WtF: The Decline in Scuba Participation

[boulderjohn]

Being in Flow – in the Zone – is really cool, and is commonly experienced by athletes, performers, surgeons, rock climbers, etc. The goal is (rock climber) not to get to the top, but rather just to climb, as perfectly as possible, and you don’t want it to end. The goal is – as Kimela puts it – the journey, not the destination. Some dives are like that.

There are many who are indeed like that, and I thought of including the idea in here but decided to limit it more to basic recreational diving. There are indeed people for whom the work is part of the fun.

I wrote a blog post about this phenomenon with technical divers years ago.

 

[Lorenzoid]

the industry only feels like it is dying, the numbers per dema are fairly flat. . . .

My guess is there are always new divers entering the sport and, having nothing to compare it with, enjoy diving for a few years before deciding the reefs are all going to hell and abandoning the sport. A friend of mine got his whole family certified a few years ago and, after their first trip--Bahamas, if I recall--he told me how wowed they were seeing a turtle pass by over what I got the impression was an otherwise featureless plain of sand. As Americans, Europeans and Aussies get disillusioned, more Asians will take up diving. Maybe the number of divers entering and exiting the sport worldwide will somewhat offset each other.

I continue diving because, like some of my other hobbies, I manage to keep finding new facets to explore. It does, however, require increasingly more "W" to pursue those facets, and it has occurred to me that at some point I might decide the WtF ratio is too high.

 

[runsongas]

that has always been the case though that people come and go from the sport. not everybody that got certified in the 70s and 80s kept diving for decades.

 

[FishWatcher747]

Well the reefs becoming less healthy is a serious problem for the sport of diving. But as mentioned by the OP other sports are also suffering. OP mentioned golf and tennis. But it is a lot more than that. I come from a whitewater kayaking and rafting background for 25 years. The peak of the sport for shops, new gear, new participants peaked about the year 2000. Since then it has had a rapid decline.

Too many young people checking their phones.

 

[boulderjohn]

that has always been the case though that people come and go from the sport. not everybody that got certified in the 70s and 80s kept diving for decades.

Believe it or not, people getting certified and then quitting has been a feature of scuba from the very start. This History of NAUI, explains how, in the mid 1960s, the Los Angeles scuba program was so alarmed by the rate at which people were dropping out that they created a new program designed to renew their interest. They had divers do a number of different dives in different areas of interest, and they called it Advanced Open Water. NAUI, formed by former leaders of the Los Angeles program, followed suit for the same reason. Other agencies followed along before too long.

 

[boulderjohn]

Too many young people checking their phones.

While that may be true, there are other explanations. I have two adult sons who do not dive. Both enjoy very active lifestyles in other areas of interest, activities that are not cheap. One of them, by the way, has invested many thousands of dollars in his whitewater rafting equipment and will be undertaking an 8-day trip in a wilderness area in a little while.

There are many more competing interests in our world, and not all require cell phones.

 

[Cdncoldwater]

@boulderjohn That was an informative PDF, I've only dove coral reef area once and it was amazing. The DM was a local and said that the reef had changed but the region had adjusted practices and it appears to be helping plus we saw a coral farm as well. I'm relatively new to divining (4 years in June) and I started late in life with more disposable income and time. My 25 year old son is qualified, has all his gear and a willing buddy (me) but he has many other commitments eating his time up as well. We have pretty active diving in my area and people are happy with the local dive options, creatures and such. I think people look at videos, want that experience but that isn't the local reality and the destination courses don't prepare them as long term divers.

 

[AStepAtATime]

Brand new diver here, so perhaps can provide a different perspective to the topic than many of you who have been diving for quite some time.

My wife and I both just got our open water cert and have done just a handful of dives. We are both in the "empty nester" stage of life - more time, more resources, more interest in doing things we want to do and not just wrapped around our kids activities.

However, we wouldn't have taken it up if we didn't have friends who were divers. Yes, we had interest in exploring the world underwater, but the tipping point was more social - going with friends on trips and sharing experiences.

