Why did you become a diver?

[luckydays]

Hey Bob, your story sounds like mine a bit.

I was living in Guam years ago (more than 15) and often thought about diving. I used to drive past the dive shop everyday to and from work. Never once stopped in. I have been all over the world and occasionally thought about diving but it took going on vacation with a now ex bf to get me to do it. We went to Aruba last September and he wanted to dive but I could not. He was a new diver and was surprised with all the travel I had done, as well as all the tropical places I have lived, that I never dove before. He said if I got certified, we would vacation more. Since I need reasons to get away from work (I work for myself in my own company - yes it is hard to take a break from work some times) I agreed. I looked into getting certified, paid for the class and got certified in October 2008. Once I told him, he was happy and now I barely talk to him (hence the ex part). Currently, I have more dives under my belt than him and realize that he is a jerk. So I have found new buddies on SB and my LDS to dive and vacation with. So far it has worked.

And one day, when the timing is right, I will find a dive buddy who may be interested in being a bf as well. I can only hope he is not a jerk and I recognize it early on if he is.

 

[H2Andy]

well, when i discovered that marine animals don't RUN AWAY FROM YOU at first sight, i thought, hey, this is better than hiking!

also, because diving allows you to go into such a different world with all sorts of different rules, it's like traveling to a whole new world

 

[drbill]

Couldn't stand golf, wasn't good enough at tennis to beat my grandfather (he played with the likes of Bobbie Riggs in his day) and stamp collecting wasn't an option once I moved away from Midwestern winters.

A dose of Cousteau and Sea Hunt helped, but the first time I sucked air off a SCUBA tank in 1961 I was hooked.

 

[H2ODog]

I did a lot of snorkeling when I was a kid in a nearby river. Scuba had crossed my mind then but it was only a dream. In college, scuba was offered as a physical activity class worth 1 credit. The instructor was a talker if there ever was one and at the time his stories were good (he was a very good instructor also). The cost was less than at his LDS, and covered a ton of pool time and a weekend check out dive trip.

I don't know if I would have ever stopped by a shop and taken a class otherwise so it worked out great for me. A good break from the studies, college credit, and the extra fee was tacked on to the student loan.

 

[k ellis]

Since I am not the best swimmer scuba was the furthest thing from my mind. Then I went to Hawaii once and the resort I stayed at had a free discover Scuba so I figured being free why not? I tried it and fell in love. Then I went on their resort dive and loved it even more. After pondering for a year or so about getting certified I finally broke down and got certified.

As to why I love it though there is no other feeling in the world then to be in the worlds largest swimming pool (Salt water) and glide over all the neat creatures in the water. Also in the tropical areas where tempatures reach well into the upper 90s quiet regular its a nice get away to be in cool comfortable 70s for a while!

Now when I travel my partners always shake their heads at me since I always pack my one bag (due to cost) with scuba gear and ask them for spare room in their bags for my clothes and neccesities.

 

[TSandM]

I've told my story before, too, but I think it's funny enough to tell again.

My husband had been a diver, years before we met, and he periodically would say, "You should learn how to dive," and I would say, "Yeah, someday . . . " It sounded like fun, but it wasn't on the priority list.

And then I went to a charity auction for Gonzaga University. It was a wine tasting and dinner, and more wine than was good for me went down the hatch, and I ended up bidding on a "Wine and Golf" trip to Australia . . . and WINNING it. (Never mind that neither of us golfs . . . ) On the way home, my somewhat exasperated husband said, "Well, if we are going to Australia, now you are going to HAVE to learn how to dive." And I sheepishly agreed that I would do the classroom and pool work in Seattle, but insisted that he take me to Maui to his dad's for the open water dives. There was no way I was EVER setting foot in Puget Sound -- it's too danged cold!

So, I signed up for my class, and I liked the instructors and my fellow students, and I got Maumaued into doing the open water dives in the Sound, where I promptly got hypothermic from a leaking drysuit, just as I knew I would . . . and I got hooked.

I had no expectations of ever doing anything more in diving than floating around tropical reefs and looking at pretty fish, but in the last four years I've logged about 800 dives and gotten cave and helitrox certified, and I'm working on my first tech cert. Diving has taken over our lives in a serious way!

 

[Teamcasa]

The short version.
As a knucklehead teenager in the late 60's I was given the chance to dive with some friends that frequented Catalina Island. We harvested Abalone and other stuff for local restaurant and a few big boat owners.

Took a break to raise my kids but just could not stay out forever!

 

[Jeff Toorish]

So I could wear a knife strapped to my leg.

Seriously, it was never at the top of my hit parade. I figured I would learn someday, just to do it.

I was on vacation in the Dominical Republic, they offered scuba lessons and I signed up the day I got there. I really wasn't all that crazy about it at first.

I became hooked when I started exploration diving.

Jeff

 

[ZenDiver.3D]

I am a water baby. I have been swimming since before I could walk. Diving is the best thing ever for me. I got certified in college and then Life happened. Husband, breeding, bills, and, well, life. Then we finally got to a place to afford it again, and I talked my hubby into taking the class with my son. We are now both instructors, son is advanced and starting Rescue when he hits the age requirement, ditto for the daughter. And now we own a dive shop... hmmmm. I am having a blast doing exactly what I love. Cool huh?

 

[SurDo2]

To pick up women.