So why did you do it?

[wnissen]

Ironically, it was because I couldn't find an Internet snorkeling forum. After all, everything worth doing (and plenty of things that aren't) have enthusiast Internet forums, right? After some snorkeling experiences that were truly incredible (St. John, USVI and Kona, HI) and some that were terrible (Nassau, Bahamas), I looked around for a snorkeling forum and could not find one. Basically everyone who really enjoys seeing things in the water becomes a scuba diver, apparently!
Then I searched on these forums to find a good dive shop to get certified at, being prepared that I'd probably have to spend at least a couple weekends in Monterey. but it turned out that people recommended Dive 'N Trips, which is practically next door to me in Pleasanton. The rest is history...

 

[agilis]

I was swimming when still a toddler (my mother was a competitive swimmer), and doing very shallow breath hold dives in the bay and in the surf when I was about 7 and was given a mask for my birthday. I spent every available minute snorkeling in the summer when I was just a kid, so it was only natural that I borrow some equipment an try scuba when I was about 16. It was always a foregone conclusion that I'd graduate to scuba as soon as possible. I knew that I would years before I actually first used scuba. Equipment was pretty basic back then and my first hundred or so scuba dives were all self-taught from a book and solo. I didn't get certified until dive shops began, in the early 70s, demanding a C card before they'd fill your tank. I think no decision was involved. I was always a water rat.

 

[JamesBon92007]

When I was eleven years old my next-door neighbor took my dad and I out to Los Coronados (off the coast of Baja) in his little skiff. He and his two buddies were spearfishing. They gave me a mask, snorkel, fins, and a small speargun that I couldn't even load by myself, and told me that if any sharks bother me just poke them in the nose and they'll go away. I jumped off the boat and was totally mesmerized by the underwater beauty and scenery. We moved shortly after that and by the time I was thirteen I hitchhiked to La Jolla Cove every day that I was not in school and went spearfishing and freediving. At that time I had to wait until I was sixteen to become certified, which I did as soon as I could arrange it. The rest is history and diving has been a big part of my life. I just LOVE being underwater. I suppose Mike Nelson and Jacques Cousteau might have influenced me but I'm sure I would have done it without them.

Better than sex? Not so sure about that one.

 

[RockiesFan]

I grew up in my grandmother's swimming pool and going to CA beaches in the summer. Learning to dive was just a logical progression.

 

[Jcp2]

Daughter wants to dive in Epcot aquarium and needs responsible parent or guardian to accompany her, as she is still young. Mom doesn’t do water so dad(me) is drafted.

 

[Tribal]

My gf wanted a hobby that we could do together. Before that i was riding my bike on track days and low budget amateur races.
She came up with diving and at that time i thought it was a good idea. Sell my bikes get some diving gear. Has to be cheap right? Damn how was i wrong

 

[txgoose]

Great thread and its revival.

My family does a week of vacation in FL each year. We stayed at a specific beach house for several years in a row. Work was stressful. I found that I could snorkel for hours on end and it helped me unwind. And then (I think) on Tuesday (vacay was Sat to Sat) I found a rock formation a couple of hundred yards down the shoreline. It had a ton of fish compared to the sandy bottom everywhere else. Wednesday I got to swim with my very first sea turtle. 14-18 inches in diameter. It had a misformed fin. And I was so disappointed that I couldn’t just go hang out “down there” with it. Thursday I got to swim with the same turtle! Friday I was able to swim with a different turtle. Just an amazing time for me.

Scuba was alsways an interesting idea but now I _really_ wanted to be able to stay down for a while. The wife and I were also working on getting ourselves and the boys to all 50 states. HI the 50th state was to be our 50th visited. I thought about being so close to “paradise” type waters with possible turtle sightings and so I hatched the plan to get the family certified before then. Which we did. In HI we got to swim with some amazing honu (more sea turtles but big’uns)! One of which about plowed into/through me. Tying the culmination of our state treks back to why I wanted to get certified in the first place.

We’re all now certified. My wife and I now share our first real hobby (not counting travel) in 30 years. My youngest is working on getting a stint at Scouts Sea Base in the Keys. I couldn’t be happier with what scuba has brought to our family and to me. Oh, and my wife’s sister also got certified because of my wife’s accomplishment. So now eight of us can dive together on the FL trips.

