This article is available in open access under Creative Common Attribution-Non-Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) license, allowing to download articles and share them with others as long as they credit the authors and the publisher, but without permission to change them in any way or use them commercially.

This article is available in open access under Creative Common Attribution-Non-Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) license, allowing to download articles and share them with others as long as they credit the authors and the publisher, but without permission to change them in any way or use them commercially.

This article is available in open access under Creative Common Attribution-Non-Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) license, allowing to download articles and share them with others as long as they credit the authors and the publisher, but without permission to change them in any way or use them commercially.

Amateur diving, done for recreation or as a sport, is one of the activities which has recently been gaining in popularity both in Poland and abroad. Until only a few decades ago, scuba diving was primarily the domain of healthy men at the working age for whom underwater work was part of their job. Currently, scuba diving has become popular with individuals of all ages and both sexes. There is an increasing number of diving enthusiasts among women and children. Underwater sports and activities require good physical health and therefore defining clear contraindications to scuba diving, both diseases and physiological conditions (e.g. pregnancy). The paper presents issues related to recreational diving for women and children taking into account physiological and psychological aspects, health assessment and contraindications to diving.

Recreational diving is increasing in popularity globally, also among European travellers. Since a majority of popular diving sites are located in tropical or subtropical destinations commonly characterised by harsh climate and poor sanitation, travellers planning to engage in recreational diving are recommended to take certain health prevention measures to reduce travel-associated health risks. They need to be aware of the fact that diving can threaten their lives or even be fatal; however, if they are well prepared physically and mentally and follow all the recommended safety rules while underwater, diving is an unforgettable experience that cannot be compared to any other sports activity performed on land. Before going on a diving trip, it is important to make the necessary arrangements, bearing in mind they should not only concentrate on diving-related activities (the marine environment) but also on other aspects, e.g. contact with terrestrial flora and fauna. Therefore, the health prevention measures (a pre-travel consultation, vaccinations, antimalarial chemoprophylaxis, a properly prepared travel health kit and travel insurance) are to keep a traveller healthy during the entire travel and not just the moments of going underwater. The most important of the pre-travel arrangements include pre-travel medical evaluation, selecting and preparing medications for chronic conditions and assembling the first aid kit for personal use. Travellers are recommended to have a pre-travel consultation in medical facilities whose personnel have an appropriate level of knowledge and expertise on hyperbaric, tropical and travel medicine.