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Some of the most enjoyable diving you may ever do is wreck scuba diving. Because travel by ship was the main way of going from continent to continent prior to development of air travel, and because the technology used on ships and in weather forecasting was not advanced at all, many ships sank in waters around the world providing dives that are interesting and fun. There are so many wrecks that only the Florida wreck diving will be covered in this article.

In fact, there are so many Florida wreck scuba diving spots available, you’ll have plenty of difficulty choosing which ones to dive. Hurricanes, coral reefs, shoals and pirates all help sink the ships that are often quite near the shores.

During the Spanish colonial period, the Florida Straits were the most frequently used passage for ships to access the Gulf Stream to get the boost of these fast-flowing currents for their trip home across the Atlantic Ocean. Some of these ships were never to return safely home but were trapped into one of the many tragedies that happened to the then ill-equipped vessel when challenging Mother Nature. Many of these unfortunate victims of the sea have been excavated and are awaiting your arrival.

One great wreck scuba diving destination is Pensacola in the Panhandle of Florida. There are lots of ships within a small area. In Pensacola Bay, eleven ships were to become victims of a hurricane during 1500. The colonists that were becoming settles on the shore at what is now known as Pensacola Bay were unloading vessels when the massive storm overtook them. Of course, there were no storm warnings like we have today and they were taken unaware. The result of the loss of the eleven ships was to soon become the demise of the colony which only lasted 60 years.

The Trinite is another great wreck scuba diving spot. This French wreck lies off St. Augustine and went down during a storm in 1565 while the Frenchmen were preparing to attack the Spaniards who had colonized this section of the northeast Florida coastline. After the vessel sank, the attack did not occur. Today you can not only scuba dive the wreck at St. Augustine but you can also see other sights like the nation’s oldest school house and oldest drug store, tour the fort as well as get in some fun in the sun.

You can do some wreck scuba diving at the resting place of the Tierra Firme fleet. Two ships from the fleet of 27 vessels, the Atocha and the Santa Margarita, went to their watery graves along with 380 sailors during a hurricane in 1622. The fleet had more than $250 million in cargo among them and the Atocha proved to be quite a profitable salvage job once it was located and now you can see it for yourself along with her sister ship in the Florida Keys.
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Whitewater rafting is a perfect way to combine a love for the outdoors and the rushing thrill of taking on nature’s elements. There is nothing quite like driving through a rushing whorl of water, having it spray up in your face, bouncing up and down in your seat feeling as though you are only moments away from disaster. Best of all, whitewater rafting is one of the safest adventure sports there is, with national safety standards followed by every major outfitter in North America.
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White water rafting is an adventure sport in which a raft is used to navigate a river or any water body. It is usually done on rapids or white water to keep up the excitement. A river goes through different gradients and flows from a higher gradient to lower gradient. When the river’s gradient becomes sharp, frothy water is formed consisting of bubbles and aerated water. This has a white appearance hence termed white water. The sport has been popular since the mid 80’s.

White water rafting is suitable for all age groups as various types of rapids are available for different tastes and experience. Almost anyone with a reasonable health can go for white water rafting. It is a good way to spend a vacation, travel abroad, be among the nature, get the sun and of course get a tan. It is considered a good way to release the stress. The expeditions range from a day to a month. White water rafting is now widely practiced through out the world.

The essential gear required for White water rafting is a raft. The inflatable boat is the most common raft used. It is made up of layers of durable rubber fabrics and independent air chambers. Various sizes are available ranging from 11 ft to 20 ft. White water kayaks are also popular. They are made of plastic or fibre glass. Safety gear, water proof bags & cases, hooks, knifes, ropes and camping equipment are essential. Almost all these are available on hire.

April to October is a good time. For thrill seekers May & June are suitable when the rapids are more turbulent. White water rafting is done throughout the world round the year.

White water is classified into 6 categories depending on the difficulty:
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Snowboarders and skiers are increasing in number every year. As the numbers increase so do the number of injuries. More awareness is being placed on snowboard safety and ski safety.

During the course of a year about 11 milion skiers and 4 million snowboarders in the U.S. alone are on the slopes at least once. The average number of visits to the slopes is around 60 million. For every 1000 skier visits, there are around 2.5 serious medical injuries. This comes out to one injury every 430 days of sking and snowboarding.

The death rate of snowboarders is 40 percent lower than alpine skiers, they are more likely to be hit by skiers gone out of control than the other way around.

When skiers fall they slide alot which causes them to be 3 to 4 times more likely to crash into something or someone. A snowboard on the other hand acts more like a seat anchor, preventing sliding. Death usually is caused from hitting something.

The most common injury faced by skiers is anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) sprains. Those who were injured skied more years, but fewer days per year, were more likely to be female, are older, and fell less often.
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