WtF: The Decline in Scuba Participation

[Lorenzoid]

. . . They are just not interested in diving and the thought isn’t even entering their mind in the first place. It’s a bygone era, why are people finding it so hard to understand that?
There is no exposure to the sport to bring it to the attention to the general public.

I disagree. Sure, there is no Sea Hunt or Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau. However, more people than ever, especially people from the rising middle class in Asia, are traveling to places offering scuba. They pass by the dive shops on the street or at a resort. They see pretty pictures of fish on the walls. I believe as many people are giving tropical vacation diving a try as ever.

 

[boulderjohn]

John,

I strongly believe that the most critical aspect of creating competent open water divers is teaching them neutrally buoyant, properly weighted, and trimmed.

allowing students to be on their knees just introduces a host of problems, including creating coral kickers.

I'm not sure what your point is here.

30 years ago nearly no one in the world was teaching new students while neutrally buoyant--it was all done sitting or on the knees. PADI printed the article calling for neutral buoyancy instruction a decade ago, and although the pace of change has been maddeningly slow, it is changing. Some of the biggest instruction sites are teaching new instructors to do all skills neutrally buoyant, and in the future all DMs will be required to demonstrate those skills. SDI is promoting it heavily. One of the top SSI instructors was my PADI Course Director when we wrote the article--he signed it and required everyone at the shop to teach that way.

So are you saying instruction is getting significantly better over the last decade, although you would like it to change must faster?

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

I'm not sure what your point is here.

I'm not sure either (kidding )

30 years ago nearly no one in the world was teaching new students while neutrally buoyant--it was all done sitting or on the knees. PADI printed the article calling for neutral buoyancy instruction a decade ago, and although the pace of change has been maddeningly slow, it is changing. Some of the biggest instruction sites are teaching new instructors to do all skills neutrally buoyant, and in the future all DMs will be required to demonstrate those skills. SDI is promoting it heavily. One of the top SSI instructors was my PADI Course Director when we wrote the article--he signed it and required everyone at the shop to teach that way.

There is a big difference in promotion of neutral buoyant/trim and an agency banning teaching on the knees all together.

So are you saying instruction is getting significantly better over the last decade, although you would like it to change must faster?

Yes and no. My understanding (could be wrong as I wasn't around back then), is that courses were MUCH longer in the past (necessary due to teaching on the knees), but also included non relevant stuff (like harassment). Prior to BCDs, they had to weight properly. That discipline got lost. Also, the kinds of people who learned to dive tended to be more athletic and willing to be in a longer course. Fast forward today (hope to not start an argument with anyone), and people who can barely swim, are in poor shape, can learn to dive in a weekend. So in that aspect, I give it a no. Teaching NB/T (which is the exception, not the rule) is a big improvement. In that respect, yes, and I'd like to see that change much faster. The first of my blog posts on teaching this way has been published. Hope for the second to be posted by SDI soon. But the real meat is in the third and final blog post. Too many instructors don't know how to teach this way. I didn't learn it in my IDC. I had to figure it out with the help of others.

TL;DR: I'm for teaching NB/T (on the knees is not allowed), properly weighted, etc.. Good results can be achieved in just 4 dives if CW is done properly. Though I'd like to see 2 more OW dives / 1 day for dive planning and having students put things together under the observation of a dive pro. I'd like to ban resort style diving as that doesn't give students time to absorb/learn the skills. I'd like to see all new instructors to be required to teach/demonstrate NB/T and all existing instructors to have to recertify to continue teaching rofl3: like that will happen). Oh, and I'd love for all CDs/ITs to be required to have tech pass skills for GUE fundies or similar (that would likely result in carnage ).

TL;DR of my TL;DR: I realize I'd have to be absolutely insane to think that anything above is going to happen.

 

[Belzelbub]

People often talk about the dilution of standards and quality of instruction. I am not sure there is clear evidence this is true.

That makes sense. In my head, I was leaning toward the second bullet, but I agree that has probably always been the case. I know that it clearly happened back in 1990 with my first course.

And in higher level courses I’ve taken since, I’ve encountered other students that didn’t appear to have the knowledge or skills necessary to pass OW. I realize that’s anecdotal, and I have no idea if it was the fault of the instructor or the student, or both.

