What is the BIGGEST OBSTACLE TO DIVING?

[jason.elias]

...Or more, to the point, WHY DON'T MORE PEOPLE DIVE?

My wife and I recently had an interesting discussion. A friend of hers just recently started dating a Diver who got her into it. And now she's fairly obsessed, having bought all kinds of gear and going Diving with her new boyfriend every chance she can get...

This woman asked my wife why she thought more people didn't Dive... Which we thought was a great question... And though we tried to answer with some ideas, in the end, we were left wondering ourselves..

So what is it? Why don't more people start Diving? And once they do, why don't they continue? Why is there such a high attrition rate with newly certified Divers? The sport is great as we all know, yet it still lacks the broad impact we all feel it should have...

• Is it the COST?
• Or the TIME?
• Or the sheer practicality of ORGANIZING IT?
• Or is it something else much greater than these?

What IS the biggest obstacle to Diving and why don't more people Dive?

 

[DiverBizz]

Other issues I have found with friends who don't dive and never will
. fear of the water
. fear of the marine mammals
. fear of unknown
. fear of having fun

 

[Scubagolf]

I think DiverBizz is hitting close to the mark. I have personally never heard a non-diver cite money or time as a reason they don't want to START diving. It all of us who are already divers who don't have the time/money to do MORE diving!

 

[Teamcasa]

After we eliminate the ones who have no desire to swim, dive or have anything to do with the water and then we cull out those who could not afford much in the way of leisure activities you have the people who think about diving but fear the ear pain. They remember how much it hurt the first time they went to the deep end of the pool without equalizing. The others fear the claustrophobic factor, or breathing thought the mouth only. A very small percentage also fear the fish/wildlife.

Comments based solely on my own experiences and are not based on any facts or studies.

 

[jason.elias]

It all of us who are already divers who don't have the time/money to do MORE diving!

Right. But from what you are saying, the Time and Money are not obsctacles to starting. But THEY ARE obstacles to continuing - as in you need more of both to do it as much as you want...

That's where I think a major issue lies. I sometimes wonder if Diving doesn't suffer from the fact that it is not as easy as putting on a pair of shoes and heading to the park but instead involves scheduling, booking, trips and lots of time...

Then again, as a friend of mine also said, those issues don't seem to stop Skiers or Snowboarders..

 

[donnad]

i think too, that once certified,and once they've gone on a trip.......if they don't dive again soon, before you know it it's been a year or more, then they're still newbies, with only a few dives, and will need a refresher course, etc. and some just don't get around to doing it. but i was so enthralled with it from the beginning that i wasn't one of those people. but there are lots of them!!!

 

[jeraldjcook]

Time and cost for most people.

Unless you live by the ocean or desire to be nothing more than a vacation diver, it's time consuming to drive hours to the nearest quarry and expensive on a per-dive basis to keep/maintain gear.

 

[charlesml3]

Almost every I know hears my diving stories and at least half of them say regularly "I'm going to go get certified one of these days...." It's the "one of these days" part that's the biggest obstacle. They keep putting it off.

They ask me "Is it hard to get certified?" My answer is : "The hardest part of getting certified is driving to the dive shop and signing up for the class." No kidding. Once they're signed up and have written that check, they'll be there for the class.

The best way I've found around that is to book a vacation and get them interested in going. Then we have a solid date and they HAVE to get certified by then. We do quite a few referral certifications down to Coz and this method works beautifully.

-Charles

 

[Teamcasa]

...What IS the biggest obstacle to Diving and why don't more people Dive?

The other question is, Why don’t more already certified divers dive more?

I can’t tell you how many people I’ve met that are certified but only dive on vacation and only if they decide to vacation in a place that has warm water diving. I recently met a couple (that live here in SoCal) that have never dived in California but have dived in the Bahamas and Hawaii. When I asked them why not dive here, they said, “No way – it is too damn cold, I’d never even consider it.”

 

[jason.elias]

....you have the people who think about diving but fear the ear pain. They remember how much it hurt the first time they went to the deep end of the pool without equalizing.

You are right. I think this is a BIG one for people who try to get certified. I was a BBQ this weekend where a woman told me that exact reason for not continuing. And that certainly helps explain a percentage of people not Diving AFTER certification...

But what about even attracting people to the sport in the first place... Diving is so NOT on the radar as opposed to other sports. And this I find amazing as Diving has so many aspects that are in its favor. Yet it never seems to have much impact at all on the general public or popular culture...