Diving stats

[Flutter]

I believe the percentage of certified divers who never reach 50 dives is quite high. I’d put money on it being over 90%, possibly much higher. It could be over 98%.

I run into ‘certified’ divers all the time. At work, at church, at social events. I can count on one hand the number of people I’ve run into who are actual ‘divers’ like most of us here and have logged over 50 dives.

I would also put money down on the percentage of divers who never reach 20 post-training dives being over 75%.

Thank you for your response. I had no idea beyond what we were told years ago (and it sounds as if he estimated on the high side). We are shore divers and mostly meet only other active shore divers while vacationing. At home, certified divers and divers alike are very rare.

 

[Flutter]

I would think 80% is very very high now. Maybe this was true 21 years ago, but now it seems a lot of people get certified OW on vacations and then never do it again.

Yes. It sounds as if he may have errored on the high side, or more ppl are certifying simply for a vacation now.

 

[Bigbella]

Part of it may actually be generational with so many modern distractions available -- when there was, comparatively, just a few decades back, an almost total lack of a constant, twenty-four bombardment of streaming entertainment and games, little of which ever prepares one for donning a wetsuit and taking a surface swim; or, for, for that matter, ever leaving the basement.

We didn't proudly reach thirteenth in the list of obese countries, at about forty-three percent and climbing, by just sitting on our hands -- churros were also involved.

My circle of friends, most of whom began diving with me, in the late 1970s, all continue to dive . . .

 

[MacDuyver]

I would think 80% is very very high now. Maybe this was true 21 years ago, but now it seems a lot of people get certified OW on vacations and then never do it again.

Talking to people on dive boats, I’d expect that realistically 80% divers probably don’t even hit 100.

There are many Passionate ones sure, but the typical diver I’ve met on a charter boat usually hasn’t broken 30.

 

[Ez E]

I stopped diving before 10 dives. Well, I stopped for 22 years. Than just recently picked it back up. With the money I have invested in the last few months I dont plan to quit again for a while.

 

[boulderjohn]

Here is my take on one possible reason for the early dropout of divers. I think the "Been there; done that" syndrome is in play. Long term divers are rarely doing the same thing over and over and over and over and over and over again. They keep finding ways to keep diving new for themselves.

I myself went through this sequence (with overlaps) over the decades:

1. Initial experiences in resort area--"Hey! This is really cool!"
2. Discovery of other such beauty (etc.) in sites around the world, bringing in the cultural experiences along with the diving. (Check my profile to see where I've been.)
3. Divemaster assisting classes
4. Instructor
5. Cold water/drysuit diving
6. Tech diving
7. Cave diving
8. Tech instruction
9. Exploration

As a result of always looking for something new, I acquired a set of certification cards about two inches thick. People who believe that you should do nothing but basic diving over and over and over and over and never grow new experiences dismiss a sequence like that as "card collecting," but it kept me excited about diving.

Other people have things on their list that I don't have, including guiding dives, photography, videography, rebreathers, etc. It's all good. Whatever works for you.

 

[WillieJustice]

Here is my take on one possible reason for the early dropout of divers. I think the "Been there; done that" syndrome is in play. Long term divers are rarely doing the same thing over and over and over and over and over and over again. They keep finding ways to keep diving new for themselves.

I myself went through this sequence (with overlaps) over the decades:

1. Initial experiences in resort area--"Hey! This is really cool!"
2. Discovery of other such beauty (etc.) in sites around the world, bringing in the cultural experiences along with the diving. (Check my profile to see where I've been.)
3. Divemaster assisting classes
4. Instructor
5. Cold water/drysuit diving
6. Tech diving
7. Cave diving
8. Tech instruction
9. Exploration

As a result of always looking for something new, I acquired a set of certification cards about two inches thick. People who believe that you should do nothing but basic diving over and over and over and over and never grow new experiences dismiss a sequence like that as "card collecting," but it kept me excited about diving.

Other people have things on their list that I don't have, including guiding dives, photography, videography, rebreathers, etc. It's all good. Whatever works for you.

I have only a handful of dives so far, but will have more than 25 in less than a year of certification. Even diving in the same place, it is different and interesting so far. I can't imagine getting bored with it. Time is the real issue for me. I suspect that time knocks a lot of people out of diving because it can be hard to schedule.

 

[Aquaphoto]

Well I can say that all talk and (limited) statistics point towards the number of active divers decreasing following certification.

I have watched and listened to numerous dive professionals and shops complain about this through the years... the average dive day costs a bigger chunk of the average persons wages now. Most persons I talk to that relate "I AM A DIVER!" end up having less than 25 dives over the course of 2 or more trips...

The fleet of more than 26 dive boats off of the Southern California Coast has dwindled to about 5 regular boats and a small intermittent group of six pack boats. 740 divers on any given weekend in the summer to a little over 100. If that lends any weight to the trend that others in this thread have related.

The absence of media to drive the imaginations of teens under the waves ... like sea hunt, Jaques Cousteau, and (groan) Sea Quest , might be a factor in this. All of the hair on the dive boats I find myself on is grey or dyed. It appears to be an aging sport.

Most of the professionals I chat with seem to think that less than 5% of the persons certified make it to 100 dives. Look at the big ceremonies like getting "caked" at 100 dives ... it surprised me ... but 50 dives is becoming a professional level of experience in recent years.

 

[MacDuyver]

It doesn’t help that graybeards tend to **** on young divers expressing professional ambition either.

Ive heard and read it for both commercial diving and professional ratings on countless occasions… although commercial divers are usually more eager to get people into their line of work. old folks gatekeeping, particularly online is strong af in scuba diving and it’s a pretty big turnoff for many people.

 

[WillieJustice]

It doesn’t help that graybeards tend to **** on young divers expressing professional ambition either.

Ive heard and read it for both commercial diving and professional ratings on countless occasions… although commercial divers are usually more eager to get people into their line of work. old folks gatekeeping, particularly online is strong af in scuba diving and it’s a pretty big turnoff for many people.

I have found it the opposite. Granted, I have gray hair and most divers are both younger and more skilled. I have found the diving community to be amazingly welcoming and helpful. Others have given me fantastic advice and helped me sort through the piles of mistakes I make and all the gaps in my knowledge.