In a world where we are always connected, glued to a screen or overwhelmed by hundreds of notifications that demand our immediate attention, it can be hard to fully switch off. Diving gives us a space for a digital detox where notifications can’t reach us and where we can do nothing but focus on our breath and the beautiful world around us. Slowing down our minds improves our ability to focus and calms our nervous system.

Mental health

There have been plenty of studies about the “blue mind effect” which suggest that being close to a body of water has lots of advantages for our mental health. Being close to water lowers stress levels and can even help better manage conditions such as anxiety, depression and PTSD. While simply being close to a body of water already boosts our emotional wellbeing, it doesn’t get any closer than being submerged in it, which gives the additional sensory input of calm bubbly noises and the feeling of water on our skin.

Happy hormones

With every new skill you learn your brain releases dopamine, and you feel a sense of accomplishment and pride; with every new memory you make underwater serotonin gets released and you feel happy. Those happy hormones are good for our mental health and who doesn’t like feeling happy?

Better sleep

Diving is a full-body workout that burns a significant number of calories. The slow, deep breaths during a dive activate the parasympathetic nervous system which puts the mind and body in a state of relaxation. This mix of physical exertion and mental relaxation provides perfect conditions to fall asleep quickly and enjoy a restful and deep sleep.

Real connection

Divers usually feel an immense sense of connection with nature while diving – no wonder, we’re literally floating alongside fish and besides scuba equipment there’s nothing man-made around us! But it’s not just connection with nature that makes us happier, it’s also the bonds we form with our buddies. The dive community is incredibly welcoming, and everyone shares a common passion – it’s easy to make friends while diving. In a time when everyone feels isolated and lonely, real human connection that doesn’t just happen on a screen is a real mental health and happiness boost!

Even if diving isn’t officially part of modern medicine (yet), its health benefits are obvious. So why don’t you go do something for your health and book your next dive right here? 😉