There is a broad range of entry costs - you can get started with some time and minimal equipment and fees. But in general, its an expensive hobby (compared to many others). Even if you rent gear, the tank and dive fees can add up. That certainly may be a barrier to many. That may say that it's better suited to those a little older who have the means.

On the flip side, on our first two boat dives after our certification, there was a very diverse (in terms of age) group of people on the boat.

I think Tursiops was onto something in his post about "flow" and having the skill level to make it fun:

That is, not enough skills for the challenge produces anxiety…too much skill for the challenge produces apathy….but a match is a necessary condition for Flow/Zone.

Diving has a certain amount of challenge attached to it, and deep or high-currents or low-viz or beyond NDL or photography can all raise the challenge beyond your skill set…and thus produce anxiety. Being anxious is NOT fun. Being apathetic and bored (too much skill for the dive) is NOT fun.

As a new diver, it's not yet "fun". We are still thinking through all the techniques and gear and technical aspects of having a safe dive. It's not automatic. Many have told us that kicks in at 25 or 50 dives. But that takes some pretty good staying power for new divers to get over that initial learning period.

The analogy is driving a motorcycle. I took that up about 5 years ago. The first 2-3,000 miles were all thinking; about bike mechanics, positioning, environment, etc. It took a lot of concentration. But now, confident and comfortable in my skills, I truly enjoy the ride. I suspect diving is similar. I wonder how high the dropout/quite rate is before getting to "flow"?

 

[drrich2]

It's worth considering scuba diving is often fun for one person in a family. There are diving couples, but many of us have a (currently) non-diving spouse, non-diving kid(s) (often too young), and so investing the money and vacation time for a dedicated dive trip can mean leaving the family (at home or a resort), and there's an opportunity cost vs. doing something else (e.g.: cruise, visit out of state relatives) for the family.

It's not like taking most of a day off to play golf. It's not an exhibitionist 'spectator sport' like some forms of racing.

When I was working, I had to worry about the time investment...since getting time off approved was hard. Now that I'm retired, I have to worry about the money.

There are ways to engage the rest of the family in the fun. We've brought my mother-in-law along, exposed our daughter to some exotic places and done some topside excursions. I don't know whether advertising the topside attractions of popular dive destinations would be a draw (but who could say 'no' to the (non-alcoholic) beer-drinking pigs of St. Croix?).

 

[apenland01]

It's worth considering scuba diving is often fun for one person in a family. There are diving couples, but many of us have a (currently) non-diving spouse, non-diving kid(s) (often too young), and so investing the money and vacation time for a dedicated dive trip can mean leaving the family (at home or a resort), and there's an opportunity cost vs. doing something else (e.g.: cruise, visit out of state relatives) for the family.

It's not like taking most of a day off to play golf. It's not an exhibitionist 'spectator sport' like some forms of racing.

When I was working, I had to worry about the time investment...since getting time off approved was hard. Now that I'm retired, I have to worry about the money.

There are ways to engage the rest of the family in the fun. We've brought my mother-in-law along, exposed our daughter to some exotic places and done some topside excursions. I don't know whether advertising the topside attractions of popular dive destinations would be a draw (but who could say 'no' to the (non-alcoholic) beer-drinking pigs of St. Croix?).

My gosh, this is me to a T....

I had to back out of a trip to Socorro that would have been amazing because I have a job that scheduled me for training. It's very difficult to get a chunk of time off work. A day or two isn't a problem, but anything close to a week is extremely difficult.

Many of the people I was scheduled to go with were retired, so I understand the time commitment being very difficult.

I was certified in 1992, then got married and had a family and didn't dive again until my refresher course late last year. I bought all my gear last year and I haven't been in the water since my refresher course. It's just too much work to get my gear to the lake and I have other hobbies that are very fun and are easy to do (bass fishing and dirt bike riding). I'm hoping to get some diving in this summer, but I'm not optimistic, since I have to solo dive if I want to go.

It only takes me a few minutes to launch my boat to fish or load my dirt bike into my truck. If I'm not diving by the end of this summer, I'm going to sell all my new gear for a loss and focus on my other hobbies....