I was able to open the PDF and take a look.
I had no idea it was that bad in all the locations
@boulderjohn. The title WtF I misconstrued as WTF!, however both work in this case.
I’ve never been a vacation diver for exception of Hawaii a few times and the GBR once back in 2000.
It was almost too much like a persons lavish aquarium to me, almost unreal in many ways. It was spectacular in so many ways but the rest of the tourists on the boat began to wear me down and became a drag just trying fight for space.
I enjoyed Hawaii but I began to get bored after about 5 dives, It became monotonous.
I thought even then that the cost to enjoyment ratio was a bit off and knew then that my far flung dive vacation career was going to be limited.
I can’t imagine what it is now over 20 years later. People tell me that where we were in the GBR then is almost non existent now.
If I only had dived in all the locations you mentioned
@boulderjohn I can tell you that I would have found another hobby besides scuba long ago because there would be no way I could afford all the time and money and domestic logistics to go all the places you have been. I’m just damn glad I have this here otherwise diving would have never happened for me. I got into scuba from freediving for abalone. For me it was close proximity to the ocean that got me involved and is what keeps me involved.
To be honest, I enjoy my local diving more than I enjoyed the few far flung places I have been considering all the factors.
Cold doesn’t affect my attitude or physical enjoyment of diving. To me it’s the curiosity and the adventure that keep me going. The fresh seafood helps too. If I lived where you live I would probably dive California more than other places, and in fact I would probably choose to go right where I dive now more than suffering all the travel hassles to go to the exotic locations simply because of value, accessibility, the ability to hunt and gather, and the lack of crowds. In fact many people that I know who dive here say the same thing, that they felt privileged to be able to go to exotic locations but overall they like what we have here the best.
There is a local dive culture here that has been around since the 1950’s just like SoCal, except more hardcore. It was the excitement of the hunt and the rugged coastline that inspired many to brave the cold and rough waters of the north coast and still does to this day.
like I said, I have no idea what it’s like outside of my Norcal world because I don’t have the opportunity to get out much and haven’t for many years. It’s sad that the warm coral world is declining. I was actually looking forward to maybe getting out more and giving it another shot; start to travel in semi retirement but it sounds like that might not be an option now. That’s too bad.
As far as diver participation dropping, yeah It’s true overall and for the tropical places maybe even more. It’s just to expensive and too big of a hassle for the struggling average person now.
In my location there has never been a huge participation level to start with. It takes a special person who is dedicated to the sport beyond just being a dabbler who want’s to look at pretty fishes and be warm to partake in the cold and crappy conditions where I dive.
People come and go. The hardcore’s seem to stay and continue on because they have reasons to stick with it beyond just the basic warm water recreational minset of everything needing to be perfect or they won’t do it.