Diving stats

[Flutter]

I believe the percentage of certified divers who never reach 50 dives is quite high. I’d put money on it being over 90%, possibly much higher. It could be over 98%.

I run into ‘certified’ divers all the time. At work, at church, at social events. I can count on one hand the number of people I’ve run into who are actual ‘divers’ like most of us here and have logged over 50 dives.

I would also put money down on the percentage of divers who never reach 20 post-training dives being over 75%.

Thank you for your response. I had no idea beyond what we were told years ago (and it sounds as if he estimated on the high side). We are shore divers and mostly meet only other active shore divers while vacationing. At home, certified divers and divers alike are very rare.

 

[Flutter]

I would think 80% is very very high now. Maybe this was true 21 years ago, but now it seems a lot of people get certified OW on vacations and then never do it again.

Yes. It sounds as if he may have errored on the high side, or more ppl are certifying simply for a vacation now.

 

[Bigbella]

Part of it may actually be generational with so many modern distractions available -- when there was, comparatively, just a few decades back, an almost total lack of a constant, twenty-four bombardment of streaming entertainment and games, little of which ever prepares one for donning a wetsuit and taking a surface swim; or, for, for that matter, ever leaving the basement.

We didn't proudly reach thirteenth in the list of obese countries, at about forty-three percent and climbing, by just sitting on our hands -- churros were also involved.

My circle of friends, most of whom began diving with me, in the late 1970s, all continue to dive . . .

 

[MacDuyver]

I would think 80% is very very high now. Maybe this was true 21 years ago, but now it seems a lot of people get certified OW on vacations and then never do it again.

Talking to people on dive boats, I’d expect that realistically 80% divers probably don’t even hit 100.

There are many Passionate ones sure, but the typical diver I’ve met on a charter boat usually hasn’t broken 30.

 

[Ez E]

I stopped diving before 10 dives. Well, I stopped for 22 years. Than just recently picked it back up. With the money I have invested in the last few months I dont plan to quit again for a while.

 

[boulderjohn]

Here is my take on one possible reason for the early dropout of divers. I think the "Been there; done that" syndrome is in play. Long term divers are rarely doing the same thing over and over and over and over and over and over again. They keep finding ways to keep diving new for themselves.

I myself went through this sequence (with overlaps) over the decades:

1. Initial experiences in resort area--"Hey! This is really cool!"
2. Discovery of other such beauty (etc.) in sites around the world, bringing in the cultural experiences along with the diving. (Check my profile to see where I've been.)
3. Divemaster assisting classes
4. Instructor
5. Cold water/drysuit diving
6. Tech diving
7. Cave diving
8. Tech instruction
9. Exploration

As a result of always looking for something new, I acquired a set of certification cards about two inches thick. People who believe that you should do nothing but basic diving over and over and over and over and never grow new experiences dismiss a sequence like that as "card collecting," but it kept me excited about diving.

Other people have things on their list that I don't have, including guiding dives, photography, videography, rebreathers, etc. It's all good. Whatever works for you.

 

[WillieJustice]

Here is my take on one possible reason for the early dropout of divers. I think the "Been there; done that" syndrome is in play. Long term divers are rarely doing the same thing over and over and over and over and over and over again. They keep finding ways to keep diving new for themselves.

I myself went through this sequence (with overlaps) over the decades:

1. Initial experiences in resort area--"Hey! This is really cool!"
2. Discovery of other such beauty (etc.) in sites around the world, bringing in the cultural experiences along with the diving. (Check my profile to see where I've been.)
3. Divemaster assisting classes
4. Instructor
5. Cold water/drysuit diving
6. Tech diving
7. Cave diving
8. Tech instruction
9. Exploration

As a result of always looking for something new, I acquired a set of certification cards about two inches thick. People who believe that you should do nothing but basic diving over and over and over and over and never grow new experiences dismiss a sequence like that as "card collecting," but it kept me excited about diving.

Other people have things on their list that I don't have, including guiding dives, photography, videography, rebreathers, etc. It's all good. Whatever works for you.

I have only a handful of dives so far, but will have more than 25 in less than a year of certification. Even diving in the same place, it is different and interesting so far. I can't imagine getting bored with it. Time is the real issue for me. I suspect that time knocks a lot of people out of diving because it can be hard to schedule.