What are you willing to do to keep diving?

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When I was younger I would dive any environment except ice. Now I try to stay above 70F for the rest of the year we will dive within a days drive' fortunately for me that includes from South Padre Texas over to Panama City Florida
 
I know, I ask a question and all the usual hardcore show up.
I was trying to get the warm water jet setter people to answer. I’m trying to see if the warm water only people are willing to lower their standards to stay wet.
I think we are the wrong group to ask that question of.
I had a thread since the stupid plague started asking if the warm water vacation divers would be willing to dive locally/within their home country if they were unable to get to their usual diving spots overseas. @chillyinCanada was one of the very few who actually responded to my question. Southeast Asia (Indonesia?) is her preferred place for diving and she pretty much wasn't going to bother diving if she couldn't get there or something of that sort.

I think this is like the old jacket vs wing, DIR vs whatever, or many other discussions - some folks say things in a way that implies (or outright says) people who have certain preferences are lesser or misinformed divers. It gets old, so except for the occasional attempt to respond, most will ignore the whole thing. I agree with @chillyinCanada and I think I responded as such on that other thread. It's not even a matter of trying something different - I started in cold water, and am no longer interested in doing that. It doesn't play to what I enjoy about diving. I would rather wait. I've got tons of other things I'd rather be doing than my local diving. Which I know is diving that many enjoy, but not my thing.
 
I think this is like the old jacket vs wing, DIR vs whatever, or many other discussions - some folks say things in a way that implies (or outright says) people who have certain preferences are lesser or misinformed divers. It gets old, so except for the occasional attempt to respond, most will ignore the whole thing. I agree with @chillyinCanada and I think I responded as such on that other thread.
@Damselfish, I did not mean to imply that those unwilling to put on a 10mm top to go diving are lesser divers. More that the question as asked was a bit meaningless for many on the board. Much of the posting part of the board seems to 1) dive local, and 2) be in the US. Together that means not really that warm, except those in Florida and Hawaii. So 'how much will you do?' is 'what I do already'.... My response was not meant to be '"Look, I'll put on a 10mm, why wouldn't you?"

I had wanted to get some Mexico side/cavern training this year. I'm NOT willing enough to travel right now to do that. I'll do the same diving I do already, locally as I am used to. I might do a California local shore diving vacation south of me. I'm not breaking on a drysuit book and class to dive colder than I am used to. Nor did I investigate local ponds or the silt filled bay while our county stay at home meant recreation in county, but not travel out of it.

I think the question is interesting as it relates to the dive industry as the bulk of (U.S. and Caribbean) divers likely do not dive local cold water, but only in warm locals far from their homes. That does not make them lesser, it just makes it an interesting question.
 
Too many posts (for me) to read. Like the warm/cold water poll, I assume this question is for those who have nowhere close to home to (shore) dive. These folks I feel sorry for. From what I have read on SB, a large % of shore areas have places where one can dive. I don't feel sorry for those who choose not to dive at these sites.
 
What haven't I been willing to do to go diving?!?
At 10 or 12 years old I'd peddle my bike 5 miles to a pond in the next state to snorkel all day in 20 ft vis fresh water without a wet suit, towing a tire tube behind me with a home made dive flag. I did every job I could to earn the money to take diving lessons. My parents bought my scuba gear for me because in their words, I proved how bad I wanted to dive. I worked with my father on the weekends he had side jobs to try and repay him. When he didn't we'd go to places where my buddy and I could dive while he fished.

Later when I got a car, my buddy and I would go places shore diving that required climbing like mountain goats carrying dive gear! Long surface swims sometimes hundreds of yards to get to a site. I'm still willing to do long surface swims to dive a favorite dive site, the goat diving is no longer possible however.

I've been ice diving and winter ocean diving in New England in a 1/4" wetsuit. Dived in a channel with a 7knot current for rock lobster during the ebb scrambling to the breakwater as the tide changed! Avoiding the large Block Island ferry as it came into the channel making the loudest Godawful noise I've ever heard underwater.

