Why did you become a diver?

[Anti-Hero]

I got into diving for the money, the women, and the fame! Still waiting on all three.

 

[KY_BOB]

I got into diving for the money, the women, and the fame! Still waiting on all three.

Best reply yet!!!!!!!!

 

[Buoyant1]

I started off watching a lot of Jacques Cousteau when I was a wee lad, and always had a fascination for what was beneath the waves...then I watched (and read) The Deep and was hooked! (must have been the t-shirt) But I never thought that I'd be able to learn in my virtually land locked area so I never really pursued it too much...(other than snorkelling in my backyard pool) A few years back I took a few trip to the Florida Keys since a friend was stationed down there. The first step was a glass bottom boat trip out to the reef, then I took a snorkelling trip the next time and saw some people diving just below and thought..."heck I can do that!" So I searched out a place locally to get certified, started my classes, (did a few discover scuba's in the mean time) and then got the full certification! Five years later I'll still at it...in fact, I'm leaving in about 30 minutes for the quarry!

 

[ligersandtions]

I had always been mildly interested in diving (kinda the same way I was, and stil am, about skydiving - it was something I wanted to do at least once, but never really something I had to do). Last April, my husband (fiance then) and I were in the process of buying a house....everything that could go wrong did go wrong and eventually we got screwed out of the house after being in escrow for about 40 days (it was a very lucky thing, but it took a little while for us to realize it - we'd be even further from the beach if we had bought that house!).

We were getting married in May and now that we had all of our down payment money back in our possession, just burning a holes in our pockets, he suggested getting certified for our honeymoon (in Playa del Carmen and Cozumel). There was a dive shop a couple minutes from our house and we did the course work and pool session through them....did the check out dives in Cozumel.

While I really enjoyed the dives in Cozumel and wanted to keep diving, I wasn't truly hooked. We came back home to socal, bought all our gear (some of it not wise purchases....but have been fixed since then), and started diving locally. The point when I got truly hooked on diving was that moment when I finally figured out how to get neutrally buoyant....all my worries and stress melted away. After that, I figured out how to find lots of neat things on dive sites (critters are much smaller here than they were in Cozumel).

Now I'm hopelessly hooked and loving every moment of it. I can't wait till my next dive....the moment I get out of the water, I can't wait to get back in!

 

[NoVaScuba]

This is a great thread!

I'm one of those that grew up with Sea Hunt and Jacque Cousteau. I even had a brief flirtation with a Marine Biology major as an undergrad. Then I realized there was little research money for that field and went to other areas of Biology. Scuba was in the back of my mind of course, but the stories of courses in the 60's and 70's were rather intimidating and I was not very athletic.

About a year ago I wound up on a solo trip to Miami. In looking for something different to do, I was checking out snorkeling on the Pennekamp web site. While on the site, I noticed the Scuba link and checked it out. I actually thought about taking the OW course right then but didn't want to spend the whole week on it. I decided to try the resort course and pursue the OW course later if I liked it.

The basic skills and safety taught in the morning were fairly easy to get. My first dive was on the Benwood and it was incredible. The feeling of being weightless in another world was fantastic. It was like flying! I was hooked.

My youngest daughter and I completed our OW last weekend and now my living room is covered with Scuba and camping gear as I get ready to leave this weekend on our first dive trip to the Keys.

 

[TMHeimer]

To collect shells.

 

[down4fun]

I spent 5 years working full time and going to school at night, first for my LPN, then my RN. Weekends were consumed with study. So when I graduated and passed my boards I decided I needed a hobby, a way to relax and enjoy the fruits of my labor. I have always loved the water and so I signed up for a OW class. 6 months later I made my 100th dive. I absolutely love it. I love the water, the sunshine, the boat rides, and friends i have made. And i really love the wrecks.

I have done my AOW, cavern/intro to tech and should be starting tech 1 in the next few weeks. Goal...more wrecks!

And I too find a divers sexy. Take a cute fit guy and put him in some doubles with a deco bottle or maybe a RB and whoaa very nice:blinking:

 

[burna]

...snotty nosed men in neoprene suits just don't do it for me...

Yeah I'm with you on that one, don't do anything for me either !!!

Now...a nice looking chick trying to get out of a tight wetsuit...that can be a real eye opener!



For me, I think the seed was planted watching episodes of "Flipper" as a kid. (Gen Y would have no idea about "Flipper" )

I think there was always the thrill of possibly finding a mysterious wreck with sucken treasure, but now this is just a romantic notion of "the old days".

I had the opportunity to do a dive on the GBR while on my Honeymoon, kind of like a discover scuba, and loved it. Don't know how we didn't drown, there was no training that I remember. Just chucked on a tank, a ton of weight and they said "see you at the bottom". There was no "don't hold your breath" or "don't bolt to the surface".

Anyway, I loved it. Had a HUGE maori wrasse swim over my shoulder from behind and scare the absolute crap outa me. We also saw a giant clam which we touched inside until it reflexed and I thought I was going to get my hand stuck in there and drown. Must have happened on Flipper 'cept I didn't have a dolphin to get me out.

I was hooked after that but didn't actually get certified until a couple of years ago when living in Brisbane. I thought moving to Melbourne would be the end of my diving, but I've lashed out on a drysuit and am loving diving the cold water.

One thing I hate about diving is I can't seem to stop buying gear! And there is always more to buy!!

 

[Sas]

Now...a nice looking chick trying to get out of a tight wetsuit...that can be a real eye opener!

+1

I think there was always the thrill of possibly finding a mysterious wreck with sucken treasure, but nowthis is just a romantic notion of "the old days".

Well next time we go wreck diving, I won't tell you there is a wreck there and act surprised when we find it?

 

[burna]

Well next time we go wreck diving, I won't tell you there is a wreck there and act surprised when we find it?

Hahaha! Excellent!