Diving Records

Who doesn’t love (scuba diving) records?

Faster, higher, larger is the motto for many people and scuba divers are no different in this regard.

Every year, brave (and sometimes foolish) people try to come up with something new and often incredible to be remembered by.

Below you will find an updated list of the latest verified scuba diving records.

General Scuba Diving Records

Let’s get into some general scuba diving records that everyone likes to know.

The longest scuba dive lasted 145 hours, 25 minutes, and 25 seconds by Egyptian Saddam Killany on November 11, 2020, in Dahab, Egypt. (Guinness World Records)

The longest scuba dive by a woman lasted 51 hr 25 min 0 seconds by Cristi Quill at La Jolla Shores in San Diego, California, USA, on 11 July 2015. (Guinness World Records)

The deepest dive by a man was 332.35m by Egyptian Ahmed Gabr in the Red Sea off Dahab, Egypt on September 18, 2014. (Guinness World Records)

The deepest dive by a woman was 236.04m by South African Karen van den Oever in the Boesmansgat Cave in the North Cape in South Africa, on March 26, 2021. (Guinness World Records)

The oldest scuba diving club is 80 years 270 days, achieved by Groupement de Pêche et d’Etudes Sous-marines (GPES) (France), founded on June, 24 1941. (Guinness World Records)

The most people scuba diving simultaneously was 3,131 people and was achieved by Indonesia Women’s Organisation (WASI) (Indonesia) in Manado, North Sulawesi, Indonesia on 3 August 2019. (Guinness World Records)

The largest diving course had 2,465 participants and was held on August 16, 2009, on Malalayang Beach in Manado, Indonesia during an event organized by the Indonesian Navy. (Guinness World Records)

The most historic shipwreck locations visited on scuba is 243 and was achieved by Alejandro Mirabal (Cuba) across several continents from December 1986 to August 2017. (Guinness World Records)

The deepest untethered sea walk is 381 m (1,250 ft), achieved by Sylvia Earle (USA), on 19 September 1979. (Guinness World Records)

To read more about the fascinating Sylvia Earle check out her and other famous women in diving.

The oldest male scuba diver was William Lambert (USA, born September 5, 1920), at then exactly 100 years of age. (Guinness World Records)

He went on the dive on his 100th birthday which is probably one of the best ways to celebrate it besides going to space.

The highest altitude scuba dive is 6,395 m (20,980 ft 11 in) by Marcel Korkus (Poland) at Ojos del Salado, Argentina, on 13 December 2019. (Guinness World Records)

The fastest 10 km scuba diving is 5 hours and 24 min by Faisal Hassan (Iraq), in Hurghada, Egypt, on 22 August 2018. (Guinness World Records)

The longest swim on scuba gear in 24 hours was 78.92 kilometers (49.04 miles) by Paul Cryne (GB) and Samir Sawan al Awami (Qatar) from Doha, Qatar to Umm Said and back on 21-22 February 1985.(Guinness World Records)

The longest open saltwater scuba dive in cold water was 30 hr and 20 min by Cem Karabay (Turkey) in Çanakkale Gökçeada, Turkey, on 24 April 2018. (Guinness World Records)

The longest open freshwater scuba dive was 120 hr and 1 min 9 seconds by Jerry Hall (USA) in Watauga Lake, Tennessee, USA, from 29 August to 3 September 2004. (Guinness World Records) (Guinness World Records)

The deepest swimming pool for diving is 60.02m (196 ft 10 in) deep and can be found at Deep Dive Dubai (UAE), in Dubai, UAE. (Guinness World Records)

It looks absolutely fascinating, although it can be questioned whether the pool actually serves a purpose other than marketing.

The longest scuba dive in a controlled environment is 212 hr 30 min by Michael Stevens of Birmingham in a Royal Navy tank at the National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham, England from February 14-23, 1986. (Guinness World Records)

The longest scuba submergence in a controlled environment (using air rest bells) is 220 hours by Khoo Swee Chiow (Singapore) at Tampines Central, Singapore from 16-25 December 2005. (Guinness World Records)

The longest underwater cleanup lasted 168 hours and 39 minutes and was achieved by Astro (Malaysia) in the Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia, on 13 April 2013.

