What's the most unpopular benign/non-polarizing opinion you hold re: diving?

[Wingy]

Dove not Dived

My pet peeve - that people constantly badger me about diving Air and how if I do a LOB Nitrox will make me feel fresh, rejuvenated, energised, my hair will be silky and my wrinkles will instantly disappear.

I love people who post I MUST get Nitrox certified before I do a LOB.

The last 4 LOBs I've done I've been the only air diver - the next 4 I will be the only air diver.

 

[lionfish-eater]

I get depressed on the safety stop of the last dive of a dive trip. The reality of not diving again until the next trip sinks in as the reef fades away in the distance.

 

[Cali_diver]

Your admission of liking safety stops brings to mind something I like possibly more than the diving itself: the dive trip gestalt. It doesn't have to be a trip far from home, but just the idea of leaving the house, going somewhere to dive, a road trip or a boat ride out, camaraderie, a shared meal and a beer at the end of the day, writing in my logbook (wait, strike that last one--too close to controversial). Sometimes I think the sum of all that is more enjoyable to me than the diving itself. I suppose many people feel similarly about their leisure activities--skiing, golf, etc.

I think I share the same feeling.... I love it all!!! Long flights, airline/airport food, overnights, domestic flights with hot landings, long drives with constant honking - swerving - braking, putting my camera/kit together, taking it apart... Hearing/Telling the same stories over and over again, diving with crappy divers, crazy currents, waiting for your gear to dry (while it rains because it always rains on the last day) so you can pack it up again! I even love the safety stop!!

The only thing I absolutely do not like are dives where you sit behind an imaginary or human built line to watch mantas. I am not a sit still kind of girl so I get bored after 5 minutes.

 

[The Chairman]

• Real divers just don't wear wetsuits
  • Rly. We don't.
    • Deal with it!
  • When you're built like a manatee, you get to dive like one.
• I really love to dive in non-stingy water
  • It's really dark.
    • But we have cookies.
    • Lots of cookies.
  • It's very peaceful
    • Like a tomb, quiet.
    • Did I just post that???
  • There's no captain telling me when to get in or get out.

• Black is the worst color for a photographer to wear.
  • Big fish (Like Jew Fish) turn jet black just before they feed.
  • No fish wants to be eaten.
  • They swim away when a big diver, clad in black approaches them.
  • Lots of fish butt pictures until your wetsuit fades.
  • Ergo, I wear a tie-dye shirt when I dive.
    • I look like a big Queen Angel Fish.
      • No fish is afraid of a Queen Angel Fish.

• FWIW, It's called a Jew Fish
  • Not a Goliath Grouper.
  • Goliath was the Jew's worst enemy in the OT.
  • The irony is horrible.
  • I would have been OK with calling them Big Assed Groupers.
  • Leave it to scientists to overlook the obvious.
  • Only Philistines call them Goliath Grouper!

 

[Marie13]

There's no need to dive salt water when I've got more than enough wrecks within a day's drive (or a bit more).

Related is: I'm not interested in pretty fishies or coral.

Also related: I like diving cold(er) water.

Definitely unpopular. The warm, salt water only folks all think I'm crazy.

But the non-divers agree with me that it's good that "there's nothing in there [Great Lakes] that can eat me."

 

[RayfromTX]

That

I get depressed on the safety stop of the last dive of a dive trip. The reality of not diving again until the next trip sinks in as the reef fades away in the distance.

That's when my wife and I do our ball room dancing at the safety stop while blowing kisses and offering hugs to the reef that we are about to bid farewell. It is a joyous and happy acknowledgement that we have enjoyed our time and will dance with the reef again soon.

 

[Compressor]

I don't mean something that has been endlessly debated with opposing factions of divers which becomes a serious discussion (e.g., force fins vs other fins, snorkel vs. no snorkel, etc.). I mean something benign/silly/weird which other divers may even snicker to hear you say.

Mine: I think it's possible to enjoy the safety stop more than the dive. I'm not talking about seeing something magical while at the safety stop or reaching your safety stop after having a bad dive/accident. I mean just you at the safety stop after a good dive.

This is not because I haven't been diving somewhere great cause I've been some fantastic places like the Solomon Islands, Philippines & Maldives. I just love that feeling of floating and zoning out. And I still think of the rigid hang bar on the Belize Aggressor IV (aka Sundancer II) with delight even after some really nice dives around Belize. I adored flying on that bar & looping around like a gymnast. I may have doubled or even tripled the amount of time spent at the safety...you know, just to be really safe.

For me the best part of the dive are when I am making the safety stops around 20 feet and then right when I break the surface at the end. On land I get a high when I hear the tank getting filled by a compressor.

 

[Bubblesong]

I love the smell of neoprene in the morning.

 

[lermontov]

If you dont penetrate its not a wreck dive- its a swim around the outside

 

[lermontov]

I love the smell of neoprene in the morning.

thats a little disturbing!