Diver Attrition

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It is astonishing how expensive SCUBA is. The shock of that can douse a lot of curiousity and interest. Especially in places where you pretty much have to have a dry suit to dive, I think the cash hemorrage bleeds away interest pretty rapidly.

Compare it to other hobbies. For instance, let's say you wanted to get into mountain biking. A serious bike could set you back $5000. But a pretty nice one could be had for a lot less. You could have your whole kit for $700 to start out, and only get into the real money as your experience and interest dictated. Plus, you can always get by with only part of your rig - buy a bike from REI and you can hit the mountain. Later, you'll pick up tools, rims, replacement parts, more bikes, etc. Your initial investment is pretty light, and you can ramp it up as time passes.

Or think about rock climbing. You start out on small rocks, so you can get by with a harness and some rope. As you get more advanced, you add some equipment. Some of it is disposable, some of it less so. In the end, your whole kit may run into $3000+, but you don't spend more than a couple hundred dollars at the outset.

Not so in diving. For those of us in cold water, the initial bite is huge. You need a good reg, a BCD, exposure protection, mask, fin, snorkel, gloves, maybe a computer or bottom timer... if you want to spend money you can drop $6,000 in one easy trip to the shop. If you're poor (like me,) you're still in for $2500-3000.

I think that massive investment, and the associated stickershock, is very discouraging to new divers. Add to this the cost of training (it seems like it costs $200 just to get your dive buddy instructor out of bed to get wet with you) and it's no wonder that only people who are sufficiently committed to drop a load of cash on equipment or training continue to dive.

Incidentally, I think the statistics are usually read upside-down. It isn't that people who buy their own equipment tend to stay in diving, it's that people who are going to stay in diving tend to buy equipment. You have to be pretty passionate or pretty wealthy to drop a used car worth of money on a sport you've been involved with for a few weeks. If you're willing to do that, you have the bug.

 

[PerroneFord]

I don't think it's quite fair to compare SCUBA to mountain biking. SCUBA is a skilled sport. Riding a bike is something you can learn at 4 years old.

How does SCUBA compare costwise to Skiing? Flying (skilled sport, where the majority of participants rent gear to participate), racing, etc. I think SCUBA compares quite favorably to most sports that are gear intensive and potentially lethal.

What is a real shame, is how much the average diver gets sucked in by marketing. Instead of buying the regulators for $275, they have to have the shiny titanium ones for $600 that perform no better. Or they have to have the biggest BC for $800, when they could have a very nice one for $350.


Let's run down costs for a Cold Water, frugal, diver.

Drysuit = $1200
BP/W (home rigged) = $400
Mask, Fins, = $100
Depth guage + timer = $100
Weights = $25
Tank = $150
Boots = $50
Gloves = $40
Regs = $275

What do we have? $2340

You couldn't buy a solid mountain bike for that. A kayak, PFD, and a paddle will cost nearly that much. How much is a pair of skis, bindings, and boots these days? How about getting ramped up to play golf?? The clubs WITHOUT the bag is a grand for a nice set.

For those in warmer waters, you can take 900 off the top going dry to wet. For someone who doesn't mind getting a few pieces of used gear like fins, tank, or regs, you've dropped another $150 off. You can barely get your kids into soccer these days for $1500. Forget gymnastics or tennis.

It is astonishing how expensive SCUBA is. The shock of that can douse a lot of curiousity and interest. Especially in places where you pretty much have to have a dry suit to dive, I think the cash hemorrage bleeds away interest pretty rapidly.

Compare it to other hobbies. For instance, let's say you wanted to get into mountain biking. A serious bike could set you back $5000. But a pretty nice one could be had for a lot less. You could have your whole kit for $700 to start out, and only get into the real money as your experience and interest dictated. Plus, you can always get by with only part of your rig - buy a bike from REI and you can hit the mountain. Later, you'll pick up tools, rims, replacement parts, more bikes, etc. Your initial investment is pretty light, and you can ramp it up as time passes.

Or think about rock climbing. You start out on small rocks, so you can get by with a harness and some rope. As you get more advanced, you add some equipment. Some of it is disposable, some of it less so. In the end, your whole kit may run into $3000+, but you don't spend more than a couple hundred dollars at the outset.

Not so in diving. For those of us in cold water, the initial bite is huge. You need a good reg, a BCD, exposure protection, mask, fin, snorkel, gloves, maybe a computer or bottom timer... if you want to spend money you can drop $6,000 in one easy trip to the shop. If you're poor (like me,) you're still in for $2500-3000.

 

[pterantula]

I think that massive investment, and the associated stickershock, is very discouraging to new divers. Add to this the cost of training (it seems like it costs $200 just to get your dive buddy instructor out of bed to get wet with you) and it's no wonder that only people who are sufficiently committed to drop a load of cash on equipment or training continue to dive.

... and then you have silly people like me, who spend upmteen hundreds on scuba gear, but several thousand on the appropriate camera gear.... woof, that's alot of cheese... (it can be done cheaper, but I do so much land fotograffy that it's worth it to me to have my good cam whenever possible).

Incidentally, I think the statistics are usually read upside-down. It isn't that people who buy their own equipment tend to stay in diving, it's that people who are going to stay in diving tend to buy equipment. You have to be pretty passionate or pretty wealthy to drop a used car worth of money on a sport you've been involved with for a few weeks. If you're willing to do that, you have the bug.

I must agree. I knew going in that I wanted to be there, so it was a matter of planning the financial structure. (And thank heavens for eBay & Craigslist! $75 BC, woohoo!)

 

[TSandM]

I suspect diving is like a great many other things . . . How active you are in it depends on how much of a rush you get from doing it.

