What are the "who knew"s of scuba?

[Teamcasa]

I quickly became amazed at how much stuff is underwater. I expected fish, water plants, rocks, etc. I randomly ran into a bald eagle statue underwater the other day and was scratching my head a moment over that one.

We do an anual clean up of Avalon (Catalina Island) harbor - basically, if can be carried on a boat, we have pulled it up from the bottom.

 

[Zesty]

Who knew..............

That I would feel completely justified (even giddy) spending $15K to do something that takes hours to prepare for, for one or two 30-50 minute THRILLS!!!!!!!!

 

[Scuba_Noob]

Who knew that you could wear a diving suit that could keep you completely dry underwater? It's still pretty crazy that I could unzip my drysuit, pack my gear, and then drive off to meet some friends.

 

[FuzzyNutz]

Who knew that you could wear a diving suit that could keep you completely dry underwater? It's still pretty crazy that I could unzip my drysuit, pack my gear, and then drive off to meet some friends.

This was awesome on MythBusters (James Bond myth) when Jamie donned a tuxedo under his drysuit and upon exit, was perfectly ready for an evening gala.

 

[diverrex]

I was shocked to see first hand the change of colors at depth:

This still always surprises me hundreds of dives later. I look at something, I take a photo, I look at the LCD screen and say to myself "wow look how red, or orange or yellow that is in the photo and it looks grey to my eyes".

 

[supergaijin]

.... that a cut on your hand would not mean that you were in immediate danger of being devoured by ravenous sharks- the sharks that were out there, just beyond your field of vision, waiting, watching... biding their time.....

 

[diverrex]

.... that a cut on your hand would not mean that you were in immediate danger of being devoured by ravenous sharks- the sharks that were out there, just beyond your field of vision, waiting, watching... biding their time.....

That when you saw a shark you didn't swim away but swam toward it.

 

[BluewaterSail]

A small difference in the amount of air in your lungs can make a big difference in stable bouyancy. What is surprising is that the small expansion of your chest seems like it such a insignificant percentage of the total volume of water that you displace. But it sure can make a difference!

 

[DivemasterDennis]

Who knew those shades of blue we see at 90 feet on a bright day at noon even existed?
Who knew many different kinds of fish could live together in one small area?
Who knew my wife would be one of the best divers I ever met?
Who knew how addicting diving can be?
Who knew a person could have the best time of their life on a boat with 14 people he never met before, out of sight of land for an entire week?
Who knew that you can see farther in the ocean (in some places) than you can in a swimming pool?
Who knew there was such an amazing web site as scubaboard?
DivemasterDennis

 

[Thiad]

Who knew the glorious feeling of floating down 100' - the feeling like you're off in outer-space? I think the descent is my favorite part of diving.