Dive Industry Market Data
Scuba Diving Participation Rate in The USA: Almost Back to Pre-Pandemic Level in 2022
Scuba diving is increasingly done by casual divers, with the participation rate by core divers continuing to drop sharply.
Darcy Kieran is the author of the reference book “Scuba Diving Industry Market Size & Statistics.”
About 2.7M Americans went scuba diving at least once in 2022, which is less than 1% of the U.S. population.
Compared to 2021, the scuba diving participation rate grew by 7.3% in 2022 while remaining slightly lower than the pre-pandemic level. But that is only half the story!
The participation rate by casual divers went up 12.1% in 2022, while the participation rate of core divers went down -5.1%.
Scuba diving is increasingly a casual activity done during a vacation that includes many other activities. Baby boomers were “all in” and went to dive resorts offering nothing but scuba diving. But the younger generations are not that committed. Scuba diving is just one thing they do in-between other activities.
This has a considerable impact on dive businesses. For instance, traditional dive resorts and liveaboards should retool themselves to be more than scuba diving destinations. Meanwhile, there is downward pressure on the sale of dive gear since core divers were the ones most likely to buy a full set of scuba diving equipment. We should probably plan for lower sale numbers of hard goods like regulators and BCDs and actively promote gear people can more easily travel with, like personal dive computers and wetsuits.
A casual diver is somebody who did less than 8 dives during the year, while a core diver is a scuba diver who did 8 or more dives during the year.
The top 5 water activities with the best year-over-year growth in participation in the USA in 2022 were:
- Jet Skiing: 7.6%
- Boardsailing/Windsurfing: 7.3%
- Scuba Diving: 7.3%
- Surfing: 6.6%
- Rafting: 6.3%
Meanwhile, snorkeling remained flat, with about 7.4 million Americans having gone snorkeling at least once during the year.
Stand Up Paddling also remained flat after a few years of growth. Perhaps SUP has reached its peak with the participation of 3.8 million Americans in 2022.
When discussing the low rate of participation in scuba diving with other dive professionals, there is always somebody suggesting that it is due to younger generations being hooked on their smartphones and not being involved in outdoor activities.
Let’s dispel that myth once again.
All generations have a higher rate of participation in water sports than baby boomers.
2022 Participation Rate in Water Sports:
- Boomers (1945–1964): 8.8%
- Gen X (1965–1979): 13.4%
- Millennials (1980–1999): 18.8%
- Gen Z (2000+): 17.4%
And the same applies to the participation rate in outdoor activities in general:
- Boomers (1945–1964): 43.3%
- Gen X (1965–1979): 52.9%
- Millennials (1980–1999): 61.6%
- Gen Z (2000+): 61.0%
We should stop blaming “younger generations” for our lack of success and start implementing changes so that we satisfy their needs and fulfill their expectations. Our business model was designed by and for baby boomers and then remained relatively unchanged for decades. It’s a new world out there! We have to adapt.
The 2022 participation rates are from the 2023 SFIA Topline Participation Report.
To keep ourselves up to date on the state of the dive industry, the Business of Diving Institute is a member of the Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SFIA), Outdoor Industry Association (OIA), Dive Industry Association (DIA), and Diving Equipment & Marketing Association (DEMA). We also conduct our own series of dive industry market surveys & reports.
Also from Darcy Kieran:
- Handbook: Your Career and/or Life as a Scuba Diving Instructor: How to Make a Good Living Out of Your Passion for Scuba Diving.
- Logbook: Advanced Scuba Diving Logbook with Checklists for certified scuba divers, divemasters & dive instructors.
- Handbook: Advanced Guide to SPF Scuba Diving for Scuba Divers, Divemasters & Dive Instructors: Develop Better Scuba Diving Skills, Dive Safer, Save Money & Have More Fun!
- Handbook: The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide To Scuba Diving: How to Increase Safety, Save Money & Have More Fun!
- Logbook: STARTER Scuba Diving Logbook with Checklists while getting your open water diver certification!
- Reference book: Scuba Diving Industry Market Reports, Data & Statistics.
Side note: During your surface intervals, have a look at my novels with a scuba diving twist, starting with “Mystery of The Blue Dragon” and “Shadows on Ocean Drive.”
You could help the dive industry by taking part in ongoing dive industry surveys. You will also find results from our past scuba diving market studies here.
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What now? Have a look at the complete Scubanomics Table of Contents.
