What is the fundamental reason that prevents scuba diving from becoming popular?

[Telvar]

Good read and an interesting question. I've given it a bit of thought and although cost, having to take classes and proximity to a diveable body of water (most likely also warm and with excellent sight) are very important factors, I think the main reason is information and public image, which in turn boils down to marketing. I kinda hate the word, but I think that if PADI (or any other large organization) would spend more time on marketing the diving-experience (marketing at work there...) it could make a very large difference. Add some famous people wanting to be an ambassador, a lot of facebook messages and a nice movie or tv-series about 'heroes' diving and the local LDS's would have to expand their businesses.

But temperature is really a thing as well. Who would want to dive in the Caribbean and who would want to dive in Holland for instance? I think the former group is somewhat larger than the latter. I do both, but I was infected with this bug long ago.

 

[Wibble]

In cold climates scuba diving will always be a minority sport. Aside from people training prior to diving abroad, there’s only a hardy and dedicated minority who are active divers. Costs are greater in colder locations, not least more kit exposure protection.

I dive in the UK. A lot. I frequently dive on a couple of dive boats and constantly bump into the same people. I’m a member of our Local Dive Shop, a PADI outfit which meets for drinks each Wednesday. Of all the people there I’m probably the only active diver, all the others dive abroad on holidays only.

I started diving rather late in life some 10 years ago. This was on holiday in Spain in the classic warm water follow-the-DiveMaster-leading-the-herd diving. Three years later I started diving in the UK. What a massive difference; cold, poor visibility, dark, tidal, choppy seas and deeper. This required a lot more training and practice.

Pretty much all of my dives now are way outside of the recreational diving definition. To get here took many hundreds of dives, lots of training, umpteen thousands of pounds/dollars of kit and a lot of dedication. Not to mention the sanguine approach which is to expect a lousy dive, all else is a bonus.

Mad, maybe. But I really do know diving in the UK is a really esoteric minority sport.


Warm water holiday diving is a completely different kettle of fish.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

In cold climates scuba diving will always be a minority sport. Aside from people training prior to diving abroad, there’s only a hardy and dedicated minority who are active divers. Costs are greater in colder locations, not least more kit exposure protection.

I dive in the UK. A lot. I dive on a couple of dive boats and constantly bump into the same people. I’m a member of our Local Dive Shop, a PADI outfit, that meets for drinks each Wednesday. Of all the people there I’m probably the only active diver, all the others dive abroad on holidays only.

I started diving rather late in life some 10 years ago. This was on holiday in Spain in the classic warm water follow-the-DiveMaster heard diving. Three years later I started diving in the UK. What a massive difference; cold, poor visibility, dark, tidal, choppy seas and deeper. This required a lot more training and practice.

Pretty much all of my dives now are way outside of the recreational diving definition. To get here took many hundreds of dives, lots of training, umpteen thousands of pounds/dollars of kit and a lot of dedication. Not to mention the sanguine approach which is to expect a lousy dive, all else is a bonus.

Mad, maybe. But I really do know diving in the UK is a real esoteric minority sport.


Warm water holiday diving is a completely different kettle of fish.

That sounds very similar to Northern California diving.

 

[Wibble]

That sounds very similar to Northern California diving.

(Apologies; way off topic!...

What's the visibility like in Northern California / Oregon? The UK's is 'green' water, so we do have OK visibility sometimes - last weekend was 12 metres/40' - but it's often rather poor, especially after storms, so 3m/10' is considered acceptable.

Keep fantasising about a diving road trip around Canada, the USA, and Mexico.)

 

[TMHeimer]

In cold climates scuba diving will always be a minority sport. Aside from people training prior to diving abroad, there’s only a hardy and dedicated minority who are active divers. Costs are greater in colder locations, not least more kit exposure protection.

I dive in the UK. A lot. I frequently dive on a couple of dive boats and constantly bump into the same people. I’m a member of our Local Dive Shop, a PADI outfit which meets for drinks each Wednesday. Of all the people there I’m probably the only active diver, all the others dive abroad on holidays only.

I started diving rather late in life some 10 years ago. This was on holiday in Spain in the classic warm water follow-the-DiveMaster-leading-the-herd diving. Three years later I started diving in the UK. What a massive difference; cold, poor visibility, dark, tidal, choppy seas and deeper. This required a lot more training and practice.

Pretty much all of my dives now are way outside of the recreational diving definition. To get here took many hundreds of dives, lots of training, umpteen thousands of pounds/dollars of kit and a lot of dedication. Not to mention the sanguine approach which is to expect a lousy dive, all else is a bonus.

Mad, maybe. But I really do know diving in the UK is a really esoteric minority sport.


