What is the BIGGEST OBSTACLE TO DIVING?

[psychocabbage]

Who says you have to recert if its been long?
I know you should for safety sake just refresh your skills in a pool or somewhere you can control everything but if you have your card, you are set.

Hardly. Cards don't mean a lot. Just because you have a card doesn't mean you should go diving after a long break (it doesn't mean you can't though...). It doesn't take a lot to pass OW really and if you only go diving rarely then you should properly refresh your skills - whether it is via a course or diving with more experienced friends who can go through the skills and safety stuff for you.

way to quote there guy!

 

[Papa_Bear]

I have said before a C-Card is designed to release the provider of air and or operator off the the liability hook! It means nothing else and that is why it is not a license or require renewal! It shows that at one time you know and excepted the risks of breathing compressed gas under pressure and nothing more for a OWC! You're taught skills, but they aren't guarantees of safety, only that you have met the minimum requirements!

Diving makes a diver and diving a lot makes you a safer diver from the experience of every dive! The more you dive the more you will dive!

 

[mkutyna]

If there were as many regular divers as the number of vehicles that I see with scuba flag license plates, there'd easily be 2x the number of LDSs in my area.

 

[Sas]

Psychocabbage, I can only go on your words, not a mind reader.

You said "I know you should for safety sake just refresh your skills in a pool or somewhere you can control everything BUT if you have your card, you are set."

There was a 'but' in there dude, and that was implying to me you were like 'I know you should but I have a card so I am set' and therefore dismissive of refresher courses. You also just mentioned refreshing them in a pool, which may be adequate for some people but not others.

 

[bfw]

Other issues I have found with friends who don't dive and never will
. fear of the water
. fear of the marine mammals
. fear of unknown
. fear of having fun

We live in a society that is risk averse, and which lauds learned helplessness.
One third of Americans have, at some point in their lives, depended upon a prescription drug just to mentally get through life. Stop 100 licensed drivers and ask them if they can change a tire, and fewer than 20 will answer yes. Personal responsibility is out of fashion and diving is an activity, where, by necessity, when all is said and done, one is truly responsible for one's own life. In a society such as we have, not only won't many people dive, I wouldn't want them to.

 

[saltysupply]

what I hear the most is money or just no general interest in it(which I can tell by talking to them about it) and I live in florida...

 

[perdidochas]

...Or more, to the point, WHY DON'T MORE PEOPLE DIVE?

My wife and I recently had an interesting discussion. A friend of hers just recently started dating a Diver who got her into it. And now she's fairly obsessed, having bought all kinds of gear and going Diving with her new boyfriend every chance she can get...

This woman asked my wife why she thought more people didn't Dive... Which we thought was a great question... And though we tried to answer with some ideas, in the end, we were left wondering ourselves..

So what is it? Why don't more people start Diving? And once they do, why don't they continue? Why is there such a high attrition rate with newly certified Divers? The sport is great as we all know, yet it still lacks the broad impact we all feel it should have...

• Is it the COST?
• Or the TIME?
• Or the sheer practicality of ORGANIZING IT?
• Or is it something else much greater than these?

What IS the biggest obstacle to Diving and why don't more people Dive?

Cost and time. Also, access to warm, clear water. I don't dive anymore primarily because of cost and time. However, when my sons (now age 8 and 9) get 12 or so, I am contemplating getting back into it. I still snorkel frequently in the summer.

 

[perdidochas]

I think DiverBizz is hitting close to the mark. I have personally never heard a non-diver cite money or time as a reason they don't want to START diving. It all of us who are already divers who don't have the time/money to do MORE diving!

But money/time is one of the main reasons people don't keep diving.

 

[perdidochas]

I am glad that I live here in West Palm Beach, Fl. Grab the gear 5min, Get to the boat 5min, Get on the water and dive 5hrs or so. get home 5min wash and hang gear 30min. Grate day.

I truly envy you. My favorite form of diving is drift diving off of Palm Beach. I don't care for wreck diving off of Palm Beach, but drifting the current down a reef line is as close to heaven as I've been with my clothes on.

 

[sigourneya]

I would have to agree with most who say the biggest obstacle is finding, consistent, fun dive buddies. I lost my consistent dive buddyand I am having a hard time finding someone who Is just as fun and equally enthusiastic as he was and and I still am. That and the weather during the "winter" months can keep a person from diving on a consistent basis.