Is swimming around under water enough?.

[Houseplant]

Originally Posted by triplefin

as long as I've got a camera, just my happy snappy will do, I'm happy

that's a very good point. if i'm doing a dive that i'm really interested in, i'll rarely take a camera. if it's somewhere that i've dived loads of times before, then a camera gives the whole thing a purpose and the challenge of getting a few good shots.

[purple vonny]

I simply go to see the fish! No camera - no fun. A wreck, to me , is where fish live. I've brought the odd tiny bits of spidge and the odd scallop home but the reason I don't do puddles (much) is that there is no sea life in them!!!!! Wrecks are great if they are in tact and look like ships but I can't see the point of bunging old jeeps , helicopters or boats in lakes.

[Finless]

Originally Posted by purple vonny

I simply go to see the fish! No camera - no fun. A wreck, to me , is where fish live. I've brought the odd tiny bits of spidge and the odd scallop home but the reason I don't do puddles (much) is that there is no sea life in them!!!!! Wrecks are great if they are in tact and look like ships but I can't see the point of bunging old jeeps , helicopters or boats in lakes.

FFS woman! It gives the fish something to look at!

[Finless]

Originally Posted by ray

Hi.

Is being underwater enough?.

Yes. I liked depth. It was like getting a big all over hug.

[NeilB]

Yes....I've been diving for 25 years and do it every weekend just to look at the fish. My son has been taking some photos of nudibranchs lately and I have just realised how fascinating they are so will probably turn into a nudi hunter for the next few months.......

That and teaching diving keep me going.

[JamieG]

I've just got back into diving after a lay off - not sure why I stopped to be honest.

Inland sites for me are about training, kit testing and getting back in the water after a break.

I am happy to bob about in the sea in this country and abroad and not take anything away with me other than photos and memories.

[frosty the snowman]

I've been diving for 27 years and still consider it a priviledge to be under that surface seeing what the vast majority of people will never see. I like wrecks, I like marine life (and eating some of it), I like photography, I like instructing but the joy of just being down there hasn't left me yet!

[Colin Marriott]

Originally Posted by ray

. . .
Now, the divers who are still at it are in the same groove as me, dive wrecks, take trophy's, pick up crunchie fish for the pot.
. . .

You might find trips to the Scrap Yard and Fish Mongers more fruitful in your quest Ray, otherwise you could loose interest . . .

Now, if your only going down to see whats there . . . endless fascination awaits you


ColinM

[NotDeadYet]

I've never seen the point of spending maybe 50 or 60 quid (at least) to sit for half an hour trying to unscrew a piece of junk from a larger piece of junk so that it can sit in a shed with a load of other junk. I could go to the local scrappy for that and maybe even get something useful.

I've been diving for 16yrs and the only thing I've ever taken from a wreck was a map off the Breda (which duly crumbled). No, I don't think just swimming around is enough to sustain interest, I like something to do or see but tearing lumps off a wreck just does nothing for me. I think UK dive sites would be in a sad state if that was what the majority of people were into. Like Frosty says above, there is still a lot of pleasure just being in/around the water.

Cheers,

Stuart

[purple vonny]

Originally Posted by NotDeadYet

I've never seen the point of spending maybe 50 or 60 quid (at least) to sit for half an hour trying to unscrew a piece of junk from a larger piece of junk so that it can sit in a shed with a load of other junk. I could go to the local scrappy for that and maybe even get something useful.

Those are my sentiments exactly. After 8 1/2 years and hundreds of dives, I am just as happy doing a pretty shore dive or Swanage pier as I am on an intact (ish) wreck.

The reason I moved to be by the sea last year was so that I could jump in the sea whenever the mood took me (which is often). It always excites me.

However, being submerged for the sake of it (like puddle diving) does absolutely nothing for me.

Diving in the sea brings the joy and surprise of the unexpected.

If you can do it on the cheap, or for free, with minimum equipment and fuss, even better.

But then I'm a girl.