Glossary of Scuba Diving Terms (N)

Understanding That Strange Scuba Language

Welcome to our glossary of scuba diving terms. Diving, like many sports, has its own language. Our scuba glossary is for anyone interested in understanding the scuba diving definitions, scuba diving terms or scuba slang found in this strange scuba communication that divers use.

Our scuba glossary is easy to use. Just click on the letter that corresponds to the first letter of the word that you are looking for. All the words that begin with that letter will be displayed.

We will be constantly adding new terms to our scuba glossary. If you think we have missed a term or you can not find the scuba diving information you are looking for, please let us know. We will add it and the best definition we can find to our scuba glossary.

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N

National Association of Underwater Instructors. NAUI is one of the oldest certifying agencies and is based in the United States.

A unit of distance designed to equal approximately 1 minute of arc of latitude, 6080.20 feet. A nautical mile is approximately 1.15 times as long as the statute mile of 5280 ft. Also known as a "geographical mile" or "sea mile".

A synthetic fabric with good heat insulation properties. Neoprene is used to make wetsuits.

An odorless, colorless and tasteless gas that makes up approximately 78% of the air. Nitrogen is inert (it does not enter into any chemical reaction in the body) but it can cause problems under pressure. (See nitrogen narcosis, decompression sickness).

Intoxication caused by breathing nitrogen at elevated partial pressures. This can happen on deep dives and can result in the impairment of reasoning and motor skills, feelings of irrational anxiety or elation, and perceptual narrowing. The effect can be reversed upon the return to a shallower depth.

A mixture of nitrogen and oxygen prepared for use as a breathing gas. Nitrox will contain a greater percentage of oxygen than that found in air.

A No Decompression Limit is the maximum bottom time at a given depth, at which a direct ascent to the surface is possible without having to do staged decompression stops and without sufficient risk of decompression sickness.