>How could you give it up - living in a diving paradise? I live at the sea and years ago, before the local diving club went bust and closed, I was a "diving fool". We have loads of WW I & II wrecks around here. Now I fear I'm becoming a "fair-weather" diver and disgust myself!

Good question. Age, laziness, gained some weight.
When I married, 20 years ago I got my wife convinced and scuba-certified. We went on several dives. She was never too enthusiastic so slowly we gave it up. It has been over 10 years at least for me now. I used to dive shallow (30') in the coral reefs with her or deeper to some freighter wrecks (about 100') and even night dives (those were some of the best). The Fla. Keys are very nice and accessible by car. Diving goes on year round with many, many very professional dive operators. And don't forget lobster season. :)