Just an observation

[Tigerman]

Thats the thing. If you have money youre (in most cases) working for it and when youre not working for it, you dont have the money..

 

[Curtis Dawson]

Supergaijin; youmake an interesting point. The 100+ divers remind me of some of past line of work members. I drove long haul for 18 years logging just over 1 million miles. I have driven all over the US under all kinds of conditions. But even the newest driver can still teach me something. Because they will expierence things differently or maybe expierence something that I never have. As a proffessional I should be open to learn new things at every oppurtunity. I approach diving the same way. because if I do not pay attention and learn constantly it could cost me my life.
Oh, and I hope to make special trip this next year. I hope to be able to travel to Green Bay,WI to take a class and get certified in ice diving.

 

[Tigerman]

I wish I had more divers where I live so that ice diving was an option.. we have ice here 4-6 months every year..

 

[kimbalabala]

Why do you care what other people think? Do what makes you happy and if it is diving then dive wherever you want.

While I know this is the right attitude to have I also know where the OP is coming from. We have several dive shops in the area and that means we have options - which is great. One of the shops is like the one the OP mentioned. To be one of the 'cool kids' you need to either go on the expensive trips or be a technical or wreck diver. While the instructors go to the local quarry a lot there aren't many planned events for local diving. There is another shop that is very creative and inviting to everyone to go on the local dive trips - lakes, quarries and rivers. The first shop gives the impression of being 'all about the money' while the second shop really encourages divers of all abilities.

And for the record, my all time favorite dive trip was (so far) Grand Cayman, but second to that is Key Largo. It's not terribly expensive (especially if you find a rental instead of staying in a hotel) and can cook your own meals and make your own fun when you're not on the boat. And when you book a bunch of dives most shops will give you a pretty decent discount. I have some dream destinations, but when I compare what I see in the Keys with the pictures of Bonaire, Saba, Fiji etc., the Keys looks really good for the money.

 

[Curtis Dawson]

I am lucky that So. Cal and SE. Fl will be realativly inexpensive dive trips as I have family I can stay with. So the biggest expense is fuel and time(24 hr road trips to either destination). I hope to also dive the finger lakes of NY in the future as well.

 

[drrich2]

I'm wondering if there might be an element of miscommunication in play. We don't have a specific scenario described in detail, so it's hard to judge.

I live in southwestern KY, and we've got a dive shop/quarry in my town that's regionally popular. That's where a lot of the local diving takes place; I dove there yesterday. But it's not the ocean, and of course people like to travel & dive the tropics.

Until my honeymoon at age 37, neither I nor my wife had every left the United States. Prior to that, anytime group conversation turned to somebody's trip to a foreign land, I was pretty much excluded. Not a comfortable feeling.

I suspect that some regulars at your local dive shop find exotic destination diving interesting discussion, but perhaps they've heard about local diving enough that listening to more doesn't interest them nearly as much. In which case if you try talking about diving a quarry or lake, the group may shift the topic back to Cozumel, Bonaire, some live-aboard...

While this will indirectly discriminate against those who cannot afford (the time, money or both) to do exotic dive trips, it is not willful mistreatment of folks in a lower socioeconomic class.

Similarly, if 2 guys in the dive shop recently got new computers, one an Atomic Aquatics Cobalt, the other an old used Oceanic Worldwide Veo 100, the Cobalt is going to draw more interest.

Richard.

 

[FM1520]

not sure what that means but Okies including divers are some of the nicest people you will meet. that is unless you are a Longhorn fan

Nothing against Okies, I meant the dive population is probably relatively small compared to more coastal regions like San Diego. Here in San Diego there are easily 10 shops and several clubs pretty close by, if I don’t like a particular group or shop I can just move along. That may not be the case in Oklahoma.

 

[Colliam7]

As a couple of folks have said, it is hard to interpret the 'tone' from afar. I know when I have the chance to dive someplace that I enjoy, I love sharing the diving experience with others. But, assuming there is a bit of an 'attitude' that you are picking up on:

The majority of those who spend a good bit of time on the week ends hanging out at my local dive shop are in the upper income levels. I do not have any problem with what a person has or earns. But when the atmosphere is such that unless you can afford at least one or more out of country dive trips a year then you must not be serious about diving it can become discouraging.