The 139 international volunteer divers cleaned 224 dive sites around the islands while performing a total of 1,120 dives. They recovered 3,171.59 kg of trash consisting of 1,560.66 kg of plastic materials, 140.44 kg of glass and ceramics, 5.35 kg of paper and cardboard, 318.36 kg of metal, 357.34 kg of rubber and cloth, and 716.61 kg of wood and mixed materials. (Guinness World Records)

The most participants in an underwater clean-up in 24 hours is 633 and was achieved by Dixie Divers (USA) in Deerfield Beach, Florida, USA, on 15 June 2019. (Guinness World Records)
They recovered 544 kg (1,200 lb) of trash consisting mainly of fishing lines and lead weights used in fishing.

The greatest distance underwater swimming on scuba gear in one month using a diver propulsion vehicle (DPV) is 454 km (282.103 mi), achieved by Janusz Czachor (Poland), in Sveta Marina, Croatia, from 3 September to 2 October 2018. (Guinness World Records)

The longest scuba submergence on one cylinder is 8 hr 20 min 38 seconds by Jacobus Jacobs (South Africa) at All About Scuba, Rustenburg, South Africa, on 27 January 2007. (Guinness World Records)

He used only one 12-liter scuba cylinder the entire time!

Cave Diving Records

Besides extreme deep diving, cave diving is arguably the area in modern diving in which records are most sought after.

Here are a few breathtaking (not literally) diving records achieved in underwater caves today.

The deepest cave dive in the world was 286.2m (939 ft) by Xavier Miniscus in 2019 in France. (InDepth magazine)

The previous one by Nuno Gomes can be found here:

The longest explored underwater cave system is Sistema Sac Actun, Mexico, which was confirmed by cave divers in 2019. (Guinness World Records)

The longest recorded cave dive was 11.25 kilometers (7 miles) in 2007 by Jarrod Jablonski and Casey McKinlay as part of the Woodville Karst Plain Project in Florida, USA. (South Florida Explorers)

Scuba Wedding Records

People are surprisingly eager to achieve diving records on their wedding days. These are a few of the best ones.

The deepest underwater wedding on scuba gear between Hiroyuki Yoshida (Japan) and Sandra Smith (USA) took place at 130m (426ft 6.1in) depth in a cave at Song Hong Lake, Trang, Thailand in September 2013.(Guinness World Records)

Speaking of a deep connection, huh. 😉

The largest underwater wedding was attended by 303 divers at the ceremony between Ewa Staronska and Pawel Burkowski (Poland) during an event organized by Orka Group Ltd (Poland) at the Koparki Diving Base, Jaworzno, Poland, on 27 August 2011. (Guinness World Records)

Yes. The entire 18-minute ceremony was held underwater.

They not only used scuba and signals but sign language to communicate underwater.

The largest dive access-only water-locked wedding ceremony consisted of 69 people and was achieved by Jani Santala (Finland) and Ina Traelnes (Norway) in Mo I Rana, Norway, on 10 August 2019. (Guinness World Records)

The oldest married couple to scuba dive at a combined age of 171 years 329 days was achieved by Philip Hampton (b. 1 July 1931, USA) and Grace Hampton (nee Hamblin, b. 12 August 1931, USA), in Cayman Brac, BWI, Cayman Islands, on 4 July 2017. (Guinness World Records)

Diving Sport Records

The largest underwater cycle race involved 22 scuba divers competing along the 60-m (196-ft) long, 3-m ( 10-ft) deep 2e2 Underwater Cycling Challenge in Havelet Bay, Guernsey, Channel Islands, UK on 10 September 2006. (Guinness World Records)

Check this out here:

The fastest half marathon on scuba gear by a man is 2 hr 21 min 27 sec by Scott Butler (UK) in Maidenhead, UK, on 3 September 2017. (Guinness World Records)

The fastest half marathon on scuba gear by a woman is 2 hr and 58 sec by Chloe Williams (UK) in Cardiff, UK, on 1 October 2017. (Guinness World Records)

The fastest half marathon in a firefighter’s uniform on scuba gear by a man is 3 hr 21 min 41 seconds by Simon Trye (New Zealand) in Kerikeri, New Zealand, on 21 November 2020. (Guinness World Records)

Funny Diving Records

Not all scuba diving records are super serious.

Some are just not-so-serious reminders of why we dive in the first place: Having fun.

