What is the BIGGEST OBSTACLE TO DIVING?

[Sinbad the Diver]

I suspect many are like me, it's not something that is ever really thought of when you live in a landlocked area. I'm 40 and just got certified, never even considered it until about a year ago. I had been snorkeling many times and loved it, wanted to do more but honestly it never entered my mind. Went to lunch one day at a Baja Fresh and there was a dive shop next door. Wandered in, got some info on the whole process. Talked to my wife about it, she wasn't interested but thought it sounded like fun for me so I signed up. Two weeks ago she and I left the kids with Nanna, took off for the Keys, I dove, she hung out by the pool.

But, within my circle of friends and acquaintances no one dives and that's the normal way for people to get into activities, through friends. Hopefully I'll become a conduit for a whole new group.

 

[The Anchor]

Cost, Buddies and Labor would be my guess as to why more people don't dive. I bought all my gear within in a year of diving becasue I knew this was going to be a lifelong hobby. For those that dont own gear, a two tank dive will probably run $100 to $150.

The main reason I don't dive more is the lack of buddies to dive with. A friend of mine is certified and we have an agreement to keep the last weekend of the month open for our monthly dive. My siste is also certified, but she only dives when she decides to wak up before noon (read rarely).

Lastly, diving is very labor intensive. You have to load your gear in the car and those weights are bloody heavy (I dive with 30 Lbs and a few extra incase my buddie needs one) the amount of gear is roughly equivalent to what I would take for a weeks holidays (space wise). Once you get to the site, you have to shimmy into your wet/drysuit, load up weights, tank ect. Then you get 1/2 hour to an hour (recreational divers here) of blissful diving. Stager out of the water, grab a bite and back into your gear for another 1/2 to an hour of diving. Load up your gear then when you are home you have to wash and store it. Easily an hour.

 

[jason.elias]

Lastly, diving is very labor intensive. You have to load your gear in the car and those weights are bloody heavy (I dive with 30 Lbs and a few extra incase my buddie needs one) the amount of gear is roughly equivalent to what I would take for a weeks holidays (space wise). Once you get to the site, you have to shimmy into your wet/drysuit, load up weights, tank ect. Then you get 1/2 hour to an hour (recreational divers here) of blissful diving. Stager out of the water, grab a bite and back into your gear for another 1/2 to an hour of diving. Load up your gear then when you are home you have to wash and store it. Easily an hour.

Yeah, I think this might be another BIG one... My wife, who loves Diving, says that the biggest pain is the amount of physical work it is. Her Dive Gear is heavy stuff for her (which of course, means her Dive Gear ends up becoming heavy stuff FOR ME).

But I do think the carrying and care of the gear, the time organizing and getting there, the time on the boat and the intervals, leave a fairly small ratio of Diving Time to Prep and Breakdown Time. And I think that might weigh heavily in those slightly less dedicated...

Am I wrong in this?

 

[Skeeter1097]

I am glad that I live here in West Palm Beach, Fl. Grab the gear 5min, Get to the boat 5min, Get on the water and dive 5hrs or so. get home 5min wash and hang gear 30min. Grate day.

 

[Barracuda2]

All the reasons given so far play a part in this answer to diver attrition. I'm surprised that someone hasn't mentioned what I think is the major reason: "Life gets in the way". Break down the age groups---newly certified teenagers have lots of activities that get in their way: school, girlfriends/boyfriends, jobs for spending money, school activities, etc. High school grads need to seek employment, or join the military, or further their education. College age---well, college and all that goes with it as far as work load, expenses, etc. College grads now need to find a career and cultivate it. Along with that comes a wife/husband/family. Man, when the kids come along, that can be a great barrier if you are any kind of parent at all; and of course, kids cost a lot of $$$ for a long time. Retirement is great, but the older we get, the less we can do physically. I have been blessed for some reason throughout my life to be able to dive pretty steady through all of these phases; however, through each phase, I was able to set priorities and had to at times give up a trip or a piece of equipment, or pay attention to my non-diving spouse (43 years of a very successful marriage) and my two sons. Currently, I have the health and freedom to really get into my passion and I plan to continue for as long as I can. In my experience with divers, and ex-divers, I think "LIFE" causes the biggest attrition in the dive community.

 

[Clammy]

I agree with the labor. I don't like the idea of trying to do back to back, day after day dives because my wetsuit is still wet and uncomfortable and I'd have to drag it out to another beach. I have to shlep all that gear in and out of the car, wash it all, hang it all to dry, and wait 2 days and check everything. Two seconds in the water, or two hours in the water, the gear still has to be washed (Unless I really am going back in the next day). Packing all that gear and loading it into my car takes more space and trips than any other sport that I do.

However, I don't think this is an initial deterrent to new divers. I, for one, don't ever mention that part to friends when I'm trying to convince them to get certified! I'm relatively young compared to the majority of the dive community that I see (mid 20s) and my friends, once passed the fear of the water or sharks, cite cost as the major factor. Like many people have mentioned before, it's hard to spend 500 dollars (after initial non-rentable gear costs) just to find out whether you are going to like it or not.

The initial investment costs are high. For full gear setup and cert, you are talking thousands of dollars. And people are seldom happy with what they have with dive gear. There's always that new thing you want that does much more. It's not like most other sports, like skiing, boarding, surfing, climbing, etc. Gear in those sports are expensive too but not as much and if you are putting the amount of money you put into scuba gear for middle of the line stuff, you are probably buying top of the line for other sports. Not to mention, I can take my surfboard anywhere in the world and surf. I can take my skiis anywhere in the world (where there is snow) and ski. But I have to have warmer exposure protection for colder areas and less protective gear for warmer areas for scuba.

