Average age of divers today???

[Banyan]

The average age on that poll is way higher than what I see here on Guam, where there is large military population with a large disposable income, many of whom live on a peninsular Naval base that is surrounded by some of the best diving spots on the island. And Palau, Chuuk, Yap, Kosrae, Pohnpei, Cairns, Manila, etc are all direct flights. I would guess that the average age of people walking around the LDS is upper 20s to lower 30s, with a lot of people who clearly enlisted right of high school and were shipped off to Guam, though my group of regular divers skews older due to some old fogies messing up the average.

 

[blackvans1234]

20: male : single and looking... oh wait, thats a different thread

OW cert dives this wknd, / So Fl. in august = life should be good
Job- nursing assistant = saving money and getting inexpensive equipment

 

[freedc]

I've wanted to dive literally as long as I can remember. I only just recently got to a place where I could afford it. I'm 27.

Same for me, but replace "27" with "43".

It's all about time and money. I came very close to doing an OW course when I was in Belize in 1989 but couldn't put together the $$ so I went snorkeling instead. 20 years later I was on a business trip in Australia and paid about 10 times what I was facing back then so I could fly out to the GBR, stay in a resort, and dive there.

If you live in a warm spot and can shore dive near home, you could easily buy mostly used gear, learn how to service it, and pay for airfills only as you enjoy a life of diving, but it's not feasible for most non-tropical non-rich sub-40 year-olds. I finally own a full set of gear myself but at my rate of 5-10 dives/year it will take many years for the investment to have been worth it. I hope to dive into my 70s or later though. Encouraging to see older folks here on SB. That means I might be able to one day dive with my son (now 7 yrs old) and daughter (unborn, due next month).

 

[Eff]

23 here. Turned a few days ago.

Learned to dive when I was 20, right after my first deployment. SO glad I made the decision to do so!

It seems like everyone my age is in college or just getting out of college.
Money seems to be the big issue, not so much passion. All my friends who know I dive think it's amazing and really wish they could.
They love watching the movies and pics.




But, $300 for a class. $200 for basic personal gear. $60 to rent all the rest of the gear for ONE DAY.
$130-ish for a fun day on a boat in the Atlantic.
It gets expensive quick!

Luckily I have a job at my age that allows me to afford doing all this awesome stuff. But most kids don't.


I heard back in the old days, diving used to be somewhat... Cheap (?)

I am also lucky enough that everyone on the boats I go on puts up with me. They are twice my age but still great friends.

 

[mfsmith1964]

I am currently 19. I got certified at 17. But I did have a huge leg up in that I began working at a dive shop at 18 and worked for store credit that I exchanged for training and necessary gear. I also had a mentor that used to cave dive, and another who dives that let me use their gear to start up. But I got my equipment for around 200 and OW was 300.

 

[Lorenzoid]

I haven't read all the replies, so excuse me if this has been said, but it seems to me that the people on Scubaboard may not make a good statistically representative sample of all divers. I've met many divers whom I have to believe are not of the mindset to chat online about the intricacies of diving. As noted on threads here relating to training, there is apparently a large portion of the diving public who want nothing more from the sport than to jump in with minimal training, look at pretty fish, and then head for the margarita bar, and discussing diving--apart from where they have been and where they want to go next--is of little interest to them.

 

[RickG65]

45, and finally certified. I would say this is the average 35+ here in So Cal for most divers that I know.

 

[Korsu]

62 and certified in 1974. From the looks of the poll many of you weren't born yet. Sorry Lorenzoid, I have never had a Margarita, but I do like pretty fishes.
For the last three years I worked part time for a dive op and I would say most of the divers were quite a bit younger but not generally more fit. I hope to
keep diving as long as my health holds up. While I have scaled back some I still enjoy every minute under water.

 

[Bob DBF]

I heard back in the old days, diving used to be somewhat... Cheap (?)

If you dive with an old steel 72, Double hose or reg without octo, horsecollar BC without auto inflater, depth gage, and a J valve if your lucky it's still pretty cheap. And if you need thermal protection, you make it yourself.

Mostly I like it better now, although I do dive vintage on occasion.


Bob
------------------------------
I may be old, but I’m not dead yet.

 

[Terryb]

I've been reading the posts here and though the statistics might be somewhat skewed, this is still an interesting excercise. I learned to dive in 74 and am still going strong and will continue to dive till the doc says no ( he might have to say it more than once.). I worked as a dive charter captain in my mid 20s and found most of the divers to be 30s+. I was not able to start diving trips till I was in my 30s. With my latest LA trips and resort dives I still see the majority of divers in the 30+ range. When I started instructing the majority of my classes were people in their 20s, very few in their 40s. Obviously available income and time away from work is a huge factor on taking those dive vacations.