How did you get into scuba?

[adurso]

Had an uncle who dove in the 40s and 50s with the navy, watched Geographic, Sea Hunt all combined at the right time for me to snitch my uncles gear one day and jump into the water from a beach in North Wildwood NJ, almost drowned, lucky not to get DCS been doing it ever since...picked up some proper training in the meanwhile..

 

[fookisan]

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Twenty years ago my wife got me into diving. Then we took a long break from diving with rasing our kid. Now I'm getting her back into diving - What goes around comes around!

 

[Moogyboy]

My story, in a nutshell:

1) Always absolutely infatuated with water and especially diving, as seen on TV, movies, in magazines and books. No idea why such a strong attraction. Big dream.

2) No one in my family knew how to swim, including me. Took lessons as a kid, failed miserably, spent entire childhood and teen years not only unable to swim per se, but mostly terrified of it. Attitude towards swimmers and scuba divers: intense mixture of awe and envy.

3) It took two attempts separated by about six or seven years, but I finally got to where I could not only swim, but swim well. This was roughly my college years.

4) The next goal--and arguably the REAL goal all along--was to get certified. I did, in 1997.

5) I've never looked back.

cheers

Billy S.

 

[CathyI8205]

I got dragged into it by my husband. The problem I have is I'm hooked but he's having trouble. First he was seasick. Then he had trouble with rough water. Our next try is somewhere where there is calm water in the Caribbean. He doesn't want to do Bonaire. We were thinking of the Caymans until Ivan messed that up. Does anyone have a suggestion?

 

[plsander]

I was the other way - My wife's Venturing Crew had decided to go on a scuba trek to the Boy Scout's Florida Sea Base.

I got certified to be the 'backup' adult... and ended up not going on the trek.

Got to dive in the Keys a year and a half later.

 

[tachyon]

Okay, it started out when I read a SF book by Robert Heinlein, which led to becoming a Ham radio operator, which lead to talking to people all over the world including people who were divers in addition to Hams, which lead to reading more SF, including Arthur C. Clarke's Dolphin Island, then bumping into other SF books from time to time involving diving and the ocean. When I was in a PE class in Jr. High that offered a YMCA SCUBA course, I talked my parents into letting me take it. In 1994 I took another Open Water course since the equipment had changed considerably since the horse collar and J-valve days. I've been diving on and off for 23 years now, logging most of my dives in local creeks and rivers helping some friends who were doing dredge and recovery work at marinas, etc.

Now, I'm planning to do some additional education next year and upgrade my certifications.

tachyon

 

[STOGEY]

Well,

I originally got into diving about thirty years ago, but when I was taking my certification dive. I had a little problem with the removing and replacing of my equipment and freaked out a little. I should have gone back the next time and did it right then, just like falling off of a bike.

Anyways last year I took a discover dive in Playadel Carmen in Mexico. I thought well if I could dive here, why not else where. So I went to a local PIDA and got certified.

I guess there is a time for everything.

 

[DivePartner1]

I watched Cousteau and thought, 'those guys are nuts.' Why would anyone do that?

Four years or so years ago I decided to try it because a friend did and it sounded like a cool excuse to go to warm places in winter, and I'd been a boring workaholic for too long.

I certified in a freezing quarry, did my first warm water dives on the Bloody Bay Wall with a charming Canadian handler along for the trip, took some course to keep up with more experienced buddies and started getting hooked. We did a few other trips and she became my favorite dive buddy. But with each trip, I wondered why most of my crew only did one trip a year, if that. I started diving everywhere, and every opportunity and really got hooked. Then I started carrying dive gear to business trips, diving on weekends and actually using my vacation and before I knew it was averaging 90 dives a year.

This year got a little slow. That charming Canadian dive buddy and I had an immeasurably charming daughter about 8 weeks ago so I'm a bit off my average. But she reminded me this weekend that I owe her a dive trip. Ain't life grand?

 

[scubajane]

Post divorce mid-life crisis.......A chance to do things that you always wanted to do( I really wanted to be a marine biologist but that didn't happen) but never got around to it.

 

[eod]

Always wanted to do it. I grew up swimming and snorkeling the whole summers when I was a kid. My father was a scuba diver when I was very little, that made me even more interested. When I grew up I always wanted to start, but hadn't the money until recently. Now I am very happy that I started and have made approx 100 dive during the last year.