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

[El Diablo]

I think a lot of this is location dependent. If you live in an area with good shore diving, then that lowers the costs significantly. Where I live shore diving is not really a thing. West coast of FL has a very gradual slope. From where I normally go, I need to run out at least 10 miles from shore to get to water that's in the 50' range. A bit north of me it's even worse. Rule of thumb there is closer to a foot a mile.

If I want to do a shore dive, I need to go to the other side of the state. Most likely need to factor in a hotel stay as well.

So, all that adds up.
Cost of certification.
Cost of gear and annual maintenance (or rental costs per dive).
Cost of dive site (charter or dive site fees), or in my case cost of boat, fuel, maintenance.

It's not cheap.

The motorcycle example is also location dependent. Just going by what is required here, diving is more expensive. Not saying that the minimum requirement is enough, but it is all that is required.
Motorcycle endorsement on your license (pretty cheap, I think it might have been under $50)
Helmet (or if you have adequate health insurance, this isn't required)
And of course a motorcycle. (My first motorcycle cost significantly less than my dive gear)

I agree with most of your positions and I also mentioned location as one of (IMO) primarily reasons. The original question itself is too vague and depends on our own countries of residence and personal experiences. Access to nice dive sites from the shore also reduces the costs significantly, absolutely agree.

Regarding motorcycles been related to location I tend to disagree. Most bikers buy motorcycles because they have easy access to nice locations and / or their friends already ride bikes. The 'Lobo Solitario' attitude is pure BS. We predominantly ride with friends, the same as with diving.

Regarding the cost of ownership, again, huge topic. If you are talking about a Vespa or little moped, of course things change BUT if you are talking about a 'real' motorcycle, things add up pretty fast. Tires and maintenance are also exuberant compared to servicing your regs every 1-2 years. A good set of sport rubber can cost as much a a good regulator and depending on how and where you ride, last only a few weeks...

 

[El Diablo]

Yep. I was lucky. I first got certified when I was 15. I couldn't afford it, but my parents paid for the course. I still couldn't afford gear, or really afford to be able to rent and dive. At least not often.

Unlike many, I knew it would be something that I would do as often as I could, but it wasn't really until I was older that I had enough money to really be able to dive somewhat regularly. By that time I also had kids, and they dive as well, so their certs and gear needed to be able to figure into it.

I used to ride a motorcycle. Costs per hour riding were considerably less than my costs per hour diving (though I really don't want to calculate this).

Realistically speaking, Riding is more accessible and happens more often than diving. The MAIN reason isn't cost but time, that's where my disagreement with the other friend came from.

Sure, riding 100Km with your bike is cheaper than Diving with a boat. However, how many times you will be riding and how many times you will be diving? What's the cost of a certified full service? What bike are you riding? What tires are you using? Will you keep your motorcycle 20 years?
Too many variables. I can ensure you that riding and maintaining a BMW S 1000 RR is MUCH MORE expensive than going diving often.

 

[El Diablo]

Any form of racing is expensive. I raced karts with my son, several years back and it was way more expensive than diving. As an avid motorcyclist, it's relatively inexpensive just doing street riding or off-road. Track days are a ton of fun but add to those costs but not nearly what racing will cost you.

I feel like one of the biggest issues with attracting new divers is exposure to the hobby. Many people don't know much about it because it's not a mainstream hobby, especially if you aren't close to blue water. So, if you don't have someone close to you that's a diver, it's not a hobby that you'd likely see as an option. I had always wanted to be a marine biologist so diving was going to be in my future. I got certified the year after I graduated high-school. I did a lot of diving for years and then I got out of diving for a bit because of kids and lack of support/dive partner in my spouse. The same was true for motorcycling with kids and an unsupportive wife. ...which likely explains a divorce and remarriage to a wife that got her motorcycle license and is a certified diver.

Totally agree and well said. I don't know why people is so obsessed with costs... in fact, people that live far away from decent blue water don't care at all about the cost, they just want to go diving! lol

 

[Belzelbub]

Regarding motorcycles been related to location I tend to disagree. Most bikers buy motorcycles because they have easy access to nice locations and / or their friends already ride bikes. The 'Lobo Solitario' attitude is pure BS. We predominantly ride with friends, the same as with diving.

The costs for motorcycling in Deutschland are significantly higher than in Florida. I believe you mentioned $1500 or so for the license. In FL, it's just the cost for a license renewal. That's it.

