Isn't scuba supposed to be fun too?

[randytay]

I think part of the problem has to do with the sentiment expressed in the Baseball SCUBA analogy. Last I heard there aren't really winners and losers in diving. When I encounter people who think that way I try to avoid them because I'm personally not in competition with anyone I dive with.

If one could get rid of that competitive "lens" much of the debate would fade away.

But I thought you can go faster with split fins!

 

[bpotkin]

I think you can compare scuba to flying single engine airplanes. Flying is super fun, however being on top of your game makes sense.
In my case due to my particular comitment to flying, I only fly locally in good weather. In scuba and flying airplanes, having sound
basic skills can keep you safe while having major fun. If the OP wants to be a vacation diver then he should maybe take a refresher
class before going on holiday.

 

[SC_Hoaty]

But I thought you can go faster with split fins!

Is that what the really fast fish use?

 

[supergaijin]

It's all fun and games until someone loses a lung- to paraphrase my mother.

One problem is that there are too many divers diving too deep for their experience level. The vast majority get away with it.

Comparing it to such sports as kids' baseball is a bit silly- perhaps Pro Football (or rugby coz I'm from NZ) would be a better comparison? Getting hit by a thundering 300lb gorilla at full speed would probably have the same net result as going OOA 100ft down in current. Serious injury or death. Go All Blacks.

 

[freewillie]

Tough neighborhood when the little league games were handicapped by the bookies!

Not bookies. Even scarier. Team moms with Attitide!

 

[DevonDiver]

It's all fun and games until someone loses a lung- to paraphrase my mother.

One problem is that there are too many divers diving too deep for their experience level. The vast majority get away with it.

Agree.

I think of it as "surfing the curve of probability".

Of course, it's possible to do hundreds of dives, without any concern or premeditated thought for your safety. Murphy only comes along, perhaps, 1 in 100000 dives. It's all a bunch of fun until Murphy appears over your shoulder. Murphy likes the deep... he also like caves and wrecks. That's surfing a steeper curve - more fun certainly...but easier to wipe-out. Then it's not so fun... as the dive incident statistics illustrate.

As the saying goes: ignorance is bliss.

I won't apologize if some of the debates on Scubaboard shatter diver's blissful perception of diving.

All I can say, with the benefit of experience, is that diving is a lot more fun, when you know you've not invited Murphy along...

 

[TSandM]

BTW, addressing the idea of whether you can have fun becoming a better diver: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ba...860-how-do-you-just-practice.html#post6352070

 

[Racer_X]

Wasn't mocking, nor trying to justify poor skills.

Winning is more fun than losing. I do remember telling the little league kids just have fun, but remember it's more fun to win.

Not necessarily. Often the reverse is true. I've been on teams that were undefeated and teams that never won a game. Often we had more fun on the latter because it wasn't taken as seriously. I'm seeing this now with my son - the "winning" teams get yelled at on the bench by the coaches when they make mistakes, whereas our teams get corrected, and the one making the mistake gets a hug and gets sent right back out to learn.

Then, of course, those on the "winning" teams look at US like we're strange. <sigh>

---------- Post added ----------

I think of it as "surfing the curve of probability".

Of course, it's possible to do hundreds of dives, without any concern or premeditated thought for your safety. Murphy only comes along, perhaps, 1 in 100000 dives.

In my industry we call these high impact/low probability events. The usual way to address these is to transfer the risk via something like insurance because it doesn't make sense to fix the problem. 100,000 dives could be multiple divers' entire career!

All I can say, with the benefit of experience, is that diving is a lot more fun, when you know you've not invited Murphy along...

I would say YMMV. If you aren't AWARE you've invited Murphy along, I would posit you'd have "equal" fun compared to an experienced diver who has taken more (but not all) of the variables off the table.

I'm not advocating ignorance (in anything for that matter, but that's another thread). However, I do agree with the OP in that everyone needs to remember that the focus in on fun (for varying values of fun). That "good diver" thread I had to stop reading after a few pages.