I see diving skills as needing a solid foundation, but I don’t think that the agencies themselves can fix that. First, the diver needs to be comfortable in the water. I was able to go along with both my daughters during their checkout dives. Youngest lucked out and had a private course just due to schedule. The oldest did her checkout dives as part of a group. She was the youngest in the course, but looked a lot more comfortable. Everyone did the same skills, but she was the only one who was faced with an unplanned regulator retrieval, and she handled being suddenly without air like someone who was very comfortable in the water.

I guess what I’m saying is in order to shorten the W and get to the F a strong underwater foundation is a huge help. That, however, needs to happen much before OW courses.

That said, it seems like there are more opportunities today than in the past, so I can’t really explain why there may be a difference.

Maybe another factor is availability and access, and type of access. Diving off a charter can be intimidating, especially for a beginner. I’ve done checkout dives off of large boats, but everyone but the instructors were new. A new diver without a buddy can be intimidated by the seasoned divers on the boat. Then diving on a crowded site can kind of ruin the experience. I regularly see, and hear, some of the charters going to the popular artificial reefs in the area. They are usually packed with boats. Mostly boats fishing. I like being one of only a few people diving a spot. I can only make that happen by diving off a private boat.

 

[TMHeimer]

I'm not sure either (kidding )



There is a big difference in promotion of neutral buoyant/trim and an agency banning teaching on the knees all together.



Yes and no. My understanding (could be wrong as I wasn't around back then), is that courses were MUCH longer in the past (necessary due to teaching on the knees), but also included non relevant stuff (like harassment). Prior to BCDs, they had to weight properly. That discipline got lost. Also, the kinds of people who learned to dive tended to be more athletic and willing to be in a longer course. Fast forward today (hope to not start an argument with anyone), and people who can barely swim, are in poor shape, can learn to dive in a weekend. So in that aspect, I give it a no. Teaching NB/T (which is the exception, not the rule) is a big improvement. In that respect, yes, and I'd like to see that change much faster. The first of my blog posts on teaching this way has been published. Hope for the second to be posted by SDI soon. But the real meat is in the third and final blog post. Too many instructors don't know how to teach this way. I didn't learn it in my IDC. I had to figure it out with the help of others.

TL;DR: I'm for teaching NB/T (on the knees is not allowed), properly weighted, etc.. Good results can be achieved in just 4 dives if CW is done properly. Though I'd like to see 2 more OW dives / 1 day for dive planning and having students put things together under the observation of a dive pro. I'd like to ban resort style diving as that doesn't give students time to absorb/learn the skills. I'd like to see all new instructors to be required to teach/demonstrate NB/T and all existing instructors to have to recertify to continue teaching rofl3: like that will happen). Oh, and I'd love for all CDs/ITs to be required to have tech pass skills for GUE fundies or similar (that would likely result in carnage ).

TL;DR of my TL;DR: I realize I'd have to be absolutely insane to think that anything above is going to happen.

Once again I agree with all you say. I have harped on and on about people taking OW who have very little or almost no water experience and comfortability. Belzelbub's point of diving needing a solid foundation and divers needing to be comfortable in water is another vote for that.
As well, this crashing into reef thing probably occurs often when the diver dives once or twice yearly.
OTOH, you guys know my view on teaching neutrally. I think it's a great idea too. OTOH, I learned on my knees like most of us here and can't recall ever crashing into a reef or anything (rocks, etc. here). I don't think learning NB solves the problem of lack of regular diving and common sense with weighting, etc.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

Once again I agree with all you say.

It's nice to be right, isn't it?

I have harped on and on about people taking OW who have very little or almost no water experience and comfortability. Belzelbub's point of diving needing a solid foundation and divers needing to be comfortable in water is another vote for that.
As well, this crashing into reef thing probably occurs often when the diver dives once or twice yearly.
OTOH, you guys know my view on teaching neutrally. I think it's a great idea too. OTOH, I learned on my knees like most of us here and can't recall ever crashing into a reef or anything (rocks, etc. here). I don't think learning NB solves the problem of lack of regular diving and common sense with weighting, etc.

Well, I was on Maui where I dive with a local who was kicking coral at Mala Pier with a slight surge. The lack of situational awareness and unwillingness to keep distance was disappointing. That is part of the problem as well as sites get "loved" to death. My first time at GBR was before diving for me (2008). So much beat up coral. Wasn't even funny. And when I'm on dive boats where people just flatten coral as they descend and are giggly during their surface interval, I pray for a selective plague that only affects slow left lane drivers, people who abandon their shopping cart in the middle of parking lots, and coral killing divers.

