Learning to scuba dive

[MelasLithos]

I have always been curious about the underwater world. After all, most of our planet is under water and I find it quite "limited" to be stuck to the land.

I did a couple of tries in pools (basically, just a few minutes breathing under water) when I was a kid, and also a try dive in Hainan once (I liked the idea of diving, but not the conditions it was done), and didn't felt satisfied with all these tries. So I kept the idea in a corner of my mind, as something to do "properly" and in good conditions later (my mother has always been terrified of me going under water, so wouldn't let me pursue more of this while I was a kid. And it was OK, there were lots of other things to explore).

Then, a friend and I were turning 30, and we were discussing about what to do for it. We wanted to do something memorable, a gift for ourselves for the rest of our lifes. So I suggested "let's learn how to scuba dive!" We both now had the means and independance to do it, so off we went and got OW certified ^^

(BTW, I told my mother only afterwards what we did. She is still terrified each time I go scuba dive, but she knows she can't say anything anymore. We still reached an agreement though: my birthday/Christmas gifts will consist of safety equiments such as PLB, etc. and I promise to take those on my dives - not much of a sacrifice ^^).

 

[flyboy08]

During college in Florida in 1978. Bought a spear gun and ate for free for three years....which was great since I had no money

 

[TMHeimer]

Career in Northern Manitoba, Canada. No interest in dark northern lakes or being a "Vacation" diver. Moved to Nova Scotia to live right on the Atlantic in 2005. Why not? Better for my shell collecting hobby. Becoming a divemaster was gravy.

 

[Nianne]

26 in Hawaii. I was supposed to take the OW earlier the same year with my boyfriend in Malaysia but he dumped me first

It's not the first sport you're offerd to learn in Switzerland. Skiing and mountain climbing are way more popular and easy to practice.
So if you don't travel a lot or have parents in the dive community, it gets more complicated !

 

[Diver0001]

I'm curious...how old were you when you first learned to scuba dive? What got you interested in it to start with?

I'll start...I became interested in it as a young child. My parents used to talk about how they used to scuba dive before us kids were born and they told captivating stories of the beautiful sights that they saw. And I've always loved being in the water so it seemed like the perfect fit to me. The first time i had the chance to learn to scuba dive I was in college and I didn't think twice about taking that opportunity. I fell in love immediately and never looked back.

Your turn!

I was 18. I had moved away from home and was studying at the university where my uncle worked as a marine biologist. He basically forced it on me but from my first moment under water I was addicted and now more than 30 years later I am still as addicted as I ever was.

R..

 

[DiverDownD3]

Regrettably 30. I've always lived on the North Carolina coast and I had been told how amazing the wreck diving was here. I just too nervous to give it a try. A co-worker set up a free discover class through our LDS. Even though it was just a pool dive, that was enough to make me sign up for OW. Wish I would have done it much earlier.

 

[Neilwood]

Did my DSD in a shallow pool about 10 years ago (I ended up deliberately sinking to the bottom and sitting there to just watch everyone else) and loved it. The scuba bug bit me but other things in life stopped me pursuing it at the time.

Then picked it up in 2015 (I was 42 at the time) when I had a free weeks holiday and some money in the bank. Did a 4 day course 1-1 with my instructor. Loved it even more actually being in the sea with real fish, lobsters, crabs, scallops etc to look at. Did a few trips last year including the Red Sea which introduced me to wrecks and more diverse marine life.

The scuba bug has now taken a huge bite out of me (and my wallet) but my only regret is not finding the time and money earlier in life to make it work then.

 

[UFOrb]

Aged 42, in 2011. I had always thought of Scuba as 'something other people did' & the thought of diving in UK waters wasn't that appealing. I started skiing as a kid & absolutely love it, so that was my main expensive holiday hobby.

My wife, who I met in 2005, had always wanted to take up Scuba so she, and having snorkelled a few times and enjoyed it, inspired me but it took a few years before we finally got our arses into gear & booked an OW course (Bubbles Dive Resort, Perhentian Besar, Malaysia), and have never looked back since!! It's one of the best decisions of my life!

To my shame I still haven't dived in the UK (and I live on the coast!) but maybe this is the year - although I think I'll wait till Aug/Sept when we may expect water temps up to 18 degrees C

Btw, it nice to see a few of us having taken up the hobby a little later in life, but I too wish I'd started a bit younger! Just have to make up for it as much as possible now eh!?

 

[GreggS]

I had done some resort dives in Aruba, Cozumel, and Key West about 12-15 years ago. I had wanted to and often talked about getting certified but just never took the time until 3 years ago. Got my OW cert 3 weeks before my 58th birthday.

 

[Schwob]

A case of delayed gratification...
Wanted to scuba dive since I was a little kid and teenager watching all things Cousteau on TV in thev70s. Live got in the way. Never afforded more than snorkeling, wife is a waterphobic (well I got her to try and like snorkeling while she did (being downright excited about it then) after uncountable tries, but in her memories she remembers the fears).
Finally started scuba a bit over a year ago in my 50s.
My son and my mom and my (now deceiced) dad as well as air line ticket pricing go me to it in a strance way:
The family was visiting the (kids) grandparents in Germany. My dad was so sick that grandma feared she could not take care of both of my dad and my son (who was going to stay longer) and asked (shortly prior to our departure from the US) if we could not have my son stay with her after we left as the original plan was. Trouble was he was on a frequent flyer mile flight, it was summer and the only remaining workable available options involved buying a new one way ticket. Which cost more than the youth camp on the Island of Elba I found and ended up sending him to on his own for 9 days instead (including bus trip from Germany, Scuba classes and OW cert). So he made his original return flight as a certified diver and gave me a pretty good reason (well, there was a plan in the mist of the mess of events..., divers keep a cool head ... right...) then to get finally started as well...
So in a strange way, I go diving, tremendously enjoy it and always have a roundabout reason to remember my dad while at it...