These are the best funny diving records.

The most people playing dominoes underwater is 60 by the Del Mar Dive Club (UK) in Wigston, Leicestershire, UK, on 27 August 2013. (Guinness World Records)

The most people extreme ironing underwater is 173 and was achieved by the Waterman Diving Club (Netherlands) in Oss, Netherlands, on 28 March 2011. (Guinness World Records)

They ironed for 10 minutes underwater. It looked something like this:

The longest human chain underwater was 578 people by Indonesia Women’s Organisation (WASI) (Indonesia) in Manado, North Sulawesi, Indonesia on 1 August 2019 (Guinness World Records)

The longest underwater live radio broadcast (unsupported) is 5 hours, 25 minutes 25 seconds and was achieved by Stu Tolan (New Zealand) from 104.8 Channel 4 at Atlantis, The Palm, in Dubai, UAE, on 13 May 2017. (Guinness World Records)

The largest flag unfurled underwater measured 1,014 m² (10,914.6 ft²) and was achieved by the Indonesia Women’s Organisation (WASI) (Indonesia) in Manado, North Sulawesi, Indonesia, on 3 August 2019. (Guinness World Records)

The longest underwater juggling of three objects is 1 hour and 40 minutes by Markus Just (Germany) at the Freizeit Messe Nuremberg in Nuremberg, Germany, on 03 March 2013. (Guinness World Records)

Other diving records

The deepest dive using an atmospheric diving suit was 609m (2,000ft) by Chief Navy Diver Daniel Jackson of the US Navy submerged off the coast of La Jolla California, USA, on 1 August 2006. (Guinness World Records)
Unlike many other Guinness World Records, Mr. Jackson was randomly selected to achieve this record in which the latest NASA diving suit was tested.

The suit protects users from marine life and dangerous environments and lets you walk on the sea floor using external propulsion. Now that’s a cool diving suit.

The deepest “dive” in a hyperbaric chamber was 701 m (2,299 ft 10.37 in) in November 1992, by French diver Theo Mavrostomos. (Guinness World Records)

Noel McCully (USA) achieved the most hours logged in a diving helmet at the staggering number of 25,000 between 1976 and 2013. (Guinness World Records)

The youngest person to dive to the Titanic is Sebastian Harris (b. 19 September 1991, USA) who at the age of 13 years and 319 days dove to the wreck aboard the Russian submersible Mir 2 on 4 August 2005. (Guinness World Records)

The first recorded deep ocean dive took place on 15 August 1934, when William Beebe (USA, 1877–1962) and Otis Barton (USA, 1899–1992) descended to a then-record depth of 923 m (3,028 ft) in a tethered bathysphere off Bermuda in the Caribbean. (Amusing Planet)

‘The Old Gentleman of Raahe‘, at the Museum of Raahe, Raahe, Finland, is the oldest known surviving diving suit in the world. (Interesting Engineering)

It was made of leather and definitely wasn’t a pretty sight. Oh yes, it still works. 😎

So, if you got a few spare minutes, I highly suggest you take a look at it here:

Animals Diving Records

We love to think of ourselves as “diving like fish” when scuba diving.

Here are some interesting diving records by animals that are actually made to dive underwater.

The deepest recorded fish is the Cusk-eel with confirmed diving depths of (Encyclopedia of Fishes)

The longest duration dive by a mammal was 222 minutes (or 3 hours 42 minutes) made by a Cuvier’s beaked whale (Ziphius cavirostris). (Journal of Experimental Biology)

How do we know? The depth was measured in a study by scientists logging over 3,000 dives over the course of 5 years.

The longest recorded dive by a marine vertebrate is 10 hr 14 min by an adult female loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta), in the Mediterranean Sea, off the coast of Tunisia in February 2003. (Guinness World Records)

The deepest dive by a chelonian was 1,200 m (3,937 ft) by a leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) off the Virgin Islands in the West Indies in May 1987. (Guinness World Records)

Conclusion

This concludes this list of the best scuba diving records.

Were you surprised by some of them?

Check out these 10 surprising scuba diving facts if you want to read more cool things about your favorite underwater sport!

Or how about the top 10 myths about diving many people believe?

Last but not least, here are the current freediving records in 2024.

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Always dive with friends and happy bubbles. 😃

Cheers

Julius