Why aren't more people taking up scuba diving?

[TMHeimer]

RJP, Great OP. Have been travelling & haven't read all the posts, but it seems similar to a thread a little while back asking why fewer young people take up scuba now. I've heard the stats you mentioned before regarding # of certs. vs. # of divers. This does suggest lack of enrollment for younger people. I mentioned before that this is not the case at our shop, as it seems to me that a majority of OW class students are late teens to mid 20s. But our shop has a quasi monopoly in the area. I've not seen any advertising for OW courses other than the usual sign outside the shop (we have a 2nd location now) and the website. Weekend courses are usually full April-Nov.

 

[TSandM]

I spent more than half of today "diving". I got up in the morning and packed gear for myself and the stuff I was lending my dive buddy(ies). I got dressed and left the house at 9 for a meet time at 10. Then I spent more than an hour adjusting my gear to my dive buddy, and wondering where the other fellow was (he was jetlagged and had overslept). Eventually, we got in the water, and our total dive time was about 20 minutes, because my buddy was a brand new diver, and I had brought him a 72 cubic foot tank, which is all we have that has air in it. Oh, did I mention that the wind was howling and the rain was pelting, and almost everybody else was smart enough not to go outside today?

After our dive, I declared I was wimping out of more diving in the thunder, lightning, and POURING rain, and my buddy and I had a cup of tea in the nearby restaurant and then I went home. I got home at 1:30 pm, and I haven't YET taken all the gear out of the truck and washed it and put it away. 4 1/2 hours spent for 20 minutes underwater, and another hour of cleanup work yet to do, and all of it in absolutely FOUL weather.

Yeah, I wonder why people don't sign up to do this. Actually, I wonder why those of us who it, do!

 

[Pullmyfinger]

I spent more than half of today "diving". I got up in the morning and packed gear for myself and the stuff I was lending my dive buddy(ies). I got dressed and left the house at 9 for a meet time at 10. Then I spent more than an hour adjusting my gear to my dive buddy, and wondering where the other fellow was (he was jetlagged and had overslept). Eventually, we got in the water, and our total dive time was about 20 minutes, because my buddy was a brand new diver, and I had brought him a 72 cubic foot tank, which is all we have that has air in it. Oh, did I mention that the wind was howling and the rain was pelting, and almost everybody else was smart enough not to go outside today?

After our dive, I declared I was wimping out of more diving in the thunder, lightning, and POURING rain, and my buddy and I had a cup of tea in the nearby restaurant and then I went home. I got home at 1:30 pm, and I haven't YET taken all the gear out of the truck and washed it and put it away. 4 1/2 hours spent for 20 minutes underwater, and another hour of cleanup work yet to do, and all of it in absolutely FOUL weather.

Yeah, I wonder why people don't sign up to do this. Actually, I wonder why those of us who it, do!

Perfect!

 

[Joe Underwater]

I am constantly amazed how many people I encounter that are terrified of sharks. I had two just today. Humans are incredibly irrational beings.

But having said that, I used to think my dad was suicidal when he showed me pictures of himself diving with sharks when I was a kid. Turns out champagne corks kill more people annually than sharks do. Yet we kill 100 million sharks a year. That's 11,000 an hour. 3 every second.

 

[scubastingray]

I am constantly amazed how many people I encounter that are terrified of sharks. I had two just today. Humans are incredibly irrational beings.

But having said that, I used to think my dad was suicidal when he showed me pictures of himself diving with sharks when I was a kid. Turns out champagne corks kill more people annually than sharks do. Yet we kill 100 million sharks a year. That's 11,000 an hour. 3 every second.

Not that I disagree with your point, but that is a terrible way to bring it up. Far more people drink champagne than swim around, near, or at sharks so it's a logical fallacy to suggest shark diving is safer than drinking champagne.

 

[redneck23ms]

i'm 33 and just got my OW certification last month. in my class/pool sessions it was me and 2 13-14 year olds. and in the check out dives there were 4 kids age 10-15 and 3 college age people and then me. so there seems to be more young than older taking up scuba in my experience. and i'm in colorado so not much for local diving around here

 

[gert7to3]

RJP,
There have certainly been changes in many outdoor recreation venues. After experiencing the fire trails in Marin County and the desert around Moab I really came to understand the value of $2K+ mountain bikes. With the invention and expansion of rail trails plus development of bike paths in urban areas many aspects of the bicycling market have expanded. Key here is that many bike venues can be accessed right out the front door or with a short drive.

This doesn't hold true for all areas of outdoor recreation. Skiing has been flat even with the development of snow boarding. Cross country skiing was transformed by Bill Koch's invention of skate skiing, but there are fewer XC areas and far fewer XC equipment dealers than there were 25 years ago. The dearth of snow up until recently has also been a negative factor.

Backpacking has declined overall. Happily many trail systems developed 25 years ago are still around, though maintenance has been reduced by budget cuts. Also, many of the boomers no longer have the backs, hearts or knees to get themselves out of King's Canyon or over Mt. Marcy.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

I just came back from another great dive trip down in Ventura on one of the dive boats.
The weather was in the 70's, sunny, the water was 59 degrees with 60 foot visibility, absolutely gorgeous. Perfect conditions for a regular 7 mil full suit and hooded vest.

The boat was full. It was a very good mix of people on the boat. I was the only one from Norcal, a couple came from Reno, NV.
Most of the people on board were young. There was a group from Visalia that were hunters. On this trip there were no open water classes happening. There was a photographer there with his 10 yo daughter, she was just a tiny little thing maybe 70-75 lbs soaking wet. At first I thought she was just there for the ride but to my surprise she pulled on her little wetsuit, geared up and jumped in. She dove around like a little pro, very impessive.
There was another brother sister team there that were doing there first dives out of open water. They had a blast and loved every minute of it.
We had acrobatic seal lions and playful harbor seals all around on our dives, we even had dolphins riding the bow wake on the way out to the islands.

I think this whole freak out about diving dying is a big load of crap based on what I saw this weekend. Diving is alive and well in California.

Last weekend I did a shore dive at one of our popular dive sites on the North Coast. I ran into a guy that used to work for a local dive shop. He since opened his own and is doing fantastic. He's got a great personality and is a real friendly guy. This thread happened to be in my head so I asked him how the dive industry is doing in his opinion. He said it's growing like crazy in his shop and that's pretty much all he can tell me or go by.
He was there with 7 other divers that day too. I've never seen that site so busy on a weekend in the winter.

I think what were seeing is the dive community distilled down to the people who really want it and love the lifestyle, people who have adopted scuba diving as a way of life.

The dabblers have moved on, good ridance.

 

[Pullmyfinger]

I think what were seeing is the dive community distilled down to the people who really want it and love the lifestyle, people who have adopted scuba diving as a way of life.

The dabblers have moved on, good ridance.

Great insight!
Good post to read!

 

[TSandM]

Our GUE-Seattle group grew almost 50% over the last year, and most of those were younger people and certified within the last year or two. I feel like a centenarian at our social events . . .