In our OW class, there was one couple who were getting certified just to dive on their honeymoon. I think I heard that they have done some diving since, but I suspect it will be on vacation and sporadic. We had one fellow who has bought all his gear, and done about 20 dives. He likes it, but has trouble finding the time -- and amazingly, trouble finding someone with whom to dive. (This astonishes me because, in our area, there are SO many divers. I have never once been unable to dive when I wanted because I couldn't find someone with whom to dive.) And then there's me, way out on the other end of the bell shaped curve.

And by a lot of the criteria above, I should have given up. I was lousy at it, graduated with really awful skills and didn't get any significant help or improvement out of further classes. I was diving cold water in extremely poor viz (July and August in Puget Sound are pea soup!). But I got seriously hooked (seriously just isn't a strong enough word). I simply found something in going underwater that was worth the effort. It seems as though there are a good many people who just don't.

I've been shocked at the number of people I talk to who say they once learned to dive. If they all dove, sea level would go up a few feet . . .

 

[Aquanautchuck]

If they all dove, sea level would go up a few feet . . .

I thought they all did on the big exchange days. Nice weather, Cove 2, Tides 2 to 3' higher than norm because of all the divers.

Charles

 

[ONESPEED]

I took my basic class 27 years ago with my sister, cousin and aunt. None of them dive anymore. I however have never stopped and have 64 dives so far this year alone. I guess I'm taking up their slack.

 

[Cacia]

logistics probably hamper a lot of people.

If I did not live near the ocean, it would be too much trouble. I love it, but all the

gear is the biggest pain. Still, you can go in and out of it over the years once you

how.

 

[ArcticDiver]

I suspect diving is like a great many other things . . . How active you are in it depends on how much of a rush you get from doing it.

In our OW class, there was one couple who were getting certified just to dive on their honeymoon. I think I heard that they have done some diving since, but I suspect it will be on vacation and sporadic. We had one fellow who has bought all his gear, and done about 20 dives. He likes it, but has trouble finding the time -- and amazingly, trouble finding someone with whom to dive. (This astonishes me because, in our area, there are SO many divers. I have never once been unable to dive when I wanted because I couldn't find someone with whom to dive.) And then there's me, way out on the other end of the bell shaped curve.

And by a lot of the criteria above, I should have given up. I was lousy at it, graduated with really awful skills and didn't get any significant help or improvement out of further classes. I was diving cold water in extremely poor viz (July and August in Puget Sound are pea soup!). But I got seriously hooked (seriously just isn't a strong enough word). I simply found something in going underwater that was worth the effort. It seems as though there are a good many people who just don't.

I've been shocked at the number of people I talk to who say they once learned to dive. If they all dove, sea level would go up a few feet . . .

Yep, I too have met a LOT of people who say they are "divers". But, in further conversation it turns out they dove some time ago and either don't dive any more, or do so only on that once a year vacation. Most of the one's I've been able to really probe show a significant level of insecurity. The reasons for that insecurity are pretty simple; but the subject of another thread.

I sympathize with those who have a hard time getting someone to dive with. Many say they would like to dive. But push come to shove they have lots of reasons not to. Local diving is in fairly barrren lakes and rivers and in cold water. Not very attractive to most. Time and cost to travel to sea water conflicts with the laid back schedule attitude of those for whom such diving is more convenient. For me it is an expedition. For them it is a casual day out, if the weather is good, or something more exciting doesn't come up.

 

[Iruka]

Location & expense were two of the significant factors for me....I got certified about 25 years ago in Iowa (a mecca for divers, ha ha!) and a year later did my AOW dives up in Lake Superior....interesting, but about a 10-hour car ride away. Then no more diving until I lived in Fiji in the mid 1980's.....GREAT diving there, but I was in the Peace Corps, and my "pay" was about $10 per day....not a lot of diving one can do on that budget. Moved to Guam about 10 years ago to go to grad school in marine bio, but sort of got sidetracked & was hired at a dive shop (more for my ability to speak Japanese...the main tourist source....than for my diving ability, since I was still just AOW with around 30 dives at the time.) Now I'm at dive #6,020, and average around 600 dives per year. Have a good location....I COULD actually walk about 150 yards to the beach & dive, without even using my car.....and (mostly) I get paid to dive (my wife & I have a small shop) so that gives me another reason to get in the water. Earlier this month, I'd dived 37 out of 40 days, as we were keeping fairly busy. Ideally, even on "off" days, I'd like to go dive just for fun, but sometimes cars need to be fixed, etc.

(ummm...I meant I dived 37/40 days over a period ENDING this month...I realize there are very few months having 40 days in them!)

 

[TimAZ]

I Haven't read the entire thread, so if this is a repeat of another post, sorry. A big reason for the high attrition rate is that dive shop owners/instructors don't take a personal interest in their students after the open water class. It doesn't matter whether we are talking about scuba, skydiving, bowling, or whatever: If you don't already know people doing it, you probably wont continue even if your first experience was great. Diving tends to be, ironically since we can't talk under water, an extremely social sport and people need to be introduced into the group. I can even see how the way diving must appear to the un-initiated, relatively solitary and non team oriented, could attract people who don't easily socialize with new people.
The owner of my LDS goes out of his way to keep newbies in the sport. Of course he leads trips and maintains a dive club. He also throws large parties at his home several times a year and encourages new divers to attend. Another useful tool has been to e-mail everybody each month to remind them we are going to the lake or Mexico for a certification trip and certified divers are always welcome to come out with us (no, of course they are not permitted to dive with students under instruction). Anyway, done babbling - for whatever its worth.