 

[boulderjohn]

Yes and no. My understanding (could be wrong as I wasn't around back then), is that courses were MUCH longer in the past (necessary due to teaching on the knees), but also included non relevant stuff (like harassment). Prior to BCDs, they had to weight properly. That discipline got lost. Also, the kinds of people who learned to dive tended to be more athletic and willing to be in a longer course. Fast forward today (hope to not start an argument with anyone), and people who can barely swim, are in poor shape, can learn to dive in a weekend. So in that aspect, I give it a no.

You are leaping back to compare scuba today to a half century ago, before the invention of BCDs. Do you really know that weighting was taught properly? Read Sheck Exley's description of exploring Peacock Springs as an athletic teenager with a single LP 72 and no BCD. He used to swim until tired, drop to the bottom and rest up, and then swim again.

Scuba was not all that popular 50 years ago. As far as I can tell, the peak of scuba popularity was less than 20 years ago, not many years after I was certified. My question is why scuba participation has declined recently. Compared to 50 years ago, it is much, much more popular now than it was then.

 

[DavidFL]

Hi John,
You're right, the post is saddening if not depressing, a combination of the futility I feel over climate change and the futility I feel when I see bleached, overfished, algae covered reefs. I first dived GBR in 1975, my last trip there was 2017; I would go back but as someone else posted, I would work hard to find an operation that goes where the remaining big operators don't, particularly the day boats out of Cairns and Port Douglas.

Even though I live in Florida, I wasn't able to dive for 12 months due to the pandemic. I've only made two day trips this year, and as you point out we are only just now coming out of the months where a high percentage of the day charters are scrubbed for winds. Having said all that, this photo I took on Monday on the wreck of the Castor off Boynton Beach with all this life thriving around the metal railings cheers me up and keeps me coming back. Don't know what it says for the future of the "sport" or "the industry"; I personally started over 50 years ago, and the day trip dives I had on Monday rank up there with a zillion other memorable experiences.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Scuba was not all that popular 50 years ago. As far as I can tell, the peak of scuba popularity was less than 20 years ago, not many years after I was certified. My question is why scuba participation has declined recently. Compared to 50 years ago, it is much, much more popular now than it was then.

Several downturns in the economy, the last of which many people have still never fully recovered from.
The 911 terrorist attack and the effect on the global travel industry. I’m sure I could dig up a few more.
How expensive will air travel get in the future?
Is the general cost of living going to go up or down and how will that impact time and money to spend on hobbies including diving?
Why do you think camping is at an all time historic high right now?

“Scuba was not popular 50 years ago” says who?
There was a lot more scuba to be seen in everyday life then than there is now. Are you looking at relative numbers or total numbers?
That also doesn’t answer whether you mean popularity in everyday culture or actual participation. Do children play with GI Joe diver and Mike Nelson action figures now like they did then? (or at least a current version of some sort of diving action figure)
What shows feature any diving now that you can think of? Show me anything.
All this has an impact.

As far as your PDF and the W to F ratio affecting diving, that would apply to people currently involved in diving, not prospective divers. How would somebody that has never dived know what condition the reefs are in unless they’ve seen it first hand.
This is why to me it’s impossible that brand new prospective divers are avoiding the sport because of reef destruction and bad training, how would they know?
I think the bigger question is why is the sport dying besides “because instructors are still teaching students on their knees” or arguing that training is or is not watered down. All those issues are kind of pointless if there’s no one entering the sport.

 

[boulderjohn]

“Scuba was not popular 50 years ago” says who?

I tried to link to data sites that used to be available, but they do not seem to be around now. The numbers of certifications I remember from the early 1970s to about 2000 (and cannot find now) are simply huge. The number of divers back than simply does not compare to the number of divers now. I ebates such as this, I used to go online and find the links to PADI statistics for certifications since their inception, but those pages do not seem to be out there now. (The following paragraph includes links that will tell you that the PADI numbers dominate the industry, and the sources are not PADI and are critical of them for lack of full information.)

I haven't looked at statistics like this for a while, and when I searched, it was interesting. Information that used to be available is not available now. The lack of data about scuba today is remarkable, as this article says. It suggests that information is not being given out because the agencies don't want people to see a decline. This article does a better job than I have seen elsewhere in trying to estimate current (even post-Covid) issues, but it admits that it cannot tell because of the lack of concrete data.