Scuba gear is also life support. If I don't take care of my surfboard or skiis. So I end up with some messed up equipment but my life isn't in immediate danger because of it.

Like other people have mentioned, there is planning involved as well. During snow season, I can up and hit the slopes on a whim. For many people, this isn't the case with diving. One of the minor issues I have as a diver my age is trying to split my time between diving and my social life. People my age tend to still move in large packs! I have to decide on whether I want to plan a vacation with friends that most likely won't involve diving, or go on a dive vacation with people I don't know or hardly know.

All in all, I think it's a few large barriers, such as cost, along with many smaller barriers, like the idea of being in deep water or fear of hopping in the ocean with 50lbs of gear strapped to you, that prevent more people from joining our sport.

 

[Sue J]

I agree that cost, convenience and time all factor into why many certified divers give up on scuba. I think we also have to remember that diving is not a particularly family-friendly activity. I know a lot of people who gave it up once they had kids.

I can decide on Friday night that I'd like to go skiing for the weekend, pack up my 3 kids and be settled in at a resort within a couple of hours. Hubby and I can ski with the kids or leave the 6 yo in ski school while we tackle the harder slopes with the older two. Hiking takes even less preparation. Throw the family and the dog in the car with some gear and we're off.

If we want to dive we either have to make a plan to travel someplace warm well in advance or lug gear, get tanks filled and travel an hour to brave the cold New England shore. In any case, only half the family can dive so the others are left out. I know when we take precious time off from work we want to spend as much time as possible as a family.

We're trying to rectify this by getting two more of us certified, but it will still be years before the 6 yo can join us.

 

[Michael Schlink]

A lot of people are goal oriented, once they reach the goal they're on to something else. Many people take scuba lessons with the intention of getting certified and that's about all, maybe make a dive or two on vacation but then on to something else. Look at Karate (martial arts) many take the classes to become a "black belt" and most want to know how long it takes, it's a goal. They don't really understand that it's what's in between that counts and few understand that becoming a black belt is really just the begining. How many parents pull their kids out of Karate class after they got the coveted "black belt" and then they're into some other "activity" it;s because they've reached their goal. Same for diving, that's why the # of diver's that take additional training is such a low %. They have reached their goal, they're certified.
Then take a look at some of the dives new divers are tossed into and it's a wonder we have as many divers as we do.
Teaching somebody to dive in a 30' deep quarry with low vis and a few ugly fish doesn't usually get someone excited about diving, especially after they watch the great videos of reef diving in the Carib, etc. Pretty people swimming around in crystal clear, warm water and colorfull fish. Then we haul them out to the local quarry, bundle them up in a nice thick wetsuit and teach them to dive, isn't this fun. Not for alot of folks.
How about offshore diving, right here in N.Carolina. It's close and we have all of these great wrecks. I was out a couple of weekends ago. Out of 16 I think 7 were sick and two were close. Not everybody made the first dive and the second even fewer. How many "dropouts" were created right then. I know of at least two or three may be interested in shore diving but it may be a while before you talk them into a boat ride!
Those of us that keep diving do it because we love it for many number of reasons. But it's not the most forgiving of activities, you have to stick with it and many just don't want it that bad.
Money-yea that's part of it, time sure, but you have to make time to do anything you want to do. My bike needs to be ridden more but because diving is "my thing" I make time and spend the money to do it.
Not everyone is going to do it. Why, because when you look at the whole big picture it's a pretty big committment to time, money, training, travel and education.
Nice Original Post though......

 

[jason.elias]

Teaching somebody to dive in a 30' deep quarry with low vis and a few ugly fish doesn't usually get someone excited about diving, especially after they watch the great videos of reef diving in the Carib, etc. Pretty people swimming around in crystal clear, warm water and colorfull fish. Then we haul them out to the local quarry, bundle them up in a nice thick wetsuit and teach them to dive, isn't this fun. Not for alot of folks

Maybe there is a discrepancy in people's minds between the EPIC reef Diving they dream of and what must happen in quarries or windy, storm-swept shores..

I live in SoCal, and this is the furthest North I have Dived. The rest of my Dives have been MUCH closer to the equator. So perhaps I am just not aware of all the people out there who are Diving far from the warm, placid seas I think of Diving in...

And maybe THAT is a reason for the high attrition rate. Are there a lot of people out there who Dive far from the sea where it becomes a HUGE effort to get out to Dive? And if so, maybe it is hard to maintain that connection to the sport far from any tropical waters (though I am sure there are a number of dry-suit Divers who might disagree). After all, in a comparable sport dynamic - skiing - you are rarely more than 4 or 5 hours away from a place to ski, right? (my apologies to Texans on this who might be a bit further than that..)

And if that is true, I wonder, is there any way for these Dive drop-outs far from the Oceans to re-establish their connection to the sport short of free trips for everyone to the islands?

 

[Sas]

For me I always wanted to try diving since I was quite young but didn't have enough money - that was the only thing that was stopping me. I got to try it in Egypt in 2005 for $35US for the day and loved it! However, again cost was an issue to go diving more so I waited until I finished uni last year and used my first pay packet at my new full time job to buy OW classes and basic equipment.

Anyway, I would go diving every weekend but can't afford it so am limited to about twice a month. At the moment I have to keep renting BC, reg, weights + tank as I can't afford to buy any more gear and not sure when I will be able to buy them, hopefully at the end of the year. Then I will dive a lot more as there is only the boat fees to pay + fills usually

Actually on being scared of what is in the ocean, I am always nervous about that when in the surf and swimming at the beach (few people I know have been done by stone fish!), but I am never nervous diving. Perhaps it is my thick layer of neoprene.

With friends I find the main reason why they don't want to dive is just complete lack of interest in what is under the ocean (hard to imagine but yes a lot of people just don't care!).