Vacation Diver Poll

[TMHeimer]

It's discussed so often on SB. Maybe some details will help. Personally, I never gave a thought to scuba until age 51, due to my inland location. Though I did tons of snorkeling (shallow "free diving" I guess), I thought of scuba as something very serious and something that you either did regularly or not at all. This is still my attitude, but many do otherwise. The thought of a DSD (hour of instruction) on a cruise ship we took in 1999 was not at all appealing to me. The thought of even being fully OW certified but diving only once or twice yearly on a tropical trip was, to me, crazy. Though I now consider myself quite able to remember the dive procedure even of I took 5-10 years off, that is only after 15 years. Years 1,2, etc., I'd forget how to assemble the damn thing. I'm a memorizer--review stuff a tiny bit daily, and dive wet once every 2 weeks here--freezing and generally the pain that it is.
The poll is not meant to be a knock on "vacation" divers. It's just for data for myself. But please elaborate on why you do whatever you do to prepare.

 

[dlofting]

My first vacation dive is always a refresher, but only in how I gear up. Once I hit the water everything is second nature.

 

[Jcp2]

I guess it depends on the interval between dives; weeks, months, or years.

 

[Germie]

I guess it depends on the interval between dives; weeks, months, or years.

And on how many dives you already have done. If it are 100 or maybe 2000. A big difference. Also if you have a lot of dives and are higher certified like tech. Then you don't need a refresher on sportsdiverlevel. It only takes some time and training to get back on the tech level.

 

[Gareth J]

Generally forums like this are representative of active divers. So the likelihood of having a representative Poll of holiday divers is low.
But crack on.

I dive in a club. The vast majority dive all year. We had our pre Christmas dive on Sunday, and will have a dive New Years Eve to see the year out.
One of the advantages of the colder months, is the inland site often has better visibility than during the summer. The vis does deteriorate if there is a lot of rain that results in run off into the Quarry.

 

[AfterDark]

I'd never heard the term "vacation" diver until I joined SB in 2009. I don't get how someone can confine scuba diving to vacations. If I did that I'd never get to dive. The last time I went on a vacation was 2013. I retired in 2019 so the summer of 2020 is going to involve a lot of diving, locally.

However, there was a 10 year stint that my diving slowed down to a few dives during the summer. Back then it was running and regular gym sessions 5 days per week to stay in shape and be physically ready to dive.

During that time I didn't feel inadequate or that I lacked the skills needed to dive. Diving to me is like a riding bicycle; once I did a few hundred dives the skills were ingrained. I agree with @GarethJ it maybe hard to get an answer to this question here, unless surfing SB is what a vacation diver does in the meantime.

 

[Edward3c]

Like @Gareth J I don’t just dive on holiday (vacation) and this year’s diving isn’t over.

However, the first dive in different conditions is always a checkout dive, checking:
* my kit is working as it should,
* my wetsuit still fits (even though I’ve confirmed I can get into it before packing),
* weighting is as I want,
* I still remember how to use a BC for buoyancy control,
* and most importantly, to check out the dive operator.

 

[purbeast]

I'm a vacation diver thus far and was certified in March of this year. I did 9 dives when I got OW/AOW certified in Grand Cayman. Then in May I went to the Keys and did 2 dives. September I went again to the Keys and did 2 more dives. And last month I went to Turks and Caicos and did 2 more dives.

Between the 2 Keys trips I bought my own setup and went to a pool twice to test it all out in a couple different configurations. When I went to Turks and Caicos last month everything felt very natural/easy to me. I have everything dialed in now and even bought my own weight (2 2lb trim weights) to bring with me since in T&C they only had 3lb plates and I had to wear a belt since they wouldn't fit in my trim pockets.

I am hoping to go somewhere in the Caribbean by March at the latest to get some more warm water diving in. When I do these trips though it's with my wife and kid so I can't spend every day diving. I typically take a morning to go dive, but I'm going to try and do at least 4 dives on my next trip. I don't really plan on going into a pool with my gear before my next trip though.

There is a dive site that's supposed to open that is about an hour from me in a fresh water quarry. From the pics/videos I've seen it is somewhat clear water so I may check it out. I really don't like being cold or in cold water so I'll have to see what kind of thermal protection is needed in there. I will just have to wait and see how it goes but I do plan to check it out this upcoming summer.

We try to travel to warm tropical waters 4-5 times a year and I get my fix in those trips. I would like to go on some weekend long "dive trips" that some local shops do but haven't done so yet.

 

[1967Goat]

I fit your criteria. I usually dive once or twice per year when I am on a warm weather vacation, aka "resort dives". My kids are 8 & 9 so I did not have the time or money to go diving the last 9 years or so. Growing up we had an in-ground pool so I am very comfortable in water. I don't have any issue clearing my ears either.

We usually go to the same resort in Mexico and they have a dive shop on-site. I am very comfortable with the instructors and trust them. I rent my gear, but now that I have 30+ dives I am looking at getting my own stuff. My oldest will be 10 this year, so I will get him certified and his brother is only 14 months behind. Once they are both certified I am looking forward to diving more often. My wife got certified with me, but she has trouble clearing her ears and probably won't ever go again.

To answer your question, I just show up, get the pre-dive instruction and just go. These are recreational, low risk dives. I got SSI certified for EAN on our last trip a few weeks ago.

 

[TMHeimer]

Some good replies so far. Yes, I know those voting are SB members so that may not be a great way to sample less dedicated divers. I can see that there is a big difference between one or 4-5 dive trips per year, as well as number of total dives one has done and what cert. level one has.