Scuba listed as one of the 5 most expensive hobbies

[FinnMom]

Absolute BS. I dove for 4 years before I ever took a trip more than a 2-hour drive. Divers aren't all globe-trotting jetsetters, I think for dives made per year the backbone is made of those who dive locally and frequently, at pretty minimal cost per dive.

Add to this that sailing & car racing didn't make the list and this has all the merits of a National Enquirer story.

 

[beaverdivers]

They forgot to mention that most normal people get so addicted to SCUBA; they sell their house, leave their boring job, buy a boat or an island and spend every last cent they have on SCUBA!

 

[FinnMom]

It gets worse. From the same page is the link
"8 Hobbies Your Life Insurer Won’t Approve Of"

8 Hobbies Your Life Insurer Won?t Approve Of - Slideshow | Investopedia

Scuba Diving



Even though you may think you're not putting yourself in danger quite like jumping out of a flying plane, scuba diving is considered one of the most dangerous activities a person can do. This is because of the relatively high incidences of drowning and decompression sickness. Though your insurance company may not increase your premiums or decline your insurance application if you did one scuba lesson while on holiday in Hawaii, they are likely to be concerned if you are doing deep-water dives on a regular basis. This is one activity where the more you do it, the more dangerous the activity is deemed to be. Also, those who dive alone, lack formal training or do deep-water dives will generally be declined for life insurance policies.



*relatively unrelated*
The web page also features the article "What Young People Are Spending Their Money On".
What ever happened to not ending a sentence with a prpeosition? This reminds me of the speech patterns of Jar-Jar Binks.

 

[t4e]

My father said, "Don't mess with anything that floats or eats oats."-- meaning boats and horses; I own several of each. :shocked2:

Certification instruction is not necessary for entry into scuba, of course; I didn't get certified until seven years after I started diving; then, only so I could work on dive boats.

After reading this thread last night I decided to see what $500 could get if looking for a decent entry-level scuba kit. So this morning I went to a local Houston dive shop, told the sales person that I had $500, only; whipped it out in cash-- bought this:

$80 Ocean Quest mask, snorkel, fins package
$10 Trident weight belt, twelve pound weights (six 2lbs. each)
$20 Trident men's size 11 booties and "coral gloves"
$200 Aeris A2 Max-flex regulator, Aeris A1 octo, Trident pressure/depth gauge ("A real steal")
$120 Genesis aluminum 80 tank, yoke K-valve; Trident pressure guage and plastic backplate (Normally $160, but I said no deal on the rest without including the tank/BP)
$70 Scubapro 3/2mm Steamer Super-stretch wetsuit (men's large; found on closeout sale rack)

He threw in a well-used PADI Open Water Student book, some clips, some scuba themed stickers, and a small bottle of mask defogger.

Total:

$500 plus $41.25 sales tax (I paid the tax with a debit card.)

Not bad. On the way to Galveston (to dive it all later today), I did stop to buy a $13.56 Timex watch, "waterproof to 100m", at Walgreens. Also, I am going to dive with my 4-inch knife that I already own.

While the shop will not fill tanks for those without a c-card, I did find a paintball arcade that filled to 3000 with breathable-rated air for $6.48.

(I had a lot of fun shopping for this package; especially considering that my Scubapro Mk25/GV250 alone retails for ~$700.)

something is missing from that list or i am missing something...are you going to dive hugging your tank?

and are you seriously trusting a paintball arcade to give you breathable gas?....please educate me, maybe i can save a few bucks

 

[tplyons]

It gets worse. From the same page is the link
"8 Hobbies Your Life Insurer Won’t Approve Of"

8 Hobbies Your Life Insurer Won?t Approve Of - Slideshow | Investopedia

Great, I'm three of these too.

Apparently I'm broke. AND uninsurable.

 

[oldschoolto]

Lets see..... Pilot and aircraft owner.... Skydiving and drop zone owner... Top fuel drag racing.... Building my vintage 55 bel-air and 39 caddy.... Collecting Firearms.... Scuba diving for the wife and I.... Women(before the wife)...

Yes, I think I have had many "Expense Hobbies".... Cost ? way too much to count... A lifetime of fun... Priceless.....

Jim....

And their numbers are not even close to being right.....

 

[daniel f aleman]

something is missing from that list or i am missing something...are you going to dive hugging your tank?

and are you seriously trusting a paintball arcade to give you breathable gas?....please educate me, maybe i can save a few bucks

Backplate with strap, old school-- dived with those things in the 1970's, no BC either.

Arcade has a Bauer with current air test sticker bought from an LDS that went out of business, I still paid $6 for the fill. You can go down to a firehouse for air as well, no charge usually. I did use my $1000 analyzer to test the air before I used it.

 

[eelnoraa]

The estimates on aviation are just so wildly low I don't know where to start. $5k for a private pilot's license? $80/hr for airplane rental? I'd add about 40% to those numbers - minimum.

The rule says you need min of 40hr of flying. The true is no one will be done in 40. Most people takes 60-70 hours. Take 60 for average, here in SF bay area, pilot license will cost 12K-15K. This is just the first step. The entry level. Much like OW part in scuba.

Rental is like $100-$200/hour depends on the model.

No I have never nor plan to do aviation. But a friend of mine love it.

Anyone into motor sport here?

 

[Kevrumbo]

Back-to-back liveaboard Tech Charters for me this coming June/July: $6.5k for Bikini Atoll on the M/V Windward, and $3.2k for Truk Lagoon on the Truk Odyssey; roughly $5k for Oxygen & Helium open circuit gas costs total for both scuba excursions; and $3.5k round trip airfare on United with about $800 to $1k in excess baggage weight & number of pieces penalty charges because I'm bringing backmount & sidemount with full deco/stage bottle kits, primary canister lights and back-up primary can lights w/ batteries, four back gas & four deco/stage regulators, "expedition spares of everything", and my X-scooter as well. . . (I don't do underwater photography anymore because I can't afford it nor do I feel like hauling all that additional gear around as well).

Oh yeah, I used to have a Catalina 30 sailboat too --so I've been pouring my earnings into the Sea for at least a good 20 years now. . .

 

[Diver0001]

I found diving expensive up front.... training... gear.... insurance.... etc. But once you´re sorted it's definitely not that bad. TBH, I´m pretty sure that in the long run the costs of diving as a hobby are comparable to the costs of having a dog (or two) as a pet.

I used to run two aquariums in my house and I think on a year-on-year basis the amount of time and money I put into them was also in the same ball-park as my local diving. Of course you can spend a lot of money on diving if you want to, but you can spend a lot of money on a stamp collection too.... if you want to.

People will spend what they can afford on it and unlike an aquarium or a dog, you can spend more when you have more and less when you have less... in some ways, it's a more flexible hobby that way than some others.
R..