What kind of People are Divers?

[durian]

There was a time when this was true. Then, some marketing wonk at PADI realized that they had pretty much saturated the market of people who are "proactive, risk takers, leaders, very independent" and that the type of growth that they wanted required penetrating the market of people who are timid, worrisome, followers, and immersed in dependency and learned helplessness. That's the type of person their marketing and courses are aimed at now, and every time I go diving, I see more and more like that.

The majority of new divers I see now are trendy lemmings looking to get the diving box on their "de rigeur" ticket punched.

I would like to state that I distinguished between those who dived a few times and those who are "Divers". I don't mean to generalize to the point that I am including every person who has ever gone diving. I am writing about that group that are "Divers". Perhaps we could call the first group "Novice Divers".

 

[durian]

Do you think certification plays into this anywhere? Could there be novice divers with several certifications and divers with only a few? Do you think the majority of Rescue divers and above are divers? Where would you draw the invisible line? Can you draw an invisible line.
So, again, lets disregard the novice diver from my first description.

Thank you

 

[sea nmf]

I've been diving for 15 years. I dive regularly. I started in the Seattle area and did most of my diving there.

I am not a risk taker! I don't consider diving "that" risky. I have been described as a leader but I don't like that label or that role.

Is there perhaps a gender difference? It would be interesting to see.

 

[Aussie Diver]

I'd say drinking's a part of being a diver. Theres not many dive trips that I've been on where we havn't ended up at the pub. And all the dive meetings I've been to have either been at a pub, or at a bbq somewhere with, yep you guessed it, beer.

 

[Diver0001]

silly question? Are we all types from all walks of life? Probably but I would venture to say that there is something unique about the diving commuinity. I teach overseas and was surprised at the number of those who at least had an OW. I am not saying that an OW is necessarily a diver, but they have showed an interest and may well be divers, but in the early stages.

In my humble opinion, I think divers may be people who are proactive, risk takers, leaders, very independent. Maybe this is a horrible generalization....if I was honest I would add serious drinking (joke)

If you were going to commit the horrible sin of generalization, how would you generalize divers?

Since we're started with sweeping generalizations I'll say this:

There are only two kinds of people who scuba dive. Those who think and those who do not.

Thinking people can become divers. The rest are underwater tourists who believe what they read in advertisements.

OK, in all seriousness the only real thing I see connecting the majority of divers are curiosity and a interest in nature. Divers are people who stop flipping through the channels when they get to "Discovery"

R..

 

[Diver0001]

I'd say drinking's a part of being a diver. .

Nah....Drinking is part of being Australian.

R..

 

[El Orans]

Nah....Drinking is part of being Australian.

R..

"Gezelligheid" is part of being a Dutch diver

 

[dweeb]

PADI commercialized the dive industry to include just about anybody. This was undoubtebly good for the industry because this caused the industry to advance.I know I've seen an awful lot of change over the last 25 years.

Change does not equal advance.

The only type person I might say wouldn't become a diver is the overly cautious, meek, possibly timid type. They may not realize how safe diving can be.

But the marketing material will make sure they believe it is as safe as they need it to be. The "overly cautious, meek, possibly timid type" can be found in OW classes and on cattle boats every weekend now.

 

[dweeb]

True, but then we got DIR...............a whole new kind of diver.

And with it, a whole bunch of obese couch potatos who run out and buy a backplate and a long hose and call themselves DIR.

 

[H2Andy]

And with it, a whole bunch of obese couch potatos who run out and buy a backplate and a long hose and call themselves DIR.

bah... these divers aren't DIR

they're forgetting the most important DIR thing:

a nifty black mask with no snorkel