I am curious - do you sense that attitude to be coming from the people (customers) who hang out there, or from the shop staff. If the former, ignore it - the world is full of posers who, in almost any sport, are great at name-dropping, such as: 'Yeah, the last time I dove Cozumel it was really hard - I had just gotten back from a trip to the Red Sea and was still jet-lagged, plus all my gear was still lost somewhere between the Galapagos and Truk Lagoon, so I had to buy all new stuff.' No need to participate in those discussions anyway. If someone asks if you have been to 'X', you can always say, 'No, I really spend much of my time underwater working on buoyancy and trim.'

If the attitude is coming from the shop staff, you have two choices: 1) speak to a responsible person at the shop (e.g, the owner, or the manager) and casually mention that it seems the business emphasis of the shop is on travel, and not on local diving, and you were wondering if that is really the case; or 2) find another 'local diving friendly' shop (depending on what you have to choose from in the heartland). Good dive shops are fun places to hang out, places where people just like to talk about diving.

You are not offending any serious diver by raising the issue - good for you to do so. And, although 'I really enjoy stopping by Bonaire, on my way home from the Caymans, where I periodically do presentations on my recent dive trips to the St. Lawrence' - just kidding - I actually find a day diving at one of the local quarry, with inquisitive fish, and other enthusiastic divers, and lots of time to practice navigation, and work on my breathing, and try out different gear configurations, to be quite enjoyable. Plus, sharing some apres-dive snacks (jalapenos and crunchy peanut butter on a Ritz Cracker), with a cold beer and a good cigar, afterward with other divers is fun anywhere. I don't have to travel to other countries to enjoy the simple pleasures.

Keep diving locally as much as you can, you can learn something from every dive, and you won't regret it.

 

[BDSC]

First, how do people define the term "serious diver" anyway. I have never been able to figure out who is and who is not a serious diver. Can you be a "vacation diver" and also be a "serious diver"? What is it based on? The number of dives, the number of different places a person dives, how long they have been diving, how much they spend on diving, how many certs they have, etc. etc.

Second, if money is an issue when it comes to dive travel, you can always save on the cost of dive trips by getting together with a group of friends and take the free spots you can earn and spread them over everyone's cost. It won't make the trip free by any means but quite often you can reduce the price of a trip by a few hundred to several hundred dollars per person and putting together a trip is quite easy. For the most part, it doesn't involve all the many hours of hard work and effort that dive shops would lead you to believe.

 

[danvolker]

After almost 5 decades of snorkeling I will be taking my OW cert class. But I have an observation that I wish to share with the group. Most everyone I have met in this sport is friendly and supportive. Like all sports ego's sometimes get played out, but that is human nature. What i do find a bit dis-heartening is the sense of economic class distinction. The majority of those who spend a good bit of time on the week ends hanging out at my local dive shop are in the upper income levels. I do not have any problem with what a person has or earns. But when the atmosphere is such that unless you can afford at least one or more out of country dive trips a year then you must not be serious about diving it can become discouraging.
I do not mean to offend others with this post but please realize that for many of us this is a dream we are having to make many sacrafices to fufill. And that due to our income levels we may have to take longer to achieve our goals and that a out of country dive trip will at best be a once every five to ten year or more adventure.

My suggestion is to SHOW THEM how foolish this mindset is....how much they have been sold a "bill of goods", and that this was easily accomplished because they had enough money to become lax about choosing where to go....
Your reality, which you can become excited about, is that some of the very best diving in the World is in a place YOU can drive to...it is off of Palm Beach , Florida.
The coral reefs are spectacular, there are more sea turtles here than anywhere else in the world, and Palm Beach has the largest mass aggregations of Goliath groupers of any place in the world.....Palm Beach has more huge clouds of fish and marine life, than the vast majority of these far off and expensive destinations they think are the Only Places a serious diver should consider....Your proof that THEY need a wake-up call, that they have this world view on diving WRONG, is right here--put it on an Ipad and play it to them

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