What is the fundamental reason that prevents scuba diving from becoming popular?

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Trade you.
I dunno Eric. I snorkeled at Casino Point on Catalina in 1972 (age 18) and found two Norris Top Shells hanging on the kelp, which remain in my collection to this date. Nothing like that hanging around the kelp here. And my brother complains about the "cold water" in SoCal.
There were no stairs at Casino Point then and no one cared about shell collectors.
 
- Price: scuba is expensive. Material and guides if you use them. Average is 50$ per dive.
- Ability: a lot of people can't swim and even if it is not a pre-requisite, it is better to be a good swimmer.
- Fear: self explanatory. Water and sharks.
- Find a buddy can be a pain. And a lot of people consider diving solo over 50 years old a gamble.
- Weather: including me, some don't want to dive cold waters.
 
Cost
 
As I pointed out in my first post, as a person of color scuba diving has been pointed out to me as unattractive and unattainable. Introducing the sport to those who be interested in it would help or one of the dive organizations (PADI) can do a community outreach to attract minorities and others to the sport. As I'm writing this I'm still working on finding a dive shop in my area (South Carolina) to embark on this endeavor.
 
As I pointed out in my first post, as a person of color scuba diving has been pointed out to me as unattractive and unattainable. Introducing the sport to those who be interested in it would help or one of the dive organizations (PADI) can do a community outreach to attract minorities and others to the sport. As I'm writing this I'm still working on finding a dive shop in my area (South Carolina) to embark on this endeavor.
I do not know how far this goes into scuba diving, but I recently read an analysis about the participation of people of color in water sports in general.

If you go back a little more than 100 years, the average person in America could not swim, and swimming in general was not a popular activity. Then, about a century ago, this changed rapidly. All across the country, communities built public swimming pools and started providing swimming lessons. This was really one of the first attempts to provide recreational activities for the communities. There were pretty much no public tennis courts, recreation centers, etc. for competition. Those swimming pools became very popular, and suddenly we became a nation of swimmers.

Except for people of color.

For decades, people of color were not allowed in the public pools in most communities. Even in northern communities, public swimming pools were for white people only. In some cases, courts ordered integration, and this took the form of allowing people of color into the pool one day a week, after which the pool would be drained, scrubbed, and refilled for the white customers coming back the next day.

Eventually this went away, but the legacy continued in another form. The white generations who grew up as swimmers passed on that activity to their children and grandchildren. The people of color had no such history to pass on, and their children and grandchildren sought out different activities.
 
I do not know how far this goes into scuba diving, but I recently read an analysis about the participation of people of color in water sports in general.

If you go back a little more than 100 years, the average person in America could not swim, and swimming in general was not a popular activity. Then, about a century ago, this changed rapidly. All across the country, communities built public swimming pools and started providing swimming lessons. This was really one of the first attempts to provide recreational activities for the communities. There were pretty much no public tennis courts, recreation centers, etc. for competition. Those swimming pools became very popular, and suddenly we became a nation of swimmers.

Except for people of color.

For decades, people of color were not allowed in the public pools in most communities. Even in northern communities, public swimming pools were for white people only. In some cases, courts ordered integration, and this took the form of allowing people of color into the pool one day a week, after which the pool would be drained, scrubbed, and refilled for the white customers coming back the next day.

Eventually this went away, but the legacy continued in another form. The white generations who grew up as swimmers passed on that activity to their children and grandchildren. The people of color had no such history to pass on, and their children and grandchildren sought out different activities.
For almost a decade I've been telling absolutely every single client about scuba diving, in the hopes that I will talk SOMEONE into diving! I got an email from a former client the other day, saying she was going to do a discover scuba session with the LDS. I was SO thrilled! When I bring up scuba I occasionally get "I don't know how to swim", but I've also gotten 'general fear of water' (sometimes a traumatic event), don't like the water, fear of sharks, not interested or they'll think about starting with snorkeling. Annnnnnd ... I can tell you that my sister never learned to swim because she wasn't willing to get her head in the water because it would smudge her makeup and mess up her hair (wimmen and vanity!). For the same reasons, she still wouldn't be a scuba (or snorkeling) candidate.
 
Early introduction pays dividends. The tall one is a college junior, enrolled in a university scuba course this semester.

rx7diver

View attachment 719039
Good job!!! (Cutie pies, btw!)
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

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