SeaHorse81
Contributor
Scuba diving is an expensive hobby. I'm grateful to have enjoyed many recreational activities over the years. Scuba diving and owning a horse stand out from all the others in terms of expense. It can be more or less expensive depending on how you do it, but in my life, the costs of it have far exceeded anything else I've done. Still like it, though. 
That's what "saving" is for.
It's risky. The things that can go wrong in diving are daunting, but I have found that on an average per-event basis, basically everything I do has more risk than does an average dive. I have family that frets when I dive, but not when I ride my bicycle in local traffic. Family's getting that one totally wrong.
It's complicated. A few things I thoroughly enjoy, like taking a walk, are not at all complicated. Most everything I've done that I felt passionate about involved learning some new things. When I didn't know them, it felt complicated. Once I got the hang of it, it was fine. If the activity rewards you enough, you just work your way through whatever you have to learn so that you can enjoy it even more.
It's for people who don't have a day job. ??? So it's expensive, but you don't need to be employed to be able to do it? I've been around lots of divers, all of whom were employed. I just don't get this one at all, and have never personally heard any version of it.
It's for men. Like any more demanding physical activity, it does attract more men than women. Men have an easier time with the heavy gear and are probably more likely, as a group, to be attracted to the challenges of it. There are pleny of us female types out there, though, and we're doing just fine.
It takes forever to get certified. Compared to what? In my case, it took one full-time week. In my case, among the new activities that took any effort to learn, diving took the least. As others have said, getting good at it takes a lot longer, but being unleashed without "adult supervision" happens pretty quickly. I can think of lots of classes for things that take longer.
It allows for a very little margin of error (make one mistake, and you're toast). If that was true, probably none of us would be here posting on the thread. What I've seen on any dive trip proves that people can get away with some incredible mistakes and not even know they made them, much less be in immediate jeopardy from them. There are a few basics, of course, that you'd really better get right.
It requires you to be good at swimming. I'm not sure diving has much at all to do with swimming. Personally, I think it's foolish to be around water and not know how to swim. If something goes wrong such that you're in the water but are no longer diving, you're really going to want to know how to swim.
It increases your risk of being attacked by sharks. In that you're where they are, yes. I'll never be bitten by a shark while walking in my neighborhood, for example. I'll probably never be bitten by one while diving either, though.
It damages your ears over time. It certainly could, but a lot of people seem to be fine. This one and the expense strike me as the two most realistic concerns in this list.
That's what "saving" is for. It's risky. The things that can go wrong in diving are daunting, but I have found that on an average per-event basis, basically everything I do has more risk than does an average dive. I have family that frets when I dive, but not when I ride my bicycle in local traffic. Family's getting that one totally wrong.
It's complicated. A few things I thoroughly enjoy, like taking a walk, are not at all complicated. Most everything I've done that I felt passionate about involved learning some new things. When I didn't know them, it felt complicated. Once I got the hang of it, it was fine. If the activity rewards you enough, you just work your way through whatever you have to learn so that you can enjoy it even more.
It's for people who don't have a day job. ??? So it's expensive, but you don't need to be employed to be able to do it? I've been around lots of divers, all of whom were employed. I just don't get this one at all, and have never personally heard any version of it.
It's for men. Like any more demanding physical activity, it does attract more men than women. Men have an easier time with the heavy gear and are probably more likely, as a group, to be attracted to the challenges of it. There are pleny of us female types out there, though, and we're doing just fine.
It takes forever to get certified. Compared to what? In my case, it took one full-time week. In my case, among the new activities that took any effort to learn, diving took the least. As others have said, getting good at it takes a lot longer, but being unleashed without "adult supervision" happens pretty quickly. I can think of lots of classes for things that take longer.
It allows for a very little margin of error (make one mistake, and you're toast). If that was true, probably none of us would be here posting on the thread. What I've seen on any dive trip proves that people can get away with some incredible mistakes and not even know they made them, much less be in immediate jeopardy from them. There are a few basics, of course, that you'd really better get right.
It requires you to be good at swimming. I'm not sure diving has much at all to do with swimming. Personally, I think it's foolish to be around water and not know how to swim. If something goes wrong such that you're in the water but are no longer diving, you're really going to want to know how to swim.
It increases your risk of being attacked by sharks. In that you're where they are, yes. I'll never be bitten by a shark while walking in my neighborhood, for example. I'll probably never be bitten by one while diving either, though.
It damages your ears over time. It certainly could, but a lot of people seem to be fine. This one and the expense strike me as the two most realistic concerns in this list.
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