How many dives is "a lot" in a year?

[Tigerman]

If I judge by the divers I see most regularly (in tourist destinations), I'd say over 15 a year would be a lot.

Many divers get the bug, but then the bug gets squashed by kids, mortgages, working up the ladder etc. and then they find a different hobby which doesn't require as much dedication to do regularly.

You mean like my RC planes? Thank god for depron and more efficient electric motors in combination with a big back yard

 

[Laurie S.]

Well, I got my OW certification on November 25, 2009, and now have 143 dives. I'd like to do at least 100 a year now, which will get easier as I spend more time in San Carlos. Main goal right now is to hit 200 by the end of the year!

 

[eelnoraa]

I think 100 a year is quite a lot for a non professional diver. By that, I mean dive for a income, like instructors, DMs, commercial divers. Think about it, 52 weeks a year, if you dive one day of each weekend, average 2 dives per dive day, that is 100.

I think I average about 50 a year so far. I would like to do more, but life is tough

 

[Tigerman]

If you work for a dive shop in a busy location you can easilly dive 5-6 days of the week and 2 dives each day and end up with 500+ dives a year actually..
Commercial divers I dont think care about "number of dives" but "days of divetime"

 

[bletso]

