How you met scuba diving

edwardjohnson · Mar 21, 2014

Hi all,

I just though it was interesting to ask a general question on how and why you started scuba diving (and went on and on with it!). I hope that this isn´t a sorta "repost" since I dunno what to search for...

Was it to try something new? A friend or relative´s recommendation, curiosity, obligation, fish fan, photography fan, bored of land, previous experiences in water like swimming, aquarium visits, diving videos, you get the gist...

I personally started wanting to try a new sport that wasn´t so practiced back then, and tried with a liveaboard in the Caribbeans...I´d love to know how others found their passion

DivemasterDennis · Mar 21, 2014

My wife bought me a private PADI Open Water Certification class for Christmas 17 years ago, as we were headeed to Maui for a trip that March. It was a total surprise. I am self employed attorney and we hadn't taken many vacations up to that tim in out ( then) 16 years of marriage. I feel in love with it during the first pool session, and we have since taken 2 or three trips per year. Debbie joined me as a certified diver in 2002. Best present I ever received was my scuba certification. Second best present ever was her certification- and becoming my constant dive buddy.
Divemaster

Saagax · Mar 21, 2014

It all happened when an uncle showed some SCUBA gear and it got my attention because it was something unusual those days (mid 80's) I must have been 6 or 7 years old and curiosity lasted until a holy day vacation. There was this instructor at the hotel pool giving some Discover training and I wanted to try it, I must have been 12 so I needed my parents authorization to do it, after some begging I took the lesson learning the very basics of SCUBA in the pool and nearly emptying the bottole.

That time I could not do the real thing, since the next day we were leaving and it I waited for another year to do my first real dive, a year letter I got enrolled Ina certification course (back then those lasted 3 months with 3 classes per week) and I got my first card at 14.

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drbill · Mar 21, 2014

Watched early Cousteau documentaries in the late 50s and 60s. Used SCUBA for the first time in the winter of 1961-62 in a pool and since I wanted to be a marine biologist (and have been for many decades now) I dove and eventually got certified. Now I film underwater so I can share what I see with others, especially non-divers (after all, how many actually read one of my scientific papers?)

diver 85 · Mar 21, 2014

With me, it all started(& took me almost 30 years to 'do it')watching ole Mike Nelson on TV as far back as late 50's to early 60's......Finally took the plunge in '85 with wife & oldest child(13 YO then)....Next 2 'kids' got certified within 4 years when they both hit 12 YO.........For several years, had 5 in the water with 3 being teenagers(now thank goodness they're grown & gone)...I used to anchor the middle & put 2 on each side of me---where I could look back & forth....My head after some dives sometimes felt like a bobble-head thingy....

rhwestfall · Mar 21, 2014

Cousteau shows and a Saturday morning show called "West Wind" kindled a fire. Family vacations to visit my grandparents in Florida necessitated a trip to Woolworth's for fins/mask/snorkel. Loved every moment of it. Folks never had the money for lessons, but a college physical education class made the opportunity real.

Been some long surface intervals, but twenty six years later, still loving it. Now my 12 year old daughter is getting interested....

icechip · Mar 21, 2014

My high school science teacher taught diving classes (YMCA) way back in 1978 and my parents paid for it for my birthday present. Enjoyed it, but for a variety of reasons did not continue with scuba. Did not return until three years ago when I got PADI certified in OW and AOW. Now having a blast, but kind of regretting all those years when I could(should) have been diving!

tstormdiver · Mar 21, 2014

I was on a cruise ship, when it came to the port of Grand Cayman. I decided to do a resort course while in port. We did a little lecture, a few skills in the pool & then we climbed down a ladder at the shop into the ocean. I got down to the reef nearby & was lost in the beauty. Having known how to swim before I could even walk & swam competitvely as a teen,... I was & still am very comfortable in the water. A few months later, during the summer, I took a certification course. From there the passion roared & I have not yet looked back. for being so landlocked in KY, I haven't done bad, as this year (8 yrs from my certification) I will likely reach 1000 dives. I have come a very long way in a short amount of time with excellent instruction & mentors who are just as passionate about it as I am.

meagicano · Mar 21, 2014

I started reading Clive Cussler novels when I was 10 and that's what interested me in the sport. My parents were not supportive (they still hate that I dive - and I'm 30!) and I remember taking lifeguard training courses and watching with envy as a local scuba club geared up to use the pool after us.

I took my OW course as soon as it was financially possible (and I had a car) and haven't looked back. A friend signed up to do the course with me but couldn't get comfortable in the water. Different strokes for different folks!

Adam Grose · Mar 21, 2014

Edward....

For me, my diving career started with kind of a challenge. A friend of mine knew that I had been thinking about getting certified for some time. He kept trying to get me to go ahead and do it (financial issues got in the way for a while). I finally told him that I would get my Scuba Certification if he got his Amateur Radio License. I have my OW Cert, and I'm working with him on the Amateur Radio License...... we will see what happens.

Adam

How you met scuba diving

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