But there is a wrong place for the question.
:d
I'm guessing that the membership of a web discussion forum for scuba divers is not well-represented by former/inactive scuba divers.
What prevents you from diving after OW Certification?
- Thread starter Basking Ridge Diver
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But there is a wrong place for the question.
:d
I'm guessing that the membership of a web discussion forum for scuba divers is not well-represented by former/inactive scuba divers.
OP
Basking Ridge Diver
Contributor
Maybe I should have said - what barriers prohibit you from diving more now that you are Open Water certified?
Me personally I am fascinated by all the certifications that folks have and then ask - Now What? I got certified so I could dive - and so I am wondering why folks seem to hold back.
And there are legitimate answers - no right or wrong answers - I was truly curious...
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I think another thing that holds people back is money. Lots of people get enticed by ads like "learn to scuba dive for only $199". So they sign up for a class, only to learn that in addition to the $199 they have to pay $150 for student kits, and $300 or more for "personal gear". Suddenly they're into it for three times what they thought it would cost, and then they find out that once class is over they'll either need to rent gear or pay upwards of a couple thou$and to purchase their own equipment. About then they start to think that this hobby they signed up for on a whim may not be worth it ...
... Bob (Grateful Diver)
... Bob (Grateful Diver)
Time
Money
Didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would
No dive buddy
Incompetent dive buddy
Only certified for a vacation to _______
Family obligations
Those are some of the reason I have been told.
Money
Didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would
No dive buddy
Incompetent dive buddy
Only certified for a vacation to _______
Family obligations
Those are some of the reason I have been told.
Dr. Lecter
Contributor
Biggest problem for me was finding time away from work to jump into the uncertain logistics of doing a new activity...which is why I wound up doing AOW in a quarry with snow falling on me as my first dives just a couple weeks after OW. I think I bought my first pony a couple weeks after that and was off and diving. Moving to Hawaii about a year later really made it easier to get a lot of diving in, too.
I can't say I've ever worried about the whole buddy thing outside class and a few dives where BO volume makes going solo impracticable, though. The ability to get into the water and dive without first finding someone else who wants to go has allowed me to dive a lot more than I otherwise would have. As the GUE folks will tell you there are other ways of getting in the water frequently, though, and finding the right group of dive buddies can be invaluable even for a solo-oriented diver. I have an informal group of divers to thank for pointing me past NDL diving early on, and another bunch of guys out here with a boat and their own gas blending setups to thank for how much deep diving I get in.
I can't say I've ever worried about the whole buddy thing outside class and a few dives where BO volume makes going solo impracticable, though. The ability to get into the water and dive without first finding someone else who wants to go has allowed me to dive a lot more than I otherwise would have. As the GUE folks will tell you there are other ways of getting in the water frequently, though, and finding the right group of dive buddies can be invaluable even for a solo-oriented diver. I have an informal group of divers to thank for pointing me past NDL diving early on, and another bunch of guys out here with a boat and their own gas blending setups to thank for how much deep diving I get in.
Diving in the St. Lawrence the biggest delay/hindrance to more diving was proper equipment. At six and a half feet tall there aren't many drysuits for rent, and a semidry was limiting my bottom time. My dive buddy was stellar, patient, and well trained, but I could tell he wanted more time under, and my equipment was limiting us. I'm hoping to have a drysuit for more technical diving soon that will help with that. Seems like diving up north invariably becomes technical. Between cold water, and depth of many of the good wrecks there seems to be a bigger investment than if I was diving out of the Florida Keys. The cold water is what limited my wife. She has a 7mm, but prefers her 3mm and warmer water...
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I joined the local dive club right after certification, and good as it is, the dives were an awful long day for me due to location. But I was lucky in that a fellow newbie had a cabin near our house, so I did a lot of diving with him for 2-3 years. Then he moved and no one else really close, so after 75 dives I began diving solo close to home--continue that today. Either it's that way, or diving locally very infrequently. When we snowbird on the N. Gulf of Mexico there are also very few divers around that time of year, so same problem. Of course I don't recommend that anyone else dive solo, but pretending it doesn't exist is silly.
I agree. especially with "Only certified for vacation to______". My LDS says a good amount of the people that get certified get it for tropical weddings. I also thing lack of a dive community to talk to ends it. I know I talked to several friends of mine who dive that didn't know such web sits like this existed. They said "we got done with OW and didn't know where to go from there.
When I first start, it was finding buddies. It is very difficult to find buddies willing to dive with beginners even if you offer the gas and car. I felt intimidated too, joining a dive club or a diveshop that does fun dives every weekend was intimidating considering everybody else there is experienced. I finally got into my LDS's fun dives and got more experience.
Now, it is time. I have some buddies I can ring up if I want to dive, I go solo sometimes as it is more convenient for me. But sometimes I have non-diving events that conflict with the normal time others dive. Studying and school limits the amount of free time I have. As diving with clubs take up a good 5-7 hours of a day and doing it alone 4 hours (not to mention post and predive stuff), it really takes a chunk out of studying time during exam or project season. (Nitrogen loading also tires me out and does not let me concentrate on boring tasks...
)
For many, it is cost. I bit the bullet and have all my gear. For others, forking out $100 everytime you want to dive for rentals (+gas and car) is a costly activity...
Now, it is time. I have some buddies I can ring up if I want to dive, I go solo sometimes as it is more convenient for me. But sometimes I have non-diving events that conflict with the normal time others dive. Studying and school limits the amount of free time I have. As diving with clubs take up a good 5-7 hours of a day and doing it alone 4 hours (not to mention post and predive stuff), it really takes a chunk out of studying time during exam or project season. (Nitrogen loading also tires me out and does not let me concentrate on boring tasks...
)For many, it is cost. I bit the bullet and have all my gear. For others, forking out $100 everytime you want to dive for rentals (+gas and car) is a costly activity...
I love the question. After I was open water certified, with excellent PADI instructors here and in Hawaii, by the way, I did my first 4 dives on a dive boat with the shop I did my open water dives with. My next dozen or so dives were with a buddy who was also an open water diver. We stayed within our limits and enjoyed the dives. He and I took AOW together, and before my wife dove, he and I travelled on a few dedicated dive trips together, where we dove with groups on occasion, and on our own on more occasions. We were both certified in the 90's, when the progression and demands for certification were a bit different, but hugely different. Properly trained divers should be able to safely plan and execute a recreational dive within ther limits as OW divers. Sadlly, not all are.
\DivemasterDennis
\DivemasterDennis
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