What is the fundamental reason that prevents scuba diving from becoming popular?

[NW Dive Dawg]

Aside from both having diving in the name, there is a major difference between scuba diving and skydiving. Besides the air and water thing.

You can’t really thumb a skydive.

I wonder if skydivers have prolonged discussions and arguments about the pro's and con's of a back mounted reserve chute vs a front mount.....

 

[EFX]

Aside from both having diving in the name, there is a major difference between scuba diving and skydiving. Besides the air and water thing.

You can’t really thumb a skydive.

What they both have in common is when you run out of air without a backup you die.

 

[chillyinCanada]

Claustrophobia is what I've heard too. Their reasoning is that the equipment is too confining and should an emergency occur they will not be able to get out of the equipment to swim to the surface. It kind of reminds me of days long past when wearing seat belts while riding in a car was not required. People would say "I'm never wearing a seat belt because if I get into an accident and the car catches fire, I may not be able to get out should the seat belt get stuck." Ironically, we know now that seat belts save far more lives than causing deaths.

I think the fundamental reason scuba diving isn't popular is that it only appeals to those people who like high adventure and high risk (relatively to other benign sports). Scuba is in the league with sky diving, mountain climbing, mountain biking, etc. Add the high cost, the training and time involved and most people think it's not worth it.

But they'd be wrong, so worth it!

 

[NW Dive Dawg]

What they both have in common is when you run out of air without a backup you die.

Nah..... you can always make a CESA and live...

What they both have in common is that when the **** hits the fan......you've got the whole rest of your life to figure it out!

 

[rjgiddings]

The money is the most prohibiting factor. My god...it's always the $.

I can only think of one hobby that's more expensive- and that's learning to fly.
Pilot lessons are ruh-dic-ulous.

 

[Wibble]

The money is the most prohibiting factor. My god...it's always the $.

I can only think of one hobby that's more expensive- and that's learning to fly.
Pilot lessons are ruh-dic-ulous.

Sailing? Aside from sailing on OPM, the entry costs and annual maintenance are way way way higher than a few grand for dive kit. It's the cost of a new rebreather a year and then some.

Every time I pay my £60/€70/$90 to the boat skipper I doff my hat to him as I walk away from all responsibilities.

Even a motorcycle's more expensive. Any form of motorsport is loads-a-money

People spend thousands following their football teams around.

What else would one do with one's money? There's no pockets in a shroud.

 

[Hoyden]

The money is the most prohibiting factor. My god...it's always the $.

I can only think of one hobby that's more expensive- and that's learning to fly.
Pilot lessons are ruh-dic-ulous.

I did competitive rock crawling/off-roading before I came back to diving. Diving is not even close to being as expensive as that. But rock crawling is definitely a more niche activity.

Jackie

 

[El Diablo]

Money. Bottom line. It ain't a poor man's sport.

Kind of disagree there bud... IMO cost is the lesser reason.

Compared to what? Motorcycles, Photography? Only a few ACTIVE Sports / Hobbies are cheaper than diving on the mid-long term. I used CAPS on ACTIVE because of course, collecting post stamps is cheaper but also doesn't require any equipment. Team sports like Basketball and Football are also cheaper but you still need a court or field.

One can pay around 1K to get his basic diving gear and use it for 20 years or more if he dives an average of 30-40 times a year (obviously depending on use and conditions some gear might need replacement earlier).
Certification isn't uber cheap but I wouldn't consider 400-500€ expensive to get certified.
I mentioned Motorcycles and Photography because I do both. A motorcycle license in 2022 costs 1.500€, add another 1.000€ for very average reputable gear and you've already spent almost 2 times more than Diving.
An modern entry level camera with a basic kit lens is around 1.000€ (I'm talking mirrorless as DSLRs are soon becoming obsolete). The moment you decide to buy some additional lenses,, things become quite crazy really fast (I've spent more than 20K but that's another story). Add to the fact that camera bodies become 'old' after 2-3 years as technology advances much quicker compared to diving equipment and you get the idea...

I believe fear of the unknown (huge man eating Octopuses and Sharks), lack of buddies to share the passion, time (you need the whole day to make a proper dive + the post dive debriefing & festivities usually on a tavern) and / or country of residence, meaning ease of access to water.
In Germany, finding warm, salty water is basically impossible so basically either you dive in cold lakes or travel many Km in older to get to the sea. Result: I don't dive as often. When I used to live in Greece I was diving every weekend.

 

[El Diablo]

Do you have another activity in mind which is equipment heavy, expensive, involve some risk and yet more popular than scuba?

By FAR: Motorcycles and that's without incl. any kind or 'racing'. Costs for riding a bike are much higher and that's excluding the bike of course, only gear, tires, maintenance and fuel. The difference / gap increases disproportionally the more you go to the higher-end.

Edit: IF you are mature enough to take your safety seriously. I believe in the US one can ride without a helmet...

 

[Wibble]

By FAR: Motorcycles and that's without incl. any kind or 'racing'. Costs for riding a bike are much higher and that's excluding the bike of course, only gear, tires, maintenance and fuel. The difference / gap increases disproportionally the more you go to the higher-end.

Edit: IF you are mature enough to take your safety seriously. I believe in the US one can ride without a helmet...

And El Diablo is a beautiful motorcycle...