diving just for the fun of it

[novicediver]

How many of you dive just for ch*ts and giggles? I haven't done a real dive in years but I will go to a shop with a pool from time to time just to breathe compressed air. So many threads place an emphasis on doing drills or practicing certain skill sets, but to me that takes some of the fun out of it. Diving is just a means to end and for me the end is simply being underwater.

 

[DevonDiver]

I think I could confidently assume that all of us dive for fun. There's a lot of debate here about drills, procedures, best-practice etc... because those are topics which make interesting forum reads. Some of us also define 'fun' through the perfection of our diving technique.

When divers gain a great deal of experience, the 'novelty' of breathing compressed air tends to run out. We seek other avenues, within scuba, to progress our interest so that we keep on having fun. Examples of that may be:

1) Refining our scuba techniques.
2) Cave and Technical diving.
3) Underwater photography.
4) Collecting fossils.
5) Underwater hunting.
6) Teaching scuba to others.
7) Researching marine life and behaviour.

etc etc etc

After a few (dozen/hundred/thousand) dives, SCUBA ceases to be the goal in itself... and becomes more of a 'vehicle' to enable other activities within the underwater environment.

We don't necessarily dive for the sake of diving itself, but we love being underwater...and find activities that suit us...and allow us to get submerged as regularly as possible whilst still keeping the diving fresh and entertaining.

 

[knowone]

Diving proficiently in salt water as many configurations of marketed open circuit between conception and twenty years ago, for what's in the water, just diving like everyone else.
Nothing other than accessibility to mixed gas has happened since

Without spending six dives finding the optimal position for the two bits of pushbike tube that must be epdm combining the corrugated and inflator hoses relative to mach 1.

Which means put the gear together look at it and go.
Which after a little bit of time diving should be able to be done.

And as maxbottomtime has suggested recently if I remember loosely once you know how to clear your mask, you know and he hasn't removed his since.

Underwater brawling is the most effective drill.

But you don't want to get to the pub looking like you've been there all day.

The demands and expectation seemingly placed on new people today, and certainly from these machines, what they can place on themselves, defy reality and seem about as much fun as what I've heard about passing a stone.


My fascination with being underwater with underwater things is what takes me.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

To me skills are fun. I enjoy challenging myself.

 

[knowone]

Plenty of skill challenges in the ocean.

 

[CamG]

Greetings Stroke1970 and through out the natural progression of my dive history one thing has remained constant, FUN!
The second greatest rule of scuba that I was taught was that you have to have fun or it is simply BUNK!
As Jim and Devon have mentioned training and seeking further levels are loads of fun for some and not so much for others. I am one who loves to continue the evolution.

Do I have moments when I just close my eyes and let the thrill overtake me, ABSOLUTELY!
My latest experience that is ingrained in my memory was one of my dives at Peacock following a INTRO class just shadowing them.
I did not turn on my primary light at all, just used my back up to check gauges.
It was peaceful beyond reckoning, the darkness would envelope me as I stayed on the fringe of the light! Sounds bazar but so amazingly peaceful!
Sometimes we see more when we close our eyes, it is one of the latest dives that I revisit daily to survive the surface intervals.

I have not yet found a substitute for being in the water the only issue is family priorites.
It is not always about my dive time but I have a awesome understanding family. We are actually considering moving south to allow for easier diving making more time for both.
My wife and daughter are divers, my son is still in training.
We are looking forward to spending some time in FL checking out the springs and the beach this spring break.
I hope the manatees are still in.

Some fear intense or complex dives others thrive on them!
That is why I love diving so much it offers everyone an opportunity to enjoy a shared activity of being underwater!
Diving is actually big enough to be all things to all divers!
We all share one simple media that lets us free the bonds of gravity!
Whatever your goals or opinions are, just dive like there is no tomorrow!
There is enough time to sort it out between surface intervals!

CamG Keep diving....Keep training....Keep learning!

 

[Insta-Gator]

Scuba diving is one of those things that make the first beer of the evening taste soooooo good. But actually, my perception is that there are two types of divers. Those of us who just want to be wet, blow some bubbles and see pretty underwater 'stuff' and those who are genuinely fascinated by all the technical gee-wiz gizmos and scientific analysis. I like bubbles...in the water and in my beer. I have no interest in carrying 100# of gear, multiple cylinders of gas and a WWII searchlight just so I can see my hand in front of my face or how barren the hard pack is at 200 ft. I'm just sayin'... not my thing. Clear, warm water, sunshine and a cold beer reward at the end of the day is my thing.

 

[fnfalman]

I dive just for the fun of it. I don't care if I don't know how to safely do a 500-ft deep, 3-hrs dive. I don't care if I don't know how to frog kick or back kick. I don't care if I don't know how to do a decompression plan. I don't care if my gear is streamlined or hip with the current fashion.

I do care about being safe underwater and stay off the bottoms.

 

[fjpatrum]

The only reason for me to SCUBA is to see things. I don't give a rat's ass about "breathing underwater" but I do care about seeing things I like to see. I'm startled at what exactly that entails, as a newbie, because it's far more than I thought I'd find interesting. (I originally was thinking only about warm water and tropical reefs... now an ice-cold mud puddle seems to be intriguing.)

I've snorkeled for 20 years in some amazing places, and I always thought I'd see even more on SCUBA. The breathing underwater part is just what it takes to see the things I want to see.

That said, it's all fun, or it's not worth doing.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Scuba diving is one of those things that make the first beer of the evening taste soooooo good. But actually, my perception is that there are two types of divers. Those of us who just want to be wet, blow some bubbles and see pretty underwater 'stuff' and those who are genuinely fascinated by all the technical gee-wiz gizmos and scientific analysis. I like bubbles...in the water and in my beer. I have no interest in carrying 100# of gear, multiple cylinders of gas and a WWII searchlight just so I can see my hand in front of my face or how barren the hard pack is at 200 ft. I'm just sayin'... not my thing. Clear, warm water, sunshine and a cold beer reward at the end of the day is my thing.

I'm not sure it's that simple. I'm one of those people who enjoys doing multiple gas dives to 200+ feet ... especially when there's something really cool down there to look at. But I also like doing 20-foot dives in the eelgrass to visit all the little critters who use the place for a nursery. And I like diving in wrecks and caves. And I like diving in lakes. And I really like diving in warm, easy tropical places. I even like playing around in a pool sometimes ... especially when I'm doing it to help someone else work on a skill or something.

To my concern, it's all fun ... but I like the variety.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)