 

[freewillie]

Not necessarily. Often the reverse is true. I've been on teams that were undefeated and teams that never won a game. Often we had more fun on the latter because it wasn't taken as seriously. I'm seeing this now with my son - the "winning" teams get yelled at on the bench by the coaches when they make mistakes, whereas our teams get corrected, and the one making the mistake gets a hug and gets sent right back out to learn.

Then, of course, those on the "winning" teams look at US like we're strange. <sigh>

IMO that depends on the coaches and parents. I could see the faces on the boys when the games ended, they were always more excited when they won. A few boys had tears after some of our close losses. At that point the parents dictate the difference between winning and losing and whether or not just playing the sport is fun.

John Wooden not only set the bar for wins and National Championships but for dignity and grace not only in sport but in life as well. His players loved playing for him. Bob Knight is the prototypical bad behavior coach. Both are considered Hall of Fame coaches, but which one would you tell your kid to play for?

 

[kathydee]

I&#8217;m smiling as I read this thread. From a beginner&#8217;s perspective I think it almost impossible to understand the skill/comfort which can be achieved underwater. My humble introduction to scuba was through back-packer diver in SE Asia. We rented well used equipment and spent all our time enjoying unique marine life found in the coral triangle. Every dive was a trust me dive. I was absolutely thrilled to blow bubbles and enjoy the fish! Most of us couldn't be bothered with details like navigation and dive profile planning. It was clearly the job of the DM/guides to keep us alive and find the boat again.

Then a women at a homestay on a small island of Malaysia Borneo shared Scubaboards address. I was completely shocked at how much you all had to say about scuba ;-). My initial assessment was that you guys were seriously uptight about diving & and most likely had very bad local diving with long stretches of boredom (which justified all the time spent arguing on SB ;-).

I had logged about 60 dives or so, and thought myself a decent diver, but had never heard of trim, had no idea various kicking techniques existed, rented poor fitting equipment, leaking masks, and every dive was a trust me dive. YES - we were having loads of fun just blowing bubbles and looking at fish without any neurotic advice from Scubaboard!!

Fast forward a few years, a few more classes past AOW (listed in my SB profile - if you are curious). I don&#8217;t think GUE training is for everyone, but it was certainly a very fast and efficient path to accelerate my dive skills and help me become an independent cold water diver. The trust-me critter dives were great fun, but having the skill to safely slip into most conditions alone with a trusted partner is much more exciting and confidence inspiring! Knowing the capability of my equipment, being able to position my body exactly where I desire, having the skill to hover effortlessly in one spot to look at something or take pictures (even just inches off the bottom), having the confidence to navigate back to the boat/shore, knowing how to plan my own profile, understanding true risks and how to manage them, and having extra awareness to help out friends or the guide if needed &#8211; has made diving much more safe and FUN ! I certainly don&#8217;t think DIR equipment/training is the only path to achieve this comfort, but it is undeniably a very efficient way to gain much more skill quickly.

The other day I met a young college science student just starting a career in underwater research. He had only logged 12 dives prior to taking Fundies. All of these were training dives to prep for the class &#8211; which amazingly he passed in doubles. He asked me to help him with some skill practice, which I did. During the dive I paused the skills to enjoy an adorable turtle. After the skills we kicked through some beautiful swim throughs. I found it quite shocking and sad to hear that this was the first &#8220;fun dive&#8221; he had ever enjoyed.

Despite popular misconception, practice to improve skills doesn&#8217;t necessarily always require hard serious sessions or a one track focus on skills such as this. Much of my skill was fine- tuned looking at critters on fun dives. Sure, we do occasional skill dives, but they are always filled with laughter. It's more common that we just do a skill or two in the shallows at the end of a fun dive. There is always plenty of fun, critter watching and even the occasional bubble ring

Yes, I totally relate to just hoping off a boat and letting the guide worry about the rest . But with experience, I have found diving is both much more safe and fun if you continue to improve your awareness, personal/partner skills and dive trustworthy equipment that both functions and fits ;-).

I've seen divers complete Fundies with 40 dives and skills that it took me 300 dives to achieve (I took Fundies with 270 dives). We all have our own pace & training path.

Just keep learning & having fun ;-).