Active Divers over the age of 50

[Scott G. Bonser]

First certified 1986 in Townsville Australia. Was traveling from the USA and working. Dove in New Zealand that trip too. Next dive was in '88 in Belize, then life got in the way. Fast forward to 2021, my father had passed away at 96, I was one of his caregivers the past five years. He was a Pharmacists Mate aboard the Essex Class carrier USS Bunker Hill in WWII, and had many stories of the things he witnessed. I listened with great interest. When Jacque Cousteau first dove the wrecks in Truk in 1969 I was enthralled. So, after dad passed, I went to a local dive center, told them what I wanted to do. This February 2024 I will dive Palau for three weeks and then on to Truk for a week. Here at home in the Portland area I dive in Puget Sound and at the Oregon beach. Many dives in front of me. I am 69 years old.

Kudos to you and many more to come. My deepest concern is that the Myasthenia Gravis I now have may curtail most of my more active OW diving. I can still dive but am now experiending new weakness in my legs. I go to the gym and consult a trainer. It helps but no real answers…. Shopping a reasonable DPV just to move around the dive sites…not looking to be a cave diver or reef racer. Those days in the past for me.

 

[Wallowa]

Kudos to you and many more to come. My deepest concern is that the Myasthenia Gravis I now have may curtail most of my more active OW diving. I can still dive but am now experiending new weakness in my legs. I go to the gym and consult a trainer. It helps but no real answers…. Shopping a reasonable DPV just to move around the dive sites…not looking to be a cave diver or reef racer. Those days in the past for me.

Hang in there Scott! Improvise, adapt and overcome. Diving is as much about attitude as anything else. Wishing you the best luck.

81 yrs old....started diving '55 with DA2hose, Aquala dry suit, Squale mask and ammo pouch/ plumbers lead wt belt, no BC...deep [200ffw+] diving in Tahoe at age 12 with Nevada Desert Divers who "adopted me"...first cert was '58 LA County; held several instructor and scientific diving certs and county SAR certs...ended professional career as a University DSO for 25 years in '05...still diving and although my love still is with double hose regs, I recently bought XDeep wings for doubles and singles [single valve/manifold units]...but you will never see me with my mask on backwards or without a snorkel!

 

[gordonscuba]

Frédéric Swierczynski set the world record for deepest cave dive at age 50. Depth of 308m with 400 minutes of deco. Conclusion: I don't think 50 is necessarily over the hill for diving...

Cave diving depth world record -308m | Seacraft

seacraft.eu

 

[Wallowa]

Frédéric Swierczynski set the world record for deepest cave dive at age 50. Depth of 308m with 400 minutes of deco. Conclusion: I don't think 50 is necessarily over the hill for diving...

Cave diving depth world record -308m | Seacraft

seacraft.eu

Wow...that is frickin deep! Alas though, I am living proof that with age not does not necessarily bring wisdom....

Frédéric Swierczynski set the world record for deepest cave dive at age 50. Depth of 308m with 400 minutes of deco. Conclusion: I don't think 50 is necessarily over the hill for diving...

Cave diving depth world record -308m | Seacraft

seacraft.eu

Great story at that site your referenced ...thanks. "12 years with experience -200m dives" Sat diving is not for this old man! Admire the fortitude and planning but assumption of that level of risk is beyond me.

Appreciate you sharing this....he mentioned "Théo Mavrostomos' legendary -701m dive"? I need to look that one up.

Ps...Marvrostomos's "dive" was a dry one in hyperbaric chamber....none the less, ballsy!

 

[JMBL]

…Yeah, my Dad tried out SCUBA back in ‘54. Loved it but could never find the time to actually take a class when he wanted to. I got certified in ‘77….still way too busy for ‘Dad’ to do. Finally before he retired for good from Pharmacy, he and some of his friends in Dunedin, FL decided to get SCUBA certified and went on easy dives in FL Springs and along the Gulf of Mexico shoreline out of curiosity…. He was 78 at the time. He required increasing assistance until the severe arthritis just prevented him from getting geared up and exiting the water without a lot of assistance. I didn’t mind helping him get in and out with all of his gear. Once immersed in water he was in free and weightless mode and little or no pain and had a blast. Finally, it was great to visit him in Florida and be dive buddies…at least for 4 years. A lot of great memories. He passed on at age 95. Sail on Cap’n George.
Sincerely,
Your Son….

