You know, I feel like I'm the really odd one here: I'm a single, late-30's woman with no kids. I took the OW course on my own this summer (mostly because I really wanted to do it and my friends were dragging their feet about signing up for a course). In 3 months, I've logged over 30 dives, and I'm continuing to dive through the colder weather. Of course, I have a decent full-time job, which has helped finance the nearly 5K I've spent on courses/rentals/gear purchases, and I'm about to spend another 1K on a drysuit. Granted, being single and childless helps, as I don't have a non-diving SO or kids at home to keep me from my new hobby, but I like the ability to be able to do what I want, when I want to do it. If only I could find a nice guy who dives, that would be even better.
Why do I do dive? I love it. The first time I tried it, I asked myself why I hadn't done this 20 years ago. But 20 years ago you had to practically go thru navy seal training to be a diver. I digress. What I've found is that of the 4 women on my OW course, I'm the only one who is diving consistently. One hasn't done any diving since her OW weekend. Another disappeared, maybe she's diving with her husband, who knows. The third dove once with me on a shallow wreck, and did a few more dives in the Caribbean with her SO. But she thinks it's too cold now and too expensive to rent/buy the equipment. On the other hand, I know for a fact that one of the guys on my course hasn't gone diving since the OW weekend because took the course with his ex-GF, and is no longer interested in diving. Another guy is too busy with running his business to dive. I have a friend from a while back who dives, but only in the Caribbean. He's a WWW - a 'warm water wuss'. Not that there's anything wrong with that. My friend, who got her cert with her SO in August, has logged one dive here since then and has said she doesn't want to dive with him again, and she's not comfortable in the water here. She's well on her way to becoming another WWW.
The St. Lawrence river is pretty nice, actually. There's no thermocline, it's fresh water, lots of wrecks to dive as well as some fun drifts, and there's always the chance of a freighter going by in the shipping channel while you're diving whose engine vibrations you can feel pounding in your chest, like being at a rock concert. It's a real adrenaline rush, but I admit it's not for everyone. First time I dove in the St.L, I thought it was kind of creepy (couldn't see the bottom, dark green water, low-viz), but I soon realized that while it wasn't the Caribbean, it was nice in its own way, just different, and I've learned to love it. I look forward to diving every weekend, it's a great stress-reliever for me. I've invested in all my own gear except for tanks, and it feels great to have a relationship with my LDS where I can ask if we can dive this or that wreck this weekend, and they find others who are interested and we're off. I've met lots of great people who I dive with often, and I know I'll always have someone to dive with on the weekend. True, not all dives can be good dives, the currents in some areas are quite strong and can tire you out before you even start, but conditions vary all the time, and I'd rather be diving than not. That being said, I've had to call a dive a couple of times, and there's no shame in doing it.
I don't really care if my dive buddy is male or female, as long as they dive safely and I can count on them as a buddy. We have a 16-year-old girl in our dive club who just got certified a couple of months ago, got her AOW soon after -- I've dived with her, and she's great. Of course her parents are both avid divers, so that helps. She'll keep diving as long as she can this fall, just like me. Her enthusiasm about diving is very similar to mine, and it's nice to have someone else who feels that way.
Because of my enthusiastic dive-talk, my sister-in-law says she and my nephew will be getting certified next summer. Maybe they'll drag my brother along with them too
I'm planning a trip south soon, going to do some Caribbean diving and maybe some cavern diving too. But as soon as I get back, I'll be back in the St.L in my dry suit. I may even go ice diving this winter!
