SCUBA: extreme sport?

[lobbolt]

There are sports that are considered extreme sports; skydiving, hang-gliding, motocross, auto racing... etc. Would you say scuba is an extreme sport?

 

[lord1234]

Considering that what makes a sport "extreme" is the hazard to your life, I would say that yes, scuba is definitely an extreme sport.

 

[RICHinNC]

And some make it more extreme than others.

 

[miketsp]

It's as extreme as you want to make it.
From those that only dive swimming pool conditions on shallow reefs to others that push the envelope to the maximum.
The strange thing is that often, those most at risk are those in between that manage to introduce risk into everything they do, simply by not knowing what they don't know.

 

[DennisS]

I think it's like hiking. Is going for a walk in the park extreme, is climbing Everest extreme. It's the same with scuba, is a 20 foot reef dive from shore extreme? Is the Doria extreme. It can be as easy or as difficult as you want.

 

[dive_lover88]

Scuba , extreme? no(to me),expensive ? yes

 

[lord1234]

I have to agree with miketsp, scuba diving is most extreme for those that don't even know that it is extreme. Those of us that do pool dives once a year, while still having some risks are much less at risk than those who KNOWINGLY push the envelope by doing deco dives, solo dives, and the such. These people are even less extreme then those that dive weekly to normal depths...but while taking smaller risks these compound into a MUCH bigger risk over time.

 

[trevinkorea]

I don't think scuba is an extreme sport at all.

It's closer to meditation but way more fun.

Incedentally, be careful with the "extreme" sport language. Several years ago I was hired to do a marketing study for an Underwater Archeological NPO and I referred to scuba as an extreme sport in a survey of divers. It was a very scary expereince. So bad in fact that I couldn't show my face at any of the surveyed dive sites for a very long time.

Scuba is only extreme if you make it so. But, yes I would say tech diving is extreme.

When I get my skills up to speed, I gotta give it a go.

 

[rab]

Motocross and auto-racing. Those are "extreme", but the normal use of a motorcycle or car to go to work, shop, take a vacation, haul your dive gear to the site/boat, etc. is not extreme. (OK, maybe in some cities, but the one who live there think it's normal.)

These activities have a normal, un-extreme form that they grew out of. Scuba is like these -- take a recreational dive and fiddle with the limits and suddenly it's extreme.

On the other hand, skydiving isn't even possible without enough height for a fall to kill you.

-Rob

 

[String]

Most definately not an extreme sport.