What happened to Skin Diver Mag?

[Akimbo]

Although it was an exceptionally useful publication for many years, I found myself thumbing through entire issues of Skin Diver and finding nothing of interest starting around the early-1980s. It seemed like an extraordinarily repetitive and overly ad-oriented travel magazine to me. I dropped my subscription and never looked back. I was actually surprised to hear that the magazine was long-gone while two others survived in the US.

I heard a story that somebody wrote a glowing review of a resort that bought big ads but never opened. I also heard they lead the charge against Nitrox, Trimix, and tech diving in general. So what’s your recollection that caused the plug to be pulled?

Too bad really. Back issues of Skin Diver are easily the best repository of the golden age for undersea manned R&D.

 

[Nemrod]

I quit reading it about 1976 which pretty much coincides with the death of local diving and the advent of the resort diving industry complex.

Did you know, for example, there are people who live in Florida, California and other similar places who have never dove their local waters or even know people dive there and instead opt for that once a year cruise vaca or resort vaca?

And that explains what happened to Skin Diver magazine. It went form the Popular Mechanics of diving to a resort advertisement dominated by PadI type attitudes. Of course, Popular Mechanics is a sad shadow of itself as well. Remember when you could go into Radio Shack and walk out with the components to built a nuclear reactor? Nowadays, most males of the species are hard pressed to identify a screwdriver, slotted or Phillips, much less install an LP hose into their first stage or even identify the first stage. Well, they cannot read or write cursive either.

N

 

[rhwestfall]

Yeah, but that stuff (DIY, knowlege, etc.) doesn't make businesses wealthy.......

Sign-of-the-times....... and depressing...

 

[Pullmyfinger]

Hear, hear!!

 

[Dirty-Dog]

Personally, in this day and age, I'd be scared to google "skin diver magazine" unless I knew the door was locked...

 

[MaxBottomtime]

Skin Diver is still around, albeit online only.
Scuba Diving Equipment, Scuba Gear for Caribbean Travel Skin Diver Online Magazine

I stopped receiving it for the same reasons posted. Ads, warm water resort reviews, ads, snorkel reviews, ads and ads. The only thing I looked forward to each month was the column on the last page, I Learned About Diving From That. I was always amazed that people who had enough intelligence to get certified would do some of the most idiotic things. Once the internet became popular I learned that there were millions of people just like them.

 

[Avonthediver]

In my last year I got the 25th special and it was a great look back at what had been. I love to find those hard to find issues with their fun covers of cool dives I enjoy Wreck Diving mag and Dive training way better than a crap add magazine.

 

[agilis]

Some of the old issues from the 50s and 60s are extremely interesting. They provide an interesting look at the technology, the small number of divers, clubs in which only half of the officers are certified, sometimes bizarre developments in new equipment and the almost universal interest in spear fishing.

Basic attitudes were very different. Pics of smiling divers on a dock filled with dead sea turtles. The tiny ads are sometimes very revealing. Names pop up that will become famous later. And the prices!

Later, the magazine became as interesting and as reliable as the ad circulars they put in Sunday newspapers.

I still have a dozen or two old old issues I can't bear to throw away. A couple have photos of people I knew, full page ads from Richards Aqualung, echos of a vanished world.

 

[Wookie]

Did you know, for example, there are people who live in Florida, California and other similar places who have never dove their local waters or even know people dive there and instead opt for that once a year cruise vaca or resort vaca?



N

You mean like the senior editor of Dive Training Magazine, who teaches marine science at the Florida Keys Community College, who takes his students to Bonaire to count fish, when right here in the keys we have the world's premiere fish counting team, who are always looking for more qualified members? The industry is killing itself with stupidity.

 

[Nemrod]

You mean like the senior editor of Dive Training Magazine, who teaches marine science at the Florida Keys Community College, who takes his students to Bonaire to count fish, when right here in the keys we have the world's premiere fish counting team, who are always looking for more qualified members? The industry is killing itself with stupidity.

Well, yeah, I cannot second guess why they are teaching the class there in Bonaire instead of Florida but, yeah, exactly something like that.

Maybe I have just become jaded but those old Skindivers were a wonderful read.

N