Regarding the cost of ownership, again, huge topic. If you are talking about a Vespa or little moped, of course things change BUT if you are talking about a 'real' motorcycle, things add up pretty fast. Tires and maintenance are also exuberant compared to servicing your regs every 1-2 years. A good set of sport rubber can cost as much a a good regulator and depending on how and where you ride, last only a few weeks...

Agreed. Tires definitely aren't cheap, and don't last all that long. But it's nothing compared to boat costs (either lump sum with maintenance, or charter fees).

 

[ScuberDuber]

One thing we learned from Covid is that many people CANNOT STAND something touching their face or moderating their breathing.

Also a lot of people just aren't even interested in hobbies or even the world around them. They are obsessed only with their own thoughts about themselves and receiving validation mainly from various electric rectangles.

 

[Marie13]

Shooting costs a lot. Initial firearm investment not so much, but ammo? Holy crap. It’s crazy now. There’s a reason I’ve only been shooting a couple of times in the past few years and that was for the live fire requirement for my carry permit. I’m not shooting what I’ve got. I know a couple who were avid divers and wanted to get into CCR. Then they started doing 3 gun competitions a couple of years ago. With the amount they’ve spent on ammo, they could have bought new CCRs and training for both of them, with cash left over.

 

[scubadada]

I think a lot of this is location dependent. If you live in an area with good shore diving, then that lowers the costs significantly...

I was certified when I was 16, in 1970. I lived in Southern California and was an active shore diver in LA, Orange, and San Diego counties for 10 years, with an occasional ferry trip to Catalina. My mother bought me scuba gear for my high school graduation in 1972, MK5/109... I was an undergraduate at UCSD in La Jolla, what a great place to dive. Diving was inexpensive for me.

Then I got married, moved to Oregon, started a family... I did not dive for 17 years, until my son turned 12 and wanted to dive. My wife got certified when my daughter turned 12.

My wife and I worked hard and the family could afford dive equipment and a good dive vacation for a couple of weeks once or twice a year. Now, we're both retired and the kids are long out of the house and independent. We've had a townhouse in SE Florida for over a decade, my local diving. My wife and I take one or two dive vacations a year and I do some more adventuresome stuff myself.

Diving started out for me as both location and expense related. It was not until much later that I could afford the more expensive side of diving. Who knows, if it were not for my early experience, I may never have become a diver, rather than having 2,167 dives since 1997

Bonaire, October 2019

 

[DAJ]

Initial firearm investment not so much

That would depend on the style of shooting you are involved with and the type of firearm Here are a few of mine and I shoot more than dive these days. I swapped out the Vortex and S&B optics for a Tangent Theta and a ZCO but ELR shooting costs me 10+ times what diving does. While I have great dive gear, it pales in cost comparison to firearms.

 

[Chavodel8en]

Alot of y'all have expensive hobbies. I tend to think we on this board have more disposable income than average. Most folks have cheaper hobbies

Aside from scuba, my hobbies are cheap. I like to play hoops - the cost is sneakers and a ball. I like to hike - cost is gas $ only. I like riding my bike - that cost $500 (admittedly, I could have bought a more expensive bike), but there is little continuing cost.

Compared to many popular hobbies out there, scuba is definitely cost prohibitive.

Its also is the only hobby of mine that required prior training before I undertook it.

 

[Gone for diving]

Alot of y'all have expensive hobbies. I tend to think we on this board have more disposable income than average. Most folks have cheaper hobbies

Aside from scuba, my hobbies are cheap. I like to play hoops - the cost is sneakers and a ball. I like to hike - cost is gas $ only. I like riding my bike - that cost $500 (admittedly, I could have bought a more expensive bike), but there is little continuing cost.

Compared to many popular hobbies out there, scuba is definitely cost prohibitive.

Its also is the only hobby of mine that required prior training before I undertook it.

Yes and no,,, I think...

There is an other thread talking about how people afford the expense of diving like travel and trimix etc.
And most seem to save and budget for trips and gear.

Finances and Tec Diving

Just curious: How do you balance your finances with as costly a hobby as tec diving? Do you set up a yearly “diving budget” and try to stick to it? Or do you go with the flow and sign up for trips, courses, etc. so long as your credit card limit would allow it? Obviously the first option...

scubaboard.com

Some people budget and don't do all the things like,
eat out, drink beer, buy coffee,
have new cars, boats, new electronics and phones, travel, cable, etc ....

I always been interested in RC planes and drones etc, its become very cheap..
Yet it really is expensive,,, because one is never enough... and all the extras add up.

It death by a thousand small cuts,

I have alot of interests and hobbies and as much as I would want to do other hobbies I can't do them all.