How did you get into scuba?

[mzenzer]

My Brother was a diver in the Marines. He specialized in underwater demolition, then when he got out he became a saturation diver. That started my interest and two of my cousins. My cousins (much older then me) started diving then a couple years later, when I was 16, I got certified. That was in 1985.

Unfortunately my focus changed and my diving since the early 90's has been sporadic at best. But now I'm back.

 

[DPJ]

As a kid, I spent my summers fishing, crabbing and water skiing on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. The water was to murky to look under.

My father was working on Guam and sent me a ticket to visit. Decided if I was flying that far I was going to get certified.

I loved and got hooked.

 

[Gary D.]

How did everyone get into scuba?

By accident?
Always wanted to?
Got dragged into it?
Dragged someone into it?

Let's hear your story!

Taking into consideration what I do for a living, lets look at it from my perspective.

By accident? Motor vehicle, Vessel or Plane. Yep, some people do get into it by accident. Not what they planned but what the got. Usually someone else was wearing SCUBA though.


Always wanted to? Sure.

Got dragged into it? Sure if you were in a Motor vehicle, vessel or plane that wasn’t doing what it was designed to do.

Dragged someone into it? If you were the driver, skipper or pilot you could easily drag someone else into it. Most likely they were sitting in the seat next to you.

Now on the serious side.

Sea Hunt was on and they weren’t re-runs. Sparked my interest as I only lived about 200 yards from Monterey Bay.

A bunch of us in the neighborhood did it when the local newspaper sponsored a class.

Then blowing up my leg accelerated the sport into a lifetime occupation.

Gary D.

 

[drbill]

I was a young kid in high school back in the winter of 1961-1962 and on the swimming team. One of the senior swimmers brought in an early "aqua lung" and I got to try it at the bottom of the high school pool (a bit chilly to dive the reservoirs or Lake Michigan at that time of year). Although I didn't do a lot of SCUBA Diving in the early and mid-60's, I did use a hard hat and hooka to do commercial work. Then when I moved to Catalina in the summer of 1969 I got into salt water diving. Nothing much has changed since then (except the SCUBA and video equipment!).

Dr. Bill

 

[sharkdiver00]

Jacques Custeau, Sea Hunt and Flipper.... then one day my swim coach in highschool was in the pool with his equipment and, after begging for a while, let me try it. After begging lots more, he got me certified and after all these years I still can't get enough. The more I see, the more in awe I come to the surface.

 

[Don Burke]

How did everyone get into scuba?

By accident?
Always wanted to?
Got dragged into it?
Dragged someone into it?

Let's hear your story!

I was also fascinated by the Cousteu television specials. There never seemed to be the time to get certified, so after living in Hawaii, making many trips to Guam, living in the Puget Sound area, and living in San Diego, I got certified in the pristine waters of Virginia Beach.

My little brother got certified before I did and now I have inherited pretty much all of his gear and am the only diver in the extended family.

 

[freediver]

Fell off a boat and couldn't swim and there just HAPPENED TO BE a fully assembled scuba system in the water next to me so I managed to put it on and submerged, been under ever since,
no but seriously i was raised by a pod of humpback whales and in order to eat with the "family" I had to stay under for extended periods of time. Scuba helped me spend some quality family time........ALRIGHT..ALRIGHT, the wife got me in!!!

 

[dancingtortuga]

My husband & I were going through a hum-hum period in our relationship & lives. We started brainstorming on things that we could do "together" to help reignite us. Turned out that both of us had a keen interest in diving but had never thought of it as something we would follow through with. So... we decided to "take the plunge" & have been thrilled ever since! Even the best relationships need to work at staying connected - and diving has been great for us!

 

[PhotoTJ]

I read about it and watched Sea Hunt as a kid. Loved it!

 

[montyb]

Back in 1960 my swim coach would take a tank and regulator and have about 6 or 7 of us go sit on the bottom of the pool with him. We would pass the regulator around and woah to the one who couldn't hold his breath until it came around again. With that game of his I was hooked. Been diving ever since.
montyb