Who or What Inspired You to Dive?

[gkndivebum]

It's my wife's fault: she badgered me into it. (she's been diving a year longer than I have).

Seriously, I had zero interest in diving for the first year that she was certified.
Just didn't see the point. I began to warm up to the idea while recovering from an
accident that left me on crutches for 8 weeks. I used to drop her off at the dive
shop when she was going out on charters, and she and one of the instructors at
the shop used to tease me about when I was going to learn to dive.

One day I walked into the shop without my crutches or cane, and before I could
stop myself I responded to the usual banter with "How about wednesday?".

DIdn't like the first day of class much. To my instructor's credit, he managed to
get me interested on the second day by doing a little "tour" before we started
our confined water skills. (my "confined" water work was done at the Kailua Pier
on the Big Island, so there was actually stuff to see in the shallows). Been hooked
ever since.

 

[AevnsGrandpa]

This is a great thread.

For me, I grew up always in a local swimming pool and ALWAYS was under water. What actually moved me to take the class and do it was a 20th anniversary trip my wife and I (and kids) took to Maui in '03. Went on a snorkel trip to Molokini and I loved it but could never stay down long enough to get a good look at things. This boat also offered snuba and that got me to thinking aout it.

When I got back, where I work has a activities association and a scuba club which just happen to be offering a OW class. So I took the class, got veritified and now my wife wishes I wan't so obcessed!

Now I help out with that same OW class I took justa couple years ago.

Isn't diving great!!

Jeff

 

[VaDiver]

Easy one for me...Lloyd Bridges in Sea Hunt. I actually got my first cert through the YMCA in 1972 only to discover that not every diver swam around looking to cut someone's air hose or put them in a headlock. Only my instructors did stuff like that!

 

[Diver_Gurl82]

Diving was just something that I always wanted to try.....I guess it is because I love the ocean.

 

[knotical]

Cousteau’s 1953 book “The Silent World”.

Later reinforced by Lloyd Bridges as Mike Nelson in “Sea Hunt”.

 

[opiniongirl]

I was inspired to take up diving as it was the only option for a school "outweek" where I could still stay in town and party.

um....I mean...of course...that I could PARTAke in learning about our fabulous marine ecosystems and learn more about the grandfather of scuba, Jacques Cousteau...

Of course, I'm much more mature now.

 

[David P]

When I was 3 mos old, it was discovered I had a double hernia. The doctors could operate for a couple of days and they told my mom, "Just dont let the baby cry". How do you keep a baby in pain from crying? easy, stick me in front of a fish tank. I sat there for hours just staring at the fish. I always had above ground kidie pools untill I was about 5 when we got a real pool. I used to sit on the deck and do back rolls into the pool and then swim around with one arm bent infront like I was reading my compass. I always said Id never go diving because I was afraid Id be seen standing on the side of an offramp with a sign that said "Will work for oxygen". I have a 120 gallon reef tank with corals, 500w of HID lighting, about 4000 gallons per hour of flow and its plumbed to another 60 gallon tank on the other side of a wall. A friend of mine who is also into reef tanks told me that he goes scuba diving. I told him I was quite jealous, when he told me about a local guy that he was going to take a refresher course with, I sighned up and am kicking myself for not doing it years earlier!

 

[Poogweese]

Hey There Folks,
What got you into Diving?

Flipper!!

 

[RP Diver]

"Mask and Flippers, The Story of Skin Diving" by Lloyd Bridges. I found it in my high school library back in 1961 or '62. I had seen the "Sea Hunt" series on TV, but with this book I found out that Lloyd Bridges wasn't just an actor playing a diver, he was one of the pioneers in the sport. It was almost 30 years later that I finally got around to doing anything about it, as living in Montana and Colorado during most of that period isn't normally an inspiration for scuba diving. I was doing some investigation about diving instruction for my brother back in early 1989 at a local dive shop, and the bug bit me again. I enrolled in an OW class almost immediately, and I was addicted from the moment I took my first breath underwater in the swimming pool. I went from non diver to PADI certified Divemaster in 5 months without ever seeing the ocean ( took my first dive trip in December that year). Although I don't serve actively as DM any more, the experience gained from the training and from assisting with classes for several years has proved invaluable.

P.S. Just out curiosity, I googled for the book, and found a copy for sale from an out of print bookseller. I just ordered it. :07:

Rick

 

[Rick Murchison]

All the little fishies.... delicious little fishies...
S. mokarran