Active Divers over the age of 50

[gmerick]

64, certified 5 years ago. 160 dives split between Minnesota/Lake Superior, and Caribbean. Book a dive resort or LOB, average age will likely be well above 50. Except for honeymooners, the young folks will be the dive guides.

 

[arew+4]

56 yo, 500-ish dives(closing in on 500 if not already there) , 33 years diving with my wife, we had a very sparse 15yr span while raising the kids. Been back at it with kids since we got them certified, plan to make up for lost time once they're all out of the house. Mostly Caribbean reef and wreck, no desire for cave or heavy tech.

 

[Gene]

I'm 60 now and started scuba diving at age 11 here in my home state of Florida. Up until 2003/4, my scuba diving was sporadic and shallow as I had never been formally certified. I changed that in late 2003 and started cave diving in 2004. By 2006 I finished full cave and trimix. I have well over 700 dives since being certified and around 450 cave dives post full cave certification.
Since I had an IPE incident in April 2019, due to a virus that weakened my heart, I've slowed down a bit and haven't done any trimix dives. My deepest dive since then has been to 165 feet. My deepest trimix dive was to 285 feet in a central FL cave awhile ago.
I'm also a photographer above and underwater, and still do underwater photo dives in our local north Florida caverns and caves. (I stay fairly close to the entrance/exits now though, and limit my deco.)
I regularly dive with guys older than me, and I plan on continuing to dive hopefully for years to come. I still dive back-mount 95s, and joke that carrying tanks and gear around reminds me of my time in the Air Force four decades ago!

 

[ibj40]

72, certified in 1986.

Quit logging, but close to 1,000 lifetime dives.

Majority of dives have been tropical, primarily Caribbean, although also GBR, Maui, Costa Rica, and Baja California Sur.

 

[Pressurehead]

74, have been diving for 56 years,

Beat me by 1.

Only 2 dives the last week [28M], next week 2 dives a day for a week [gone are the days of 4 dives a day] diving here: Top 10 Dive Sites | Heron Island

 

[arew+4]

Not sure if this is the right place for this thread. I am curious as to how many SB members, who are still active divers, are over the age of 50? Also, how long they have been diving, how often they dive, and what types of diving they do?

No offense to Pete or anyone responding (im squarely in the group) the demographic in here is largely Male, Pale, and Stale, which explains why he's always fending off hostile takeover attempts by Meta.

 

[Robert H. Diver]

I’m not in my 50’s but my uncle in law is. He just got certified last year and he is 56 or 58 I can’t remember. He’s in relatively good shape and plans on diving as long as he can.

 

[TMHeimer]

Age 69 (next month).
OW certified Nov. 6, 2005 age 51.
Have done many varied dives-warm, cold, salt, fresh, boat, shore.
Currently have been doing only shallow local Nova Scotia shore dives last 6 years (20-30 feet).
Last few years have been cutting down on dives with difficult entries/exits
as well as my wetsuit winter diving in 40F water or less.
Late Aug. this year will reach dive # 1,000 (well, hopefully....).

 

[NitroxSam]

61 years old. Started diving 33 years ago. I went diving 15 days in January, and 20 days in February, this is typical for the last 4 years. Mostly do beach dives near home , I live 25 minutes from Blue Heron Bridge, and 60 minutes for LBTS. Occasionally go out on a charter. Went to Bonaire in 2021, and have the Flower Gardens scheduled for August. For me its all about fish and critters. 4285 REEF surveys, and top observer on three different projects in Inaturalist, plus I post a lot of dive reports here on Scubaboard.

Oh yes. I've been reading your BHB reports quite a bit.

 

[NitroxSam]

No offense to Pete or anyone responding (im squarely in the group) the demographic in here is largely Male, Pale, and Stale, which explains why he's always fending off hostile takeover attempts by Meta.

Love it: "Male, Pale and Stale". Although we did have 1 female respondent if I'm not mistaken.