stsomewhere:
I second that response! Also, I like to see the pretty fishees (the pretty Brim in the quarry), and I'm looking forward to diving the NC wrecks next year.
Why do you like diving?
- Thread starter DavidPT40
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I second that response! Also, I like to see the pretty fishees (the pretty Brim in the quarry), and I'm looking forward to diving the NC wrecks next year.
mccabejc
Contributor
Actually, at the risk of blaspheming, I think I enjoy surfing more than scuba diving. Requires a lot less work, not a lot of gear to haul around and maintain, no need to constantly search for dive buddies, no constant vigilance and training so I don't kill myself, no weekly back and forth to dive shops to get tanks filled, no constant outlay of cash for new gear, etc. With surfing there's something so exhilarating and inexplicable about slipping across a mound of water that didn't break yet, hearing the hollow lapping of the water resonate on the fiberglass board. Hard to explain if you haven't done it, but incredibly powerful. Well, for me, at least. I don't get that deep-in-the-gut thrill from diving.
But every week, at about this time, I automatically start thinking about planning a beach dive for the weekend. I'm not really sure why, though. I've always said that you really have to love diving to put up with the hassle and the risks.
I think part of it is the challenge, though I've never really felt the need to chase after big challenges just to prove I can do them. When taking my OW class I screwed up the mask clearing a couple of times and sucked a big slug of water thru my nose at the bottom of the pool, felt like I was surely gonna drown, and the instructor held me down while I coughed the water out. After that incident I told him I was done, and was moments away from walking out. But I decided to stick with it, and later realized what a service he had done for me. And now I'm determined to master diving. So I spend endless hours learning, dive whenever I can, and go thru all the hassle so that some day I'll feel like I've conquered it.
So far I haven't felt the real thrill, though. The kind of thrill I expect I'll feel when I can find conditions so clear that my mind can't rationalize that I'm floating in water, but instead it's convinced that I'm actually suspended in air and flying thru a canyon. I'm really looking forward to that moment.
Otherwise, I grew up on the beach and in the water, and I'm at home when I'm spending the day there, no matter what I'm doing. And I REALLY enjoy the people I meet when scuba diving. It sounds cliche, but I think that one of the best things about diving is the dive buddies you meet.
And there's something wonderful about driving to the beach early in the morning when it's quiet, and there's NO traffic (it's an LA thing...) and we have the beach to ourselves. That right there is priceless.
I really enjoy looking at sea life, discovering things I've never seen before, and exploring reefs. And the feeling of falling into the cool water after sweating profusely in a hot wetsuit while lugging 70 lbs of gear along the beach is delightful. And I'm really looking forward to getting into UW photography after I get my diving dialed in.
Maybe that's it. Maybe there's so much to look forward to in diving. Future trips that are so different from what you've experienced, skills to learn and master, people to meet, different types of diving to experience.
With all of that, for me, the answer to the question "why do you like diving?" is "Hell, I don't know".
Is my hour up yet, Doc?
But every week, at about this time, I automatically start thinking about planning a beach dive for the weekend. I'm not really sure why, though. I've always said that you really have to love diving to put up with the hassle and the risks.
I think part of it is the challenge, though I've never really felt the need to chase after big challenges just to prove I can do them. When taking my OW class I screwed up the mask clearing a couple of times and sucked a big slug of water thru my nose at the bottom of the pool, felt like I was surely gonna drown, and the instructor held me down while I coughed the water out. After that incident I told him I was done, and was moments away from walking out. But I decided to stick with it, and later realized what a service he had done for me. And now I'm determined to master diving. So I spend endless hours learning, dive whenever I can, and go thru all the hassle so that some day I'll feel like I've conquered it.
So far I haven't felt the real thrill, though. The kind of thrill I expect I'll feel when I can find conditions so clear that my mind can't rationalize that I'm floating in water, but instead it's convinced that I'm actually suspended in air and flying thru a canyon. I'm really looking forward to that moment.
Otherwise, I grew up on the beach and in the water, and I'm at home when I'm spending the day there, no matter what I'm doing. And I REALLY enjoy the people I meet when scuba diving. It sounds cliche, but I think that one of the best things about diving is the dive buddies you meet.
And there's something wonderful about driving to the beach early in the morning when it's quiet, and there's NO traffic (it's an LA thing...) and we have the beach to ourselves. That right there is priceless.
I really enjoy looking at sea life, discovering things I've never seen before, and exploring reefs. And the feeling of falling into the cool water after sweating profusely in a hot wetsuit while lugging 70 lbs of gear along the beach is delightful. And I'm really looking forward to getting into UW photography after I get my diving dialed in.
Maybe that's it. Maybe there's so much to look forward to in diving. Future trips that are so different from what you've experienced, skills to learn and master, people to meet, different types of diving to experience.
With all of that, for me, the answer to the question "why do you like diving?" is "Hell, I don't know".
Is my hour up yet, Doc?
Hank49
Contributor
mccabejc:
Amen brother. I surfed until a partially herniated disk made it too painful...
I did my first dive with my father in law at the time, in 1980 in Hanauma Bay on Oahu. It was ok but I didn't really take it up because, like you said, it's more expensive and surfing was basically free. Not to mention more fun.
But then I moved to the Philippines.....man, the marine life there is incredible. So, I started diving. And although maybe not as thrilling as getting tubed or hitting the lip and re entering, diving Tubattaha Reef in the Philippines was pretty close. You're 90 miles out, it's dawn, the sea was calm and you look at Jessie Beezley Sandbar and the drop off of the wall. Pretty awesome. Yapak 2 in Boracay. Raging current, deep wall, sharks, tuna, big school of barracuda...mccabejc, it's the closest thing to the thrill of dropping in on a glassy wall that I've found. ...in water anyway. Hank
mccabejc
Contributor
Dammit, Hank, would you stop?? You're killing me. Last week I was in the Philippines, hoping to dive Puerto Galera, but got cancelled by a typhoon. I'm determined to go again first quarter of next year, and maybe go to Puerto Galera and Cebu.
Trisha
Contributor
It helps me get over my fear of water. good view and no phone, pagers or laptops.
Squalus
The Good Humor Guy
I like to dive because......it brings me inner peace, allows me to think with no interruptions. Plus the is a bonus of seeing that one mermaid that turns your head 
Honestly the fish are great to watch as well.
Honestly the fish are great to watch as well.
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