Loss of enthusiasm?

[discrepancy]

I was diving off of Catalina, California this sunday when I had a disturbing experience.

It's always great to have those huge, exciting, colorful warm-water dives under blue skies and calm seas. But, there is so much more to diving. Would you like to be able to name each species of marine life you saw near Catalina? Or photograph them and share the joy with your friends and family? Would you feel comfortable without a divemaster showing you the way?

If not, then diving holds more in store for you than you can imagine.

Most divers love the sea, and we love to be in it, as often and as long as possible. Like the heady flush of a new romance, a spectacular dive in sparkling summer conditions is a wonderful thing and a memory to cherish, but we lovers of the ocean will return again and again even when the sea and the sky are less than inviting. Keep diving for a while and see if you don't get hooked on the sea like the rest of us.

 

[dolbersen]

I'm in San Diego with not-too-many-more dives than you. PM me and maybe we can go shore diving. There's a lot to see at The Shores and the Cove. Have you been to Hospital Point? There's a lot of varied diving in San Diego.

Granted, you'll see the same cast of characters though most of SoCal, but that shouldn't make it boring under any circumstances.

 

[drbill]

Hard to believe that on your 15th dive and in a new destination (my home), you would be bored on just your third dive. I've been diving Catalina for 36 years and am still not bored with it (although I do enjoy tropical and other exotic destinations).

Ship Rock is an awesome place to dive. I was just out there Sunday myself and I only got 1/3rd of the way around it and down to 60 ft because there was so much to videotape.

To enhance your diving experience, I would personally suggest you begin learning more about the marine life you are observing, its behavior (even the common species exhibit interesting behavior if you really watch them). My newspaper columns (archived on the web site in my sig) will help give you more info to enrich your diving experience. Look for interactions between species... cleaning behavior, aggressive behavior, etc.

You can't really enjoy the eco-evolutionary "play" if you don't know the cast of characters that are involved in each location.

After 44 years of diving I find I am pleased with a days effort (2-6 dives) if I see one new thing... a new species, a new behavior, etc.

Another thing that has greatly enhanced my diving is my videography. As a marine biologist and educator, I really enjoy sharing what I see on my dives with a larger audience. It has also helped me focus on some of the more interesting, but often over looked, phenomena.

 

[do it easy]

Now, I had only recently celebrated my fifteenth dive, so I'm not a "jaded" diver by any stretch of the imagination. I want to keep diving, but I still find it strange that I was able to actually be bored on a long-anticipated trip to a destination I had never been to.

What got you interested in diving in the first place? If you're bored by your 15th dive, then maybe diving is too much like golf for you. If you want exciting, try diving in freshwater.

 

[sharky60]

Probably just a lack of Wheaties, low blood sugar.

Better fly me out to California and have me dive the the kelp with you to get a proper assesment of the problem.

No, really nothing to get in a lather about, somedays even the most spectacular dives don't set you off and then again a normally boring dive will seem like your best ever! Just the way the 'ol human brain works.

 

[Santa]

If you want exciting, try diving in freshwater.

I'm all for exiting - and doing my first freshwater dive tomorrow in some lake with a sunken shed in it - but apart from colder water, bad viz and a slight weight difference why would it be particularly exciting?

 

[gregor1234]

I'm surprised that nobody asked this yet but could you have been a little seasick? Lethargy and yawning are some of the earliest signs of motion sickness.

You might have been slightly motion-sick, dehydrated, overexposed to the sun, fatigued or some combination of the above. Being only "a little bit" of any of those things can dull your enthusiasm and you might not realize why at the time.

Especially if you're sitting back now saying "Wow, that was a really cool dive. Why didn't I enjoy it at the time?" If that's the case, the I would be willing to bet on a touch of motion sickness.

 

[Santa]

Just the way the 'ol human brain works.

yeah - or doesn't work ;0)

 

[matt_unique]

I found education goals to be one of a few motivators for me. Set your sights on Rescue or whatever you may want and start the course. You will learn new things, have new realizations about what you have been doing previously, ideally meet a new instructor, new buddies, etc. Diving at night will add a lot to the same dive site. Practicing and learning new skills is interesting. I think the enthusiasm comes in waves with most divers. That is the case with my buddies.

--Matt

 

[do it easy]

I'm all for exiting - and doing my first freshwater dive tomorrow in some lake with a sunken shed in it - but apart from colder water, bad viz and a slight weight difference why would it be particularly exciting?

it's what you don't see that makes it interesting. i find freshwater diving to be challenging- cold water, less vis, more silt, less light, more neoprene, etc. some would find this exciting, others wouldn't. it's not everyone idea of a good time, but i enjoy it.

safe diving and let us know what your impressions are of freshwater diving...