This statement has a special resonance for me. My Dad passed away last week, he was 86. Never got certified, but tried it twice, while on holidays, both times with me. I was sooo happy. Last time was around 20 years ago, in Crete.

It was around Easter, always a complicated time to dive the Med : high wind, cold water, and a shy sun. He wouldn't hear of diving with me, his answer was something like : I'm too old for this sh.. Until, I told him : I'm diving from a place called Mononaftis, there's an old minoan jetty underwater, and broken antique pottery everywhere. As a retired teacher who taught some Latin for years and was deeply interested in Latin and Greek history, he changed his mind quickly. We had excellent condition and hugely enjoyed the dive, more than 40 minutes underwater. A very dear memory to me.

Here's a picture, my Dad's on the right.

 

[divingdayz]

My guess is that many people under 50 have neither the time or money to go diving while establishing careers and looking after young children. Diving and travel in general seems so expensive these days.

 

[divingdayz]

Expendable income is certainly a big factor in this.

 

[hilljo88]

Its not age per se that is the issue, its health, fitness and having or making time to dive. My usual group of 4 are all retired, but active in one way or another. Two of us have Assistant Instructor ratings, and the two women have roughly twice as many dives as we do. The guys often help carry equipment for the women when shore diving and occasionally we will need to throw inflated BCs in the water first, then get in and don them. For some boat dive exits, the women will often remove their BCs and pass them up to the crew. Other than those instances we make few concessions.

 

[Scott G. Bonser]

Hang in there Scott! Improvise, adapt and overcome. Diving is as much about attitude as anything else. Wishing you the best luck.

81 yrs old....started diving '55 with DA2hose, Aquala dry suit, Squale mask and ammo pouch/ plumbers lead wt belt, no BC...deep [200ffw+] diving in Tahoe at age 12 with Nevada Desert Divers who "adopted me"...first cert was '58 LA County; held several instructor and scientific diving certs and county SAR certs...ended professional career as a University DSO for 25 years in '05...still diving and although my love still is with double hose regs, I recently bought XDeep wings for doubles and singles [single valve/manifold units]...but you will never see me with my mask on backwards or without a snorkel!

Greetings Wallowa, and many thanks for the encouragement. It is so good to hear of others that enjoy diving so much, they make the best of all things, under any condition. You, my friend ’Rock’ …keep it up and enjoy ALL life above and below the sea has to offer.

 

[Scott G. Bonser]

This statement has a special resonance for me. My Dad passed away last week, he was 86. Never got certified, but tried it twice, while on holidays, both times with me. I was sooo happy. Last time was around 20 years ago, in Crete.

It was around Easter, always a complicated time to dive the Med : high wind, cold water, and a shy sun. He wouldn't hear of diving with me, his answer was something like : I'm too old for this sh.. Until, I told him : I'm diving from a place called Mononaftis, there's an old minoan jetty underwater, and broken antique pottery everywhere. As a retired teacher who taught some Latin for years and was deeply interested in Latin and Greek history, he changed his mind quickly. We had excellent condition and hugely enjoyed the dive, more than 40 minutes underwater. A very dear memory to me.

Here's a picture, my Dad's on the right.

Yes JMBL, a true memory indeed. It seems my dad had ‘Sea water’ in his veins and history was his biggest travel motivator. A few times he went w/me on a short ‘lackluster‘ dive with one of my tanks for the heck of it. But when he and his friends got certified. That made me feel great. Who could ask for a better dive buddy. I send you my deepest condolences at your Dads departure. …perhaps he found my Dad on an ancient sailing vessel in ‘Heaven’ and now sailing an eternal sea….

Respectfully and in ‘Awe’ of what we don’t understand.

Scott G. Bonser