WtF: The Decline in Scuba Participation

[Searcaigh]

Guys also very occasionally ask for directions.

Can you point me to where you read that?

 

[TMHeimer]

Can you point me to where you read that?

I ask for directions maybe even more than my wife, and I've been to all states & provinces except Hawaii. I don't do GPS, just the old maps.

 

[drrich2]

As this thread nears 200 posts, it may be time to get back onto the original post, which theorized that some of the decline in scuba participation may be due to the destruction of the beautiful diving spots that abounded when I was a new diver and spurred me to dive all around the world.

To gauge the impact of reef deterioration over time, a few questions would be good to have answers to:

1.) To what extent to prospective divers considering training know about reef degradation and the reduced potential reward of diving?

2.) What impression to fairly new divers have of reef diving, given that they may not have high standards based on first had experience of diving decades ago? If they're happy with what's available now, and calibrate their expectations to it, is that good enough?

3.) If recreational diving participation is seen as insufficient (a topic in its own right), is that because to few people are coming in, or established divers are dropped out, or both?

4.) Are there mitigating factors that ought to compensate? Such as more people with passports and some international travel experience (e.g.: cruise ship vacationers, land-based resort vacationers), ease of trip planning and booking online (e.g.: TripAdvisor, Scuba Board, Orbitz, Travelocity), etc...?

5.) If there is a dip in recreational diving participation, is it broad across all segments (e.g: Great Lakes wreck diving, shark and wreck diving out of North Carolina, big animal diving out of Jupiter, shallow reefs of Key Largo, reefs of the Caymans) or are we mainly seeing a drop in customers at mainly reef destinations?

One might figure most divers start out aiming to be reef divers and some thereafter get inspired to pursue other dive interests (e.g.: wreck, cave, technical).

Before the pandemic, where dive op.s in mainstream destinations like Cozumel and the Caymans complaining of a drop in participation?

 

[Lorenzoid]

Great questions, Richard. Another thought, relating to something that has been brought up intermittently in this thread, is that most of us will have a difficult time judging what is going on worldwide. I have the impression scuba diving is growing along with the middle class in Asia, while in the US and maybe Europe and Australia it's more complicated.

 

[boulderjohn]

2.) What impression to fairly new divers have of reef diving, given that they may not have high standards based on first had experience of diving decades ago? If they're happy with what's available now, and calibrate their expectations to it, is that good enough?

When I read this question, I thought of a few of the experiences I wrote about earlier, specifically....

• Diving off Andros Island in the Bahamas, exploring untold acres of dead, white coral with nearly no fish.
• Being dropped by our liveaboard on reefs reduced to coral rubble by dynamite fishing. They made a choice to put us there, suggesting that there was nothing better in the vicinity.
• Snorkeling over the 95% dead, white coral, and very few fish, in Akumal Bay.

You don't have to be in any of the places like that decades before to know there is nothing of interest to see there, and you don't have to know a whole lot of marine biology to know that dead, white coral was probably once alive and colorful.

 

[Lorenzoid]

. . . You don't have to be in any of the places like that decades before to know there is nothing of interest to see there, and you don't have to know a whole lot of marine biology to know that dead, white coral was probably once alive and colorful.

And then again, I mentioned in a post above that a newly certified friend of mine and his newly certified family did their first post-cert dive in the Bahamas (on a cruise port of call, I think) and were absolutely wowed when a lone turtle passed by. My friend raved about that one encounter--I suspect he couldn't recall seeing much else but white sand and rubble--and went on and on about what a great time the family had.

That was a few years ago, and my friend and his family did not stick with scuba diving, but the reasons had nothing to do with the marine environment.

 

[boulderjohn]

And then again, I mentioned in a post above that a newly certified friend of mine and his newly certified family did their first post-cert dive in the Bahamas (on a cruise port of call, I think) and were absolutely wowed when a lone turtle passed by. My friend raved about that one encounter--I suspect he couldn't recall seeing much else but white sand and rubble--and went on and on about what a great time the family had.

That was a few years ago, and my friend and his family did not stick with scuba diving, but the reasons had nothing to do with the marine environment.

There is more than one level of enthusiasm. It is not a choice between "enthused" and "bored."

If they were that enthused about a single turtle, think how enthused they would have been had the seen the true beauty that was there a few decades ago.

 

[Lorenzoid]

There is more than one level of enthusiasm. It is not a choice between "enthused" and "bored."

If they were that enthused about a single turtle, think how enthused they would have been had the seen the true beauty that was there a few decades ago.

True, but we're talking (I think) about Richard's question number 2, about new divers' impressions. Are new divers are satisfied with what they see? I realize my friend's story is only a single data point. It would be interesting to do a laser-focused poll of divers immediately after their first post-cert dive trip: "How much did you enjoy what you saw on your dives?" Then follow up with the same people two years later, asking if they still dive, and if so, how much did they enjoy what they saw on their last dives, and if not, did what they saw or did not see on their last dives have an effect on why they no longer dive.

 

[boulderjohn]

Are new divers are satisfied with what they see?

Once again, there is a difference between being "satisfied" by what you saw and being so excited by it that you can't wait for a similar experience.

I recently saw a film in which David Attenborough said that it was the stunning beauty of his first dive on the Great Barrier reef so many years ago that drove him to his remarkable career. He was more than satisfied with that dive.

A survey would not help, because it is impossible to compare the feelings you had during an experience with the feelings you think you might have had if you had had a different experience. The experiences I had on my first dive trip were life-altering. I have seen nothing like it for many years.

 

[Lorenzoid]

@boulderjohn I'm afraid I'm just not understanding your point. What relevance to new divers is the condition of the reef may years ago--something they have no preconceived ideas of (unless they are the type who watch David Attenborough documentaries, Chasing Coral, etc.). I'm pretty sure my friend was the type who took little interest in the ocean and hadn't given much if any thought to what they might see on their first dive. To people like that, a single turtle might "excite" them enough to want to do it again.

Fair point about "satisfied" versus "excited," though. Maybe I should rephrase my proposed poll question: "Did what you saw on your first dive trip motivate you to want to dive again?"