This article is adapted from a chapter in the Book - "The Canterbury Wreck - A Diver's Guide"

Hi.... although not strictly sidemount related, I wanted to cover a subject very dear to one of my great passions in diving - wreck diving. Wrecks provide an amazing array of diving experiences from creating artificial reefs that attract and aggregate marine life to the wonders of penetrating and exploring the inside of a wreck.

When you undertake your entry level Wreck Diving Specialty Course, one of the key skills that you will learn is to correctly lay a guideline. Despite this, you will see and hear of experienced wreck divers performing penetration dives without using a guideline. Are these experienced wreck divers being complacent or foolhardy or is there a reasonable explanation for not using a guideline in all circumstances when diving wrecks?