The only real problem I have is that I am rarely able to take up a hobby without getting into the guts of it fairly deeply. In small doses, the scuba knowledge can be had fairly inexpensively with e-learning and scubaboard. In small doses the gear can be had fairly inexpensively, used and by watching for deals. I’m just not fairly good at managing my doses.

 

[TDiddy]

2 reasons. First, this book: Mysterious Undersea World: Jan Leslie Cook: 9780870443220: Amazon.com: Books

Second, The Undersea World of Jaques Cousteau.

I'm not sure how many times I read through that book but I knew by the time I was 12 that I needed to do this. I grew up not far Harvey's Lake in Northeast PA, and at the time (early 80's) an old salt ex-Navy guy had a small dive shop there. I begged and pleaded daily for my parents to take me out there. I forget the cost but you could basically go out there and rent gear and after 5-10 minutes of instruction, swim along the shoreline. He also had a couple boats sunk in 20-25 feet that he would take you to if he thought you were comfortable. I was hooked after day 1.

The next summer we planned a family vacation to the Keys. We knew that there would be some sort of class I'd have to take to be able to dive there, but that's about all we knew. Tommy (owner) told us that for $100 he'd certify me. So basically that summer from June - August, I was at the lake almost every day diving 2-3 tanks per day. All for $100. He taught me about BC's (horse collar at the time), reg clears, mask clears, emergency ascents from about 30 ft. But most of my diving was solo. I dove doubles, I dove the old corrugated 2-hose regs, I was a tour guide for much older first-timers... And my classroom consisted of my flipping through a huge binder of navy dive tables. Unacceptable by today's standards but I learned more that summer than a lot of people in their entire diving lifetimes. My certification card was a typed out, laminated card from "Harvey's Lake Dive School". No affiliation whatsoever.

Needless to say when we got to the keys, the first shop looked at me like I had 3 eyes when I presented that card. I ended up finding a shop that agreed to take me out, and they couldn't believe how comfortable I was. By now though my parents realized that this cert wasn't going to cut it, so I ended up doing a PADI OW class on that trip. Since then I've gone on to AOW, did my rescue cert while living in San Antonio in the late 90's, my DM Cert while living in San Francisco/diving in Monterey, early 2000's, and now some 35ish years after first diving, am wrapping up an Asst. Instructor cert with plans to go right into full instructor.

 

[Nigel Bryant]

I know exactly when. It was July 2013 and me,my wife and daughter were on a boat trip from Malta to Comino and we had stopped at the blue lagoon at Comino. Me and my daughter were snorkelling and I could see a couple of divers below. I thought however fantastic it was snorkelling it must be even better down there. Within two weeks of returning to the UK I was booked in on my open water and the rest is history.
I have never been back to Comino and have never dived the blue lagoon where it all began for me but will one day I hope,

 

[MrBigfins]

I was always a fish. Competitive swimmer from 6 on, lifeguard, river rat, beach lover from young age. Adrenaline junky in my younger years skydiving, white water, bungee, skiing, caving, climbing, anything to push myself. As I got older and wiser and had a family, I calmed down slightly. I still am drawn to the water. Being near the ocean always brings me peace, so I find myself spending as much time there as I can afford.

We were in Puerto Adventuras Mexico, me and my son did the free try me scuba in the pool. We buzzed around in the pool for about 30 min, and figured that was s it. Well our plans for Friday got cancelled and I said to my son let's do the discover scuba dive. He was excited, I was nervous for some reason. We spent a long time in the pool getting comfortable and practicing skills. We took the boat ride out and after another skill check we descended onto the reef. A large turtle, huge blowfish and some coral later and I was hooked. Came home researched classes, did elearning, scheduled a trip to do my checkout dives Punta cana 3 months later. Did 12 dives total that week. Down the rabbit hole I went.

My son could not go on the trip to Punta can with us, so he could not get certified at the same time. Boy was he mad I was done before he could. He saved money and payed for half his certification last summer. My favorite dive ever was in cold water, crappy vis on a rainy day. It was my first dive with my son after his ow certification.

Never intended to do cold water, but that's what is close enough to dive. So I do because a couple dives on a couple vacations a year isnt enough for me. Said I would never be into diving caves, doing cavern classes on Sat and the dives the week after. So we will see how far down the rabbit hole I go.