Belzelbub
Contributor
And those that regularly dive local had other challenges last year. Normally, I dive a lot locally nearly year round. Last year, I had an unusual gap from June to November locally. The problem was that everything else was shut down. Bars, restaurants, movie theaters, beaches, etc. were pretty much temporarily closed. The boat ramps were open, though. So they were packed.Anecdotally I have seen more threads from SBers about finally going out to try diving locally as opposed to old habits of waiting for a dive trip. I wonder how that balances out with landlocked divers/those of us who couldn't access dive sites because of travel restrictions and local ordinances
I dive primarily from my own boat, so this was a problem. The ramp I normally use is great. Lots of ramps, and a pretty good sized parking lot. Even that was not enough last year. One day, I tried three different ramps, and just couldn’t get the boat launched. That was a high W 0 F day.
Generally, though, the w is usually much smaller on a typical dive day. The gear prep before the dive is work, but not bad. The boat ride is enjoyable for me. The dive, is of course enjoyable. Boat ride back is also enjoyable for me. It’s rare that we don’t see a turtle and/or dolphin during those boat rides. About the only thing I don’t enjoy on a typical trip is the cleanup afterwards, but even that is not terrible. Diving is definitely worth it to me.