Scuba Diving, Sport or Hobby?

[Alessandro Calello]

For me Diving is not a sport, maybe that link of wikipedia that says that done in the pool where you in teams do excercises it's a sport but the diving you do in the sea it's definitely not a sport!

 

[AdivingBel]

Is hiking a sport? I think of scuba kind of like underwater hiking. It's what I do to see the things I want to see, experience the things I want to experience. It does have the added benefit of "feels like flying," but standing on the edge of a beautiful canyon or a lovely, babbling brook can have a similar effect. The interest in the equipment could certainly be a hobby. "Lifestyle" seems to big for me personally, because I have a lot of varied interests, but I can certainly see where it could be. Maybe it will be for me someday especially if I find myself in the right locale. Safe diving.

 

[jfe]

The sport aspect has more relevance to free diving I would think. Imo that is an extreme sport. Recreational diving is leisurely time spent relaxing in a different environment than normal, making it a hobby. As previously stated similar to hiking, bird watching and star gazing all combined in one.

 

[TMHeimer]

My take:
It's an (physical) Activity.
Not a sport. That must be physical with competition and/or keeping score.
Free diving is a sport---competition, setting world or personal records. Thus you MAY consider snorkeling a
sport IF you dive down--a certain depth?.
Can maybe be a hobby, though you generally think of hobbies as non-physical activities.
Swimming and bicycling are sports because they CAN be competitive.
Baseball, basketball, etc. are sports, activities but also GAMES because you keep score and there is
a winner (except that All Star game a few years ago.......)
You can tell I've thought a lot about this from previous threads.

 

[KDAD]

And the whole time I thought it was an addiction. At least now I know everything will be all right.

 

[Bratface]

I think KDAD has the right answer after all...it's an addiction!

 

[Skeptic14]

I don't think SCUBA is a sport, and you definitely aren't an athlete because you participate in SCUBA. It's a hobby, outdoor activity, etc...

Hiking too isn't a sport, just another outdoor activity or hobby for people that enjoy nature.

Video games aren't sports, jogging isn't a sport (despite forms of it in the olympics), for me the list goes on regarding activities that may involve some amount of physical activity and may be somewhat commonly called a sport that just aren't sports in my opinion and surely don't make you an athlete; it's pretty subjective I suppose.

 

[doctormike]

You know, I never really understood how figure skating was not just a sport, but probably the most watched one in the winter olympics. Yes, I understand how it's an incredibly difficult physical activity, but it always seemed to me that they just made it into a competition by having judges award points based on aesthetics. I don't see how you couldn't do exactly the same thing with ballet (I guess that's gymnastics?).

Now this isn't a swipe at figure skaters - what they do is incredible. But if that can be made into a competition with this process, why not scuba diving?

I don't mean the stuff like in that sport diving link that I posted before. I mean a way of making a competition out of real diving skills. You know how when you see an awesome tech instructor just hovering perfectly, maneuvering forwards and backwards precisely, and doing the various skills like staging bottles and launching a bag so beautifully that you just want to sit and watch them? Well, why not having something like that as a competition? Just like figure skating, there would be judges, required skills, and the opportunity to design your own routines...! Figure diving?

 

[TMHeimer]

Realistically I don't think they can do that with dive skills. If so, then driving is a sport. Actually, by my definition of swimming and bicycling being sports, I guess you could call driving a sport because of race car driving and that NASCAR thingy. But I would not call it a sport--exception to my rule.

 

[TMHeimer]

If golf is a sport, scuba diving should be too. In fact, you could combine the two by going after those shots in the water hazards.

Disagree. Golf, though not overly physical, is competitive (against others or yourself). Every so often I find golf balls while diving (pretty much the only debris found off most of the NS shore, amazingly--well, not many people here..). So, does that mean that when I find one I'm doing two sports that are not sports at once?