Anyone else with a spouse that won't dive?

[RAWalker]

I did! My wife liked to snorkel on trips so it was ok. I got tired of having to schedule everything so carefully so I forced her into going for open water certification last spring.
She hated having to go through the training. The pool work was just some mild complaining. The open water cert dives at Lake Pleasant she really hated but got through and told me I better appreciated her doing it because most other wifes would have quit. I did a few dives with her at the lake so she and I could get used to diving together. Those went ok and without practicing drills she had some fun and didn't have any complaints.

In September we vacationed in CanCun and took 2 days of 2 tank boat divin on the reef.
Let's just say my wife is a very happy diver now. I'll never need to ask if she wants to dive in warm clear water. Now I just need to insist she dive at the lake every few months to keep in practice. She has agreed that it is necessary and even is willing to even do a drill now and then.
Sometimes you just have to know your mate and tell them what's good for them. Just be careful how you go about doing it. I introduced my wife to a lot of female instructors and allowed them to discuss my wifes questions and fears.

 

[bamamedic]

My boyfriend of three years doesn't dive; he's tried a Discover Scuba experience and just didn't like it.

This is a bit of pain, considering that I've been diving every single weekend for about six months straight

I guess we just compromise. Occasionally, I'll drag him out to the quarry, where he'll help me lift my doubles, and he reads a book in his car while I'm in the water. He's really quite tolerant of it, all things considered. And, I in turn, tolerate his various hobbies, and I never say a word when he spends an ungodly amount of money on various plastic models which he'll never actually get around to painting, and only sell on Ebay in a few months!

We're tentatively planning a wedding/honeymoon, which will involve a cruise to the Caribbean. I've been told that I can dive on one shore excursion, but he gets to plan the other

 

[DIVERDANFOWLER]

My wife doesnt want anything to do with diving , I have tried to get here to try it at the local YMCA but she isn't interested.I know it sounds mean but I sometimes look forward to her having a weekend shift so I can go diving!

 

[ShakaZulu]

Anything I get into, I go a bit overboard, so my wifey pretty much hates:

KiteBoarding - I have to go on my own trips
Scuba Diving - She will dive in warm water vacation desitnations
Flying - Not allowed to talk about it, she really hates it

Oh well, so be it...I go hiking with her, she likes that.

 

[DESIGNERDIVER]

hopefully you can convince your wife. My fiance took up diving a little over a year ago and i wanted nothing to do with it. Well it become 2 seperate lives for us..............so I decided to become a part of it. Guess you should know that I can swim but had a MAJOR fear of the ocean. I love boating and the beach but being in the water? OMG there are sharks in the water! LOL but i went for a discover scuba private class thought it was awesome and am scheduled to get certified in the keys in 3 weeks. Now all i think is who the hell cares about sharks I have so many others things to think about while trying to breath under water LOL. I look foward to sharing the experience with him. good luck!!

 

[Sas]

My partner doesn't dive and has zero interest in the idea. I did extract a promise from him that he will try it sometime in the next five years I don't hold out much hope that he will like it, but stranger things have happened. I am imagining he will leave it til 4 years and 364 days have passed...

Anyway, it isn't an issue for us. Each weekend I spend one day diving and the other day with him. During the week I often go out for a midweek night dive and try to plan it on nights he is busy with work or visiting friends. For holidays, I have gone on a few trips myself and will go away overseas next year myself for diving. He goes up to the snow alone to snowboard whilst I go away to dive We'll do another holiday together somewhere where we both want to go. So yea, I figure seeing as we both like really different things, we can just go off on our own to do them and then have other times were we do stuff together that we both enjoy, that way I don't have to worry about how to entertain him whilst I am diving. Like I went overseas for five months without him (before I started diving) about 3-4 years ago as he wasn't that interested in travel and I wanted to backpack. Anyway, he got bored after a few months and joined me in the end, but I like that I can do my own thing and he does not mind. I see a lot of couples who think they need to do everything together, and have holidays together, you don't always need to do so...

I'm pretty lucky I have to say. We have a tiny apartment so most days during the week it is covered in drying scuba gear and he doesn't mind. He works from home too so will occassionally get my tank filled during the week when I can't get off work to do so. I think one thing that makes it really easy is that we have seperate finances! He saves all his money and I spend all of mine on scuba diving. If we had to share the huge disparity in our spending might cause a problem...

 

[billsreef]

I recently told her, "Well honey, the boat is going to need someone to flip burgers for the rest of us when we surface!"

Those of you that are married know that did not go over well (giggle)

Hope your dog house is nice and comfy

 

[DiverDurf]

Wow! You guys/gals are awesome and I really appreciate all of the responses! I'll be sure to share this thread with my wife sometime so she can see the various viewpoints. I think some of you hit the nail right on the head when you mentioned having her go along on the boat rides to experience the trips with me. Maybe in the end that will peak her interest; especially if former non-divers share their stories and fears with her. My wife is the kind of person that fully trusts what I tell her, but it's still good to hear it from an outsider looking in. Thanks so very much for the input as I've now got a renewed hope that she'll one day share this magical experience with me. I can think of nothing more special about diving than my dive buddy being my soul mate. okay......that was kind of mushy, huh?

 

[DiverDurf]

Hope your dog house is nice and comfy

Yeah, after 12 years of marriage I'm good for a true dog house comment now and then.

 

[psdiverdave]

I'm probably not gonna be much help to you.... but my wife WON'T dive at all.... she doesn't like sharks?????? But I don't and haven't done any "warm water diving" at all... I live and dive in the Pacific Northwest.... specifically south coast Oregon... my wife lets me dive whenever because she LOVES eating fish and I do ALOT of spearfishing... so she just takes the kids to the beach if she goes on a dive with me.... hope this helps:cool2: