Just an observation

[divingpyrate]

Wow, more division
people are people, so now you are saying if you can go diving out of the country you are a snob?
So the folks that should, need to just stop that or stop talking about it because so many people cant?

Sounds like our current government.

I know lots of people who go out of the country to dive and they are not rude to others, I guess there are some that are
But how about all the noobs on here that get creamed by THAT GUY diver with a gazillion dives who forgot that they were young and learning at one time too.

Not sure how old you are, but here is what I was told that comes out to be true for the most part
In you 20s you are still trying to figure out what you want
In your 30s you are starting to get what you want but cant afford a lot of it
In your 40s You finally reach a career level that you both know what you want and can afford it

I am in my 50s. I work very hard. I play very hard. Dont mean to make you feel bad at all by traveling out of the country to dive. But I have earned it and I will do it and try not to offend those that cant

 

[Tigerman]

First, how do people define the term "serious diver" anyway. I have never been able to figure out who is and who is not a serious diver. Can you be a "vacation diver" and also be a "serious diver"? What is it based on? The number of dives, the number of different places a person dives, how long they have been diving, how much they spend on diving, how many certs they have, etc. etc.

Second, if money is an issue when it comes to dive travel, you can always save on the cost of dive trips by getting together with a group of friends and take the free spots you can earn and spread them over everyone's cost. It won't make the trip free by any means but quite often you can reduce the price of a trip by a few hundred to several hundred dollars per person and putting together a trip is quite easy. For the most part, it doesn't involve all the many hours of hard work and effort that dive shops would lead you to believe.

I know whos NOT serious about diving, and thats tge douchebags who violate all standards and brag about it, then go on to annoy everybody on the boat while risking their own life doing stupid stuff and jeopardising(?) the dive day for the rest of the divers with their dangerous, selfish behaviour..

A scuba friend of mine organize this kind of trip anually. We all book individually, so we dont get the free slots, instead we get discounted on the individual bills (we live all over the uk and norway, so thats easier)
Its not a lot of work, its just about setting up a facebook group and talk to eachother...

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 4

 

[kimbalabala]

.Palm Beach has more huge clouds of fish and marine life, than the vast majority of these far off and expensive destinations they think are the Only Places a serious diver should consider....Your proof that THEY need a wake-up call, that they have this world view on diving WRONG, is right here--put it on an Ipad and play it to them

Wow! That video was awesome! Gotta think about diving in Palm Beach now.

 

[corvettejoe]

Good luck on your OW class!! It's an amazing experience!

Don't let others high dollar gear intimidate you. They just compensate for lack of experience most of the time with more bling.
Shop wisely and you can save a lot of money buy not buying the most expensive gadgets that do the same things that parts a fraction of the price will do just as good a job at.
When someone scoffs at your inferior gear, just know that you are already a better diver than they are by not having that attitude.

 

[danvolker]

First, how do people define the term "serious diver" anyway. I have never been able to figure out who is and who is not a serious diver. Can you be a "vacation diver" and also be a "serious diver"? What is it based on? The number of dives, the number of different places a person dives, how long they have been diving, how much they spend on diving, how many certs they have, etc. etc.

Second, if money is an issue when it comes to dive travel, you can always save on the cost of dive trips by getting together with a group of friends and take the free spots you can earn and spread them over everyone's cost. It won't make the trip free by any means but quite often you can reduce the price of a trip by a few hundred to several hundred dollars per person and putting together a trip is quite easy. For the most part, it doesn't involve all the many hours of hard work and effort that dive shops would lead you to believe.

This is SO TRUE... I hate it when some big shot starts acting like a "Serious Diver".... The bottom line is that recreational diving is about having fun....the better you are at "having fun", the better you are at being a Diver--a person that dives for fun.
So a "Serious Diver" is pretty much an "OXYMORON"

 

[boulderjohn]

I think what you are seeing is specific to that dive shop. Divers and the sport of diving is so diverse I don't think you can generalize at all. Unfortunately, in Oklahoma you may be pretty limited in finding the right crowd.

I fully agree with this, except that it might not be as hard as you think to find something different.

I live in Colorado, which is like Oklahoma in that there is not a whole lot of world class diving in the immediate vicinity. I have had the experience over the years of becoming well acquainted with a few different shops, and I am quite amazed at the difference. What it comes down to is that all shops are businesses, and businesses are trying to earn a profit. In locations with good local diving, a lot of income can come from rentals and tank fills. In locations like ours, owning rental gear and a compressor are money losers necessary to support the rest of the operation. Shops earn money through a combination of gear sales, instruction, and dive travel. What surprises me is how different shops in the same area differ in where they primarily get that income. Some do a booming job in dive travel, and not so much instruction and gear sales. Others struggle to get people to take their trips, but they are churning out a plethora of new divers regularly. I am sure someone with more business savvy than I have can examine their respective business models and explain the reasons--all I know is there is that difference, and it can be enormous.

The shop you are in may be one that really does a lot of dive travel business, and thus you will meet a lot of people there who go on those trips. If you go to another shop in the same town, you might find a very different atmosphere. Be careful what you wish for, though. It may be that the shop you are talking about does a lot of dive travel business because they are really, really good at setting up dive travel. That might be the place you want to be.

 

[lajoyce]

I have experienced similar to what the original poster is talking about, that my LDS is a nice shop in a large city that's a financial center, where there are probably plenty of people who can drop a couple thousand on a trip every month if they wanted. I found there was little offered in the way of local diving other than training, and I get the, "why dive around here? Get yourself to x y or z!" to which my reply is "sure, got any money for my trip?" I think a factor is the fact that the local diving is not for beginners, and the type is not everyone's choice of diving, and if people at the shop assumed you were diving elsewhere, they'd probably be right most of the time.

My experiences in a different large city, where I began scuba diving, were quite different. Although this city also has many wealthy residents, my LDS there was primarily focused on local diving and ran many local trips. People were more likely to assume you weren't traveling to dive all the time. Compared to the above city, this area has "better" diving, more types of diving, more of which are accessible to a larger range of skill levels.

I think the issue is driven by what kinds of diving is available for different skill levels.

 

[dsr30]

I'm a shooter and 99% of the peple that I meet at the range are always great people. You'll always find elitistsin every sport, guys who think that their $30k guns make them better shooters, but who cares?! Have fun no matter what.

 

[Tigerman]

...

[video=youtube_share;BbppKZ3qxfk]http://youtu.be/BbppKZ3qxfk[/video]

3:40 Now THATS a proper crotch rocket, not like those landbased twowheelers

I would definetly dive a lot more locally than I currently do if I had that just outside my yard instead of the freshwater lake I have now

 

[diversteve]

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