Scuba Diving Dictionary

Bent (or the Bends)

Used to refer to DCS (Decompression Sickness) which can occur to divers if they stay too deep for too long &/or ascend too quickly. 'The bends' term came from the pain incurred by divers with DCS making them bend over/double up in pain.

Example of use: A poor diver or one with poor health could be more susceptible to getting bent (or the bends) during a deep dive.

Muck Diving

A dive which primarily involves looking for weird & wonderful creatures in the sand. Usually not much in terms of coral to see, but mineral rich dark sands host a huge variety of small critters such as Nudibranch, Blue Ringed Octopus, Frogfish + many more. Muck is used to refer to the ususally dark, silty bottom and sometimes the scruffy appearance of a dive site with not much coral colour. Muck diving is extremely popular for experienced divers & photographers. Most of the worlds top muck diving places are located in Asia. Indonesia, Malaysia & Philippines being some of the main countries.

Example of use: Lembeh Strait in Indonesia is often referred to as the 'Muck diving capital of the World' due to it's dark sand dive sites and plethora of amazing creatures to be found.