A recreational diver dedicated to spending every spare minute underwater might log up to 1,500 dives over ten years, given the opportunity and the finance. A working diver could clock up anything up to 6,000 dives over the same period.

Although it takes a lot of time and commitment to reach such a total, a few thousand dives is literally a drop in the ocean compared to the achievements of a handful of divers around the world. These are the few who have logged in excess of 15,000 dives each - that's three years, or more, of their lives. Charlotte Boan goes in search of some the world's most logged divers.

CLINTON 'CLINT' CURRIE

Clinton Currie, who is affectionately known as 'Clint' by his diving friends, is not only one of the world's most logged divers, he's also one of the world's most enthusiastic divers. He has spent nearly three years of his life underwater, that's a whopping 15,179 dives. And although he has pretty much 'been there, dived that', he maintains an infectious passion for diving.

'I'm dead lucky that I'm fit enough to be able to dive,' says Clinton now 68. 'You'd have to bury me to stop me diving!'

Unlike those who tend to neglect logbooks somewhere between the 200 and 500 dives mark, Clint's logbooks' pages are neatly completed in extraordinary detail. So, pick any one of his dives between 1963 and 2006, and he would be able to tell you what he saw, how deep he ventured, what equipment he was wearing and who his buddy was for the day.

Thanks to his fastidious dive log habits, Clint can even clock up his total dive time to the minute: that's 20,176 hours and 12 minutes to be precise. And he's only just bought a dive computer this year to help him calculate his time underwater.

Clint first learned to dive at the age of 25 in 1963 with Exeter BSAC, at a time when dive kit was mostly homemade and there was no sign of today's diving essentials such as drysuits, computers, stab jackets, or even back-up regulators. His says he has always had a fascination with the sea having grown up by the coast in South Wales.

After moving from Wales to Devon in the early Sixties, Clint quickly moved up the qualification ladder to become a BSAC advanced instructor at Exeter BSAC.

Although his full-time occupation was marine engineering for more than 25 years, Clint wanted to dive for a living. Diving became so much a part of his life that he trained as a commercial diver and went on to manage the Diver Training School in Exmouth between 1978 and 1988.

Clint, who is divorced, has one son, Stephen, 40, who is also a diver. Stephen trained as a Category 3 diver in the army and now regularly dives with his father.

Most of his dives over the past 43 years have taken place in the UK, everywhere from Scapa Flow to Land's End. 'I enjoy diving in the UK because the marine life is fantastic,' he says. 'You can get so close to nature when you're diving, it's like nothing else.'

The best and worst of his dive memories are based around the UK. His most-loved marine creature is also a real British favourite, the cuttlefish. 'One of my best dives was about five years ago,' he recalls. 'My buddy Sue Earle and I came across some cuttlefish. One of the cuttlefish came over and started caressing my arms, touching my hand with its feelers. It was a fantastic experience.'

With so many dives to look back on, Clint says there are also a few he would rather forget. 'I was diving on a wreck which ran aground in the 1980s,' he explains. 'It was late in the day and it was my job to check the plate. As it was so shallow [4-5m], I decided to dive it with scuba. However, I had worked myself into the mud below the wreck trying to read the plate. It took me a long time to get myself out - the surface cover were on a tea break and I couldn't see a thing.'

Places he has dived abroad include the Red Sea, Florida, Cyprus, Malta and Turkey where he has trained a number of disabled divers. But his favourite sites are in the UK. These include a hairy drift dive at Exmouth Dock and the jewel anemone-covered Hatt Rock site near Plymouth.

An inspirational diving figure and a local diving legend Clint continues to teach new divers every year. He estimates that he has trained well over 4,000 divers in his time, which included six stunt divers who went on to feature in the 1983 James Bond film Never Say Never Again. 'It's nice to be able to pass on all my knowledge,' he says.

So what advice does someone who has 15,179 dives under his belt offer a new diver? 'Keep it safe, never assume,' he cautions. 'I've developed a bit of a sixth sense with diving, which means if it doesn't feel right, then I don't dive.'

Clint currently runs the multiple sclerosis hyperbaric chamber in Exeter and has completed 54 dives this year in the UK. He has a number of diving and boating qualifications, and this year he trained with marine conservation organisation Seasearch to help document Britain's marine life.

His next dive trip abroad will be to the northern Red Sea in November, when he hopes to see what he describes as 'a proper shark', which has so far eluded him over the past 43 years. 'I'd quite like to see a proper shark,' he says. 'I've seen basking sharks, but they're not what I'd call a 'real looking' shark. You never know, this could be the year!'