I know personally a guy that has been runs a dive company in Cayman since 86, it's only been the last few years he had more than one boat or didn't run virtually every trip.
There is ZERO question in my mind he has north of 25,000 dives, and likely north of 30,000
Then I see some industry folks that worked a few years in the resort environment and racked up a ton of dives and keep diving but somehow manage to start claiming 10-15,000 dives.. which is complete BS unless they worked over 10 years in a resort and never took a management position (which funny enough many have). In other words, I am saying that many "big name" industry folks are lying about how many dives they have done.
Realistically, reaching 5,000 dives is a number that takes living and breathing diving for a few years or a few decades of diving a few times a week (and let's not count pools). Reaching 10,000 is serious and a number I will never reach (diving since 83, 5 years as a Cayman Instructor, FT in the dive industry since 95 and doing about a hundred dives a year now.. I am sitting somewhere between 5,000 and 6,000 dives)
There is ZERO question in my mind he has north of 25,000 dives, and likely north of 30,000
Then I see some industry folks that worked a few years in the resort environment and racked up a ton of dives and keep diving but somehow manage to start claiming 10-15,000 dives.. which is complete BS unless they worked over 10 years in a resort and never took a management position (which funny enough many have). In other words, I am saying that many "big name" industry folks are lying about how many dives they have done.
Realistically, reaching 5,000 dives is a number that takes living and breathing diving for a few years or a few decades of diving a few times a week (and let's not count pools). Reaching 10,000 is serious and a number I will never reach (diving since 83, 5 years as a Cayman Instructor, FT in the dive industry since 95 and doing about a hundred dives a year now.. I am sitting somewhere between 5,000 and 6,000 dives)