Diving stats

[MacDuyver]

From what I’ve seen online, the online community is really welcoming to new divers. Once people start talking about making the jump to professional certs though, posters are pretty quick to dissuade them. I think they might be trying to give warning to what lurks behind the zero to hero courses, but it’s pretty prevalent with most people asking about pro certs.

 

[ofg-1]

Most important diving stat. Your ascents should be equal to your descents.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Geographical location has a lot to do with it too.
Some living in the middle if the country that have to fly anywhere to dive might be gung-ho to start with but one economic downturn or some home repairs one year or whatever and they don’t make that trip. After a few years it becomes a been there done that thing.
Maybe the quarry starts to get boring?
Here in Northern California we don’t have that many certified divers, not like LA or Florida, but the ones that dive here tend to be pretty active. The draw is hunting and game collecting. Cold water low vis diving isn’t something that draws a lot if people for the views snd there is no coral. There are those of course that live here but will only go to warm water but they are in the same camp as those living in anywhereUS.
But it’s also true that there are less people getting into diving. I attribute it to cultural changes and attitudes/interests. Youth today just isn’t into it, they do other stuff.
I can tell you what keeps me going, I hunt and explore. I also got into this whole Purple Urchin removal and kelp restoration thing. That has motivated me more than anything ever.
So I have many reasons to be motivated to dive here locally. I don’t travel to dive.
It helps to live an hour away from the ocean too.
All I do currently is shore dive.

 

[MidOH]

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.

This. Even at the rec level.

I've witnessed quite a few rec divers quit because of gatekeeping, and the diving experience not matching up well with the costs.

Getting ripped off by tank schmucks, especially hydro tards, doesn't help much either. No matter how many times you explain to a noob that most LDS's are hobby level amateur shops, they're going to get sick of the incompetence.

Hopefully some new blood in the sport, fixes some of this.

It's pretty sad watching pros puff their chests, when they can't even completely fill a tank in a timely manner.

 

[icechip]

We offer Scuba Discovery dives at the high school I teach at. Students line up left and right and absolutely love the experience. But then very, very few follow up on it, mostly due to costs and/or time. Our local scuba club has lots of members and followers but it's only a relative handful who consistently show up for dives, we also lose the calendar divers when the leaves start to turn. Others are just not into local diving. For still more, scuba is just another option in a multi-option life and lifestyle. Meh, at the end of the day who cares? We passionate ones will still keep showing up.

 

[Belzelbub]

Maybe the quarry starts to get boring?

I could definitely see that. I’m pretty sure I would not have gotten certified in the first place if the only local sites were freshwater lakes or quarries. Some like that kind of diving. It’s just not my thing.

I can tell you what keeps me going, I hunt and explore. I also got into this whole Purple Urchin removal and kelp restoration thing. That has motivated me more than anything ever.
So I have many reasons to be motivated to dive here locally. I don’t travel to dive.
It helps to live an hour away from the ocean too.

Similar.

I can tell you what first got me wanting to dive. Went on a trip to the Keys with my family where we took a snorkeling trip. That got me. I was certified a few months later. It was challenging then as I didn’t really have dive buddies, gear, or funds to dive much.

Did a little more diving when I got to college. This time I had my own gear, but funds were still quite tight. Did some dives at som N FL springs accessible to OW divers. But it was pretty soon obvious, that I was getting bored with this type of diving. Saltwater was it for me.

After several more years, even that was starting to lose some interest. A buddy took me spearfishing, and I was hooked. If I’m out on a boat offshore, I just want to be underwater with a speargun in my hand trying to track down dinner.

Apart from my time in college, I’ve lived pretty much my entire life less than 5 miles from the Gulf. Another aspect of close proximity is lots of dive shops. Some good, some bad. Being so many, there is healthy competition, so if a dive shop rubs me the wrong way, I can strike them off the list and go elsewhere. I’ve done that with a few before I found the ones I like. If I lived in a location where there was only one, and they sucked, that could be a problem with me continuing.