SCUBA
Back when I was a younger man and living 15 minutes from the beach in sunny Southern CA, I took up SCUBA and loved it. But in 1990 I moved to S.C., and given that my current home is a 3 hour drive from the ocean, I sold all my gear and pretty much figured my diving days were over.
Fast forward 18 years. I saw a documentary on TV on the raising of a World War 2 era bomber from the bottom of Lake Murray, a large man made lake about 15 minutes from my house. I had never really been interested in fresh water diving, but this peaked my interest enough to visit a local dive shop and ask a few questions. Turns out we actually have a very active diver community here, both in freshwater diving and in group trips to our own coast and to tropical destinations like Belize and Cozumel. The only thing that stopped me from getting back in right then was the cost. But then last year my wife bought me certification training, so last summer I got re-certified.
There have been huge advances in diving technologies since I was first certified in the mid 1980's, so this has been almost like starting over. Diving has become much more accessible, in my opinion, thanks to changes in training and advances in technology. We had everything from military types to soccer moms in our certification class. If you have ever considered SCUBA, but were intimidated by the idea of the training and risk, I urge you to talk to the folks at your local dive shop before you write-off possibly one of the coolest things you might ever do in your life. Also, don't let your age prevent your from trying SCUBA. My certification class had teen-agers all the way up to a couple in their 50s. Heck, I'm 48 and my instructor was older than I am. ;)