How you met scuba diving

[Subcooled]

I went caving. My first ever caving trip. On that trip I was taken three times freediving through sump 1 in a cave. Water was ice cold. Visibility was zero. The ceiling was low. The dive was shorter than what it felt.

My diving equipment consisted of technical undergarments, fleece, a cordura coverall, rubber boots, a helmet with a 240 lumen light. No diving suit, no gloves, no mask, no fins, nothing. Just me on breath hold and the water and the ceiling.

There was a robust guide line, though.

I decided that I never want to do it again without breathing gas and so I went to CMAS.

 

[Scuba-74]

I think finding local diving, and as you say “diving with a purpose” feeds the urge to dive and is more if an enabler that any other primer.

Just wanted to expand a bit on "diving with a purpose", which is a concept that is very important to me. I need to be able to answer to myself why am I making this dive, and just getting wet or "maintaining skills" are not good enough reasons to me.

For a relatively low number of dives that I logged, I have been to quite a remarkable number of dive sites, some pretty unique. The locations that I dive repeatedly are, with rare exception, all lobstering shore dive sites here in New England.

Exploration of new places and hunting (lobstering or sometimes spearfishing) are the two main reasons I dive, accounting for a vast majority of my dives. The new places don't have to be some exciting diving destinations, they can be local lakes or rivers, but they have to be new. Trying out new equipment, keeping company to my two certified kids, and recovery are a few secondary reasons.

I'm not saying this is the only right way to dive, obviously, but this is how my personal diving "career" has unfolded so far.

 

[jellycatsdad]

I think you’re right about needing to find a way to dive locally for many to stay engaged in diving.
Not to say there aren’t people who have been diving for 20 or 40 years that only dive on vacation and have the financial means the time to do so, but how many can do that?
I think what happens to so many vacation only divers is they fall in love with diving at the start and buy all their gear and are all hot to start out, then as time wears on they realize that needing to always fly somewhere to dive begins to become unsustainable and they begin to lose interest.
Maybe it was just a temporary infatuation?
I’m a firm believer that the majority of long term divers make diving more than just a fun vacation thing to do, it’s more of a lifestyle. I think finding local diving, and as you say “diving with a purpose” feeds the urge to dive and is more if an enabler that any other primer.
Becoming part of a local “dive culture” also is a great influencer to stay in diving.
Sometimes local diving isn’t the best, sometimes it can be downright brutal and difficult, but it doesn’t matter. The dedicated diver can find joy and something interesting on some of the most benign or what others would consider “boring” dives, or even horrendous dives.

Hello there fellow Monterey diver. Yea, it ain’t glamorous or for the socials when it comes to local diving, compared to say, Roatan or elsewhere - but local diving gives me the opportunity to keep my skills fresh and it’s an escape I relish once a month. What other hobby gives me a chance to unplug and be in relative sensory disconnect? And when I can go somewhere exotic, knowing I can dive Monterey makes me a better diver for it.

 

[Anbaric Cog]

I was a skinny west coast kid, I got to go to Mass and swim in a warm costal tidal pond
A cousin loaned me a mask. I went under water and was home. Warm and could see things
I was a big Cousteau fan and the Conshelf stories in Nat Geo
Finally had time and money to go to an intro to scuba. I didn’t want to come up
Finally got certified in the 90’s. Dove west coast a lot then long break for kids, etc
Now back into it for a year. Descending and breathing underwater—still that feeling of being HOME!

 

[The Chairman]

I just though it was interesting to ask a general question on how and why you started scuba diving

The summer of '69, and I was at the PX on the Naval Base in Orlando Florida. Master Chief Williams approached me and asked "You Murray's kid?" "Yes." "Be at the pool Saturday."

My dad had died a few years earlier, and had apparently saved Master Chief Williams at some point in Korea. Dad was a Marine helicopter pilot who flew med-evacs back then.

MCW never got in the water with us, in the pool or in Lake Underhill. He chose to yell at us from the water's edge. He was a poor instructor, yet somehow, I didn't die.

Then I saw Jaws in '75. I must admit to sticking to freshwater springs and lakes, but finally I came to my senses.

Alert Diver Fourth Quarter, 2024 Page 26

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[shimmer]

I took an elective in college in the late 90s. The class was once or twice a week for a semester. I recall that the course was somewhat more intense than I expected. I remember having to tread water with hands above our heads for several minutes, retrieve a brick at the bottom of the pool, swim the length of the 25 yard pool underwater open the tank and breath using the regulator then swim back underwater again. We also had to dive at the deep end of the pool and put on our gear at the bottom several times. I thought it was the standard requirements for the OW course at the time. Maybe the instructor was a wanna-be SEAL. Sadly, I didn't get my OW cert as the lake froze over and didn't have the chance and money to get certified until many years later.

 

[Derbdiver]

Hi all,

I just though it was interesting to ask a general question on how and why you started scuba diving (and went on and on with it!). I hope that this isn´t a sorta "repost" since I dunno what to search for...

Was it to try something new? A friend or relative´s recommendation, curiosity, obligation, fish fan, photography fan, bored of land, previous experiences in water like swimming, aquarium visits, diving videos, you get the gist...

I personally started wanting to try a new sport that wasn´t so practiced back then, and tried with a liveaboard in the Caribbeans...I´d love to know how others found their passion

I started Snorkeling in a large fresh water lake in the MT as a kid, spent many summers with brother and local friend exploring the cliffs and caves along the shoreline were we lived on the lake. I got certified years later on my first Work Sabbatical which included a trip to Australia diving the GBR where I booked a 5day/4night live-aboard out of Cairns and it was fantastic! I don't dive as much as I would like but just recently did some diving in Malasia off Tioman Island in October this year.