Did a trust me wall dive in 200FSW with a borrowed regulator, serviced by the buddy I was diving with that day not my regular buddy. The reg failed at 70fsw after I exhaled and resulted in my one and only real world CESA.

There hasn't much I have not been willing to do to blow bubbles.
 
I'm content to wait for now. I've been diving cold for the last two years so the gear and familiarity isn't the issue (though I would love to dive in warm water again without needing a thick wetsuit). I only live an hour's mountain drive from the coast, but right now my state is still climbing in cases, we're sandwiched between two high-case states, and I'm just trying to get by, work as much as possible to save up for more diving and the rest of life, and enjoy time with Mr. Not-Yet-Pacific before we have to be long-distance.

I could probably go diving every week if I wanted to but I already risk carrying COVID around by working in food service and I don't feel like increasing the risk any more than needed. to my loved ones and elderly parents. I miss the water but I have other projects and commitments I have to work on. Besides, the more I work now the more I can spend on diving once things open up.
 
@Damselfish, I did not mean to imply that those unwilling to put on a 10mm top to go diving are lesser divers. More that the question as asked was a bit meaningless for many on the board. Much of the posting part of the board seems to 1) dive local, and 2) be in the US.
The board may be heavy on US members. It started is a US based board after all, it's mostly in English, and there's certainly a higher population of divers in some countries than others for various reasons. And I can believe the percentage of Scubaboard divers that dive local may well be higher than the percentage of all divers that dive local.

But I don't perceive it as more about local diving - I don't know that I believe "Much of the posting part of the board seems to 1) dive local" is true. Maybe it's true, maybe not, but both our perceptions are colored by what we pay attention to. I subscribe to forums related to travel and warm places I might want to dive. I probably don't even see a lot of the rest. Someone who is more into local diving probably does just the opposite and isn't closely following, say, 50 page threads mostly about rescheduling international trips and liveaboards.
 
@Damselfish, I would not say the posts are more about local diving. Just my perception of the posters is that they do dive local (cold) as well as tropical. My perception of the posts is that they are more gear, setup, training, dive phases (descent line, DSMBs, hang bars, airshare, ...), and dive op discussions.

I have various forums in my watched forums list, but mainly read what is in recent posts for interesting stuff. I do follow various discussions on Coz, Bonaire, etc etc in the warmer spots. Though I bailed on following the travel woe in a global pandemic threads. I'm not committed enough to my warm water diving to not wait till that settles down. Nor do I have any money invested in existing trips, as some may.

There is one running thread on local diving here. The vis in Carmel is good, in Monterey not as good, the water is cold, nothing new. Dive shops are now open for fills, gear and limited guiding. Since March that thread has had 5 pages. Now you're caught up on the local diving discussion.
 
I've spend most of the spring in Tobermory... I have to travel several feet to get my fix. Feet, I tell ya....
 
I had a thread since the stupid plague started asking if the warm water vacation divers would be willing to dive locally/within their home country if they were unable to get to their usual diving spots overseas. @chillyinCanada was one of the very few who actually responded to my question. Southeast Asia (Indonesia?) is her preferred place for diving and she pretty much wasn't going to bother diving if she couldn't get there or something of that sort.

I will add my thoughts so you have another non hardcore response :)

Years ago I would have just put on the drysuit and jumped right in, but call it laziness or ... Nowadays I am solely a warm water person so I will just wait until I can get on a plane. I was supposed to be heading to the GBR in Jan but now it looks like I am just going to read and day dream until Mar at the earliest, the downside of living in Ottawa is we either spend a lot more or fly via the US when going to Asia and alas based on the current situation I suspect many countries will keep the US on a no entry list for a long long time, meaning my choice will be limited/expensive or I just have to learn how to be patient.
 

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