What do you typically do during scuba diving?

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

XTAR

Contributor
Messages
400
Reaction score
123
Location
China
# of dives
I'm a Fish!
Scuba diving could be the ultimate escape from noise, troubles in life, give you chance to enjoy being “weightless flying” and explore fascinating underwater world. Do you still remember when you start the first scuba diving? Feel free to share your scuba diving stories and maybe start some fun discussion. :)
  • Reasons why you enjoy scuba diving: for fun, for work, for ...
  • Your favorite scuba diving locations...
  • Scuba diving activities: such as, photography creatures, spearfish/hunt, make cave diving...
 
I like to take a nap during the dive. ( erh not really )

I close my eyes sometimes and try to see if I can feel any difference in the pressure in my ears which would mean an ascent or descent. I get to a perfectly buoyant position and test myself. Mainly I dive to clear my mind of thoughts and if a good opportunity pops up take a photo or a video. Otherwise just relax and enjoy myself.
 
My answers :

1°) Why did I start diving ?
Grew up in the 70s in front of a tv set, with JY Cousteau documentaries being aired on a regular basis and I thought those guys were the coolest. Had to wait until I was 18 to start, broke my piggy bank and scrounged every penny I could find to finance my OWD. Now I'm almost 50 and diving is still my very expensive and exclusive mistress ! :D

2°) What I do underwater ?
- watching the underwater denizens, from the humblest shrimp to the proudest high sea fish, I love them all
- sight seeing, I remember some places, almost barren, more mineral than anything but majestic like a cathedral
- like the atmosphere and the feeling of being somewhere else, almost on another planet... Especially after a deep dive : topside is close but faraway in time still... I do like long deco (when my butt is not freezing of course :p)
- allows me to leave of troubles behind, compulsory to enjoy the dive, kind of cleaning my brain, very therapeutic, soothing...
 
Crystal clear warm water please!
Shooting pictures, and lionfish (In the Caribbean)
 
From my previous thread, "Why we Dive"

I dive because of the unknown. I ache for the unknown landscape of the ocean reefs, the flora and fauna, and all the things hidden from our surface view and understanding. I yearn for the unknown of myself, my limitations, my fears, the things I discover inside my own head as I listen to the sound of my breaths and the bubbles as they sail past.

I dive because I learn. I learn all the technical details of diving, the gases, the pressures, the usefulness and limitations of the gear. I learn about the world around me, the world beneath the waves. I learn from other people, the people who have gone before me, the people who guide me through the water. I learn about myself. I learn what brings me joy.

I dive for the community. For the people I meet on the journey, the camaraderie we discover and share on the boat on our way to the dive site. I look forward to the way we watch out for each other under the water, ever vigilant of one another’s lives and safety, ready to help a complete stranger in need. I bask in the community on this forum and the relationships I secretly envy between the long-time members.

I dive for the anticipation of future journeys. The careful planning of every trip, the research into dives sites and operators, the weighing of options fill me with giddy joy the months before every dive trip. I use Google street view to walk down streets, stand on the beach and gaze out over the water. I obsess over my gear; what will I need, what should I bring, is everything charged? I pack and unpack weeks in advance to make sure everything fits.

I dive for social consciousness. Diving takes us, sometimes, to far off places, unseen by the developed world and its decadent ebullience of material wealth. To bring school supplies for children, small microscopes so they can discover the world around them and look upon previously unknown. I travel to meet other people, eat other food, journey down other avenues and I travel because I dive.

I dive for joy. The joy of dropping into the water, feeling that first cold shock against my back and emerging, into the air with a smile on my face, bobbing on the surface, knowing what is to come. My heart pounds as I stare down into the darkness, bottom unseen as I let myself float, weightless, towards what I know will be everything for which I search. It has been brought to my attention that I smile too much underwater and that is why my mask always has a level of water at the bottom. I’m ok with that and I clear often.

I dive for myself. I live with crippling mental illness on a daily basis. I watch what it does to my family as I stand, powerless but loving, against its devastating onslaught. I want to run away sometimes but I cannot. I must persevere and hold my family together the best I can, all the while praying for peace. I find my peace underwater. I wander through my memories and thoughts while I am diving and chastise myself for the harsh words I uttered, the resentments I harbored, and the pettiness of my actions. I grow every time I descend into the blue and for that I am grateful and I emerge a better person, recharged and refreshed to step back into my world with love and forgiveness, compassion and understanding. I dive for my sanity.

I dive for my future. I have too many children and have made too many mistakes to even imagine a leisurely retirement. I take the PADI courses and get in the dives in the hope of becoming a dive master, an instructor even, to fill my days and bank account in my waning years. I don’t need much. I have learned to live with little and prefer it. I want my gear, sand between my toes, the wind in my face as the boat marches across the breaks. This will fill my final days and satisfy my wanting heart.


Why do you dive?
 
I do two very different types of diving. One is smelling the roses and looking to see anything new and/or unusual. Even after a few thousand dives this still happens occasionally. The other type of diving is hunting/gathering. Mostly crayfish (lobster). It can be very challenging.
 
In search of a mermaid.
 
I try to stack as many rocks as I can on top of my buddy's doubles without them noticing. Once I have a nice baselayer, I start going for height.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

Back
Top Bottom