Warm water holiday diving is a completely different kettle of fish.

You make some good points. Not sure about the much higher cost for cold water diving. Probably wetsuit (well drysuit, but I dive wet all winter, albeit short length dives in water temps. in the single digits C), and weights.
I think you need the rest of the stuff for the tropics anyway, no?

 

[lostsheep]

. the sanguine approach which is to expect a lousy dive, all else is a bonus

This x1000

Fair weather divers aren’t very likely to get the good conditions. You gotta put your time in.

 

[Bob DBF]

(Apologies; way off topic!...

What's the visibility like in Northern California / Oregon? The UK's is 'green' water, so we do have OK visibility sometimes - last weekend was 12 metres/40' - but it's often rather poor, especially after storms, so 3m/10' is considered acceptable.

Keep fantasising about a diving road trip around Canada, the USA, and Mexico.)

You would be right at home in NorCal. The viz sounds sounds similar, the best viz is between storms in the winter, in the summer you get plankton blooms that reduce viz close to 0' from the surface down but increases below although darker.

 

[Marie13]

In cold climates scuba diving will always be a minority sport. Aside from people training prior to diving abroad, there’s only a hardy and dedicated minority who are active divers. Costs are greater in colder locations, not least more kit exposure protection.

I dive in the UK. A lot. I frequently dive on a couple of dive boats and constantly bump into the same people. I’m a member of our Local Dive Shop, a PADI outfit which meets for drinks each Wednesday. Of all the people there I’m probably the only active diver, all the others dive abroad on holidays only.

I started diving rather late in life some 10 years ago. This was on holiday in Spain in the classic warm water follow-the-DiveMaster-leading-the-herd diving. Three years later I started diving in the UK. What a massive difference; cold, poor visibility, dark, tidal, choppy seas and deeper. This required a lot more training and practice.

Pretty much all of my dives now are way outside of the recreational diving definition. To get here took many hundreds of dives, lots of training, umpteen thousands of pounds/dollars of kit and a lot of dedication. Not to mention the sanguine approach which is to expect a lousy dive, all else is a bonus.

Mad, maybe. But I really do know diving in the UK is a really esoteric minority sport.

Warm water holiday diving is a completely different kettle of fish.

My Great Lakes diving is very similar. I know people who will put up with the cold for our awesome shipwrecks. It’s not cheap, being a cold water diver.

 

[Wibble]

You make some good points. Not sure about the much higher cost for cold water diving. Probably wetsuit (well drysuit, but I dive wet all winter, albeit short length dives in water temps. in the single digits C), and weights.
I think you need the rest of the stuff for the tropics anyway, no?

"Extras"for cold diving…

• Decent quality drysuit, circa £1.5k/$2k
• Fitted dry gloves with under gloves, £200/$300
  
• Underclothes (including spares -- damp=cold), £600/$900
  
• Heated vest and battery (a bit of a luxury, but brilliant for long dives) £1.2k/$1.7k
• Thick hood which covers as much as possible

Additional kit and expenditures related to cold water diving that is optional in calm clear warm water could include good lighting (dark), gas redundancy (poor vis, deeper diving), greater training (self sufficiency), full-size SMBs & reels (bad up from depth), reels to line off with…

Sure, some of the above might not be considered essential, but any fool can be cold. When you’re shivering and you’ve 60 mins to go, you’ll pay anything to be warm again.

 

[TMHeimer]

"Extras"for cold diving…

• Decent quality drysuit, circa £1.5k/$2k
• Fitted dry gloves with under gloves, £200/$300
  
• Underclothes (including spares -- damp=cold), £600/$900
  
• Heated vest and battery (a bit of a luxury, but brilliant for long dives) £1.2k/$1.7k
• Thick hood which covers as much as possible

Additional kit and expenditures related to cold water diving that is optional in calm clear warm water could include good lighting (dark), gas redundancy (poor vis, deeper diving), greater training (self sufficiency), full-size SMBs & reels (bad up from depth), reels to line off with…

Sure, some of the above might not be considered essential, but any fool can be cold. When you’re shivering and you’ve 60 mins to go, you’ll pay anything to be warm again.

No argument. Unless you just dive wet in the warm season, which I imagine where you are is about the same as here in Nova Scotia. That lasts about 5-6 months, most of which time I'm not the least bit cold in my farmer john wetsuit. If you're diving the same cold local sites over & over, you probably don't need to do them again in January.
The other items you mention may just as easily be required in tropical water, depending on where you dive and the weather. There is also a lot of calm clear cold water around the world, maybe not as many places as with warm water.

I see what you're saying-- Cold water diving CAN be much more expensive than warm water. I'm probably just being argumentative-- and cheap. You know how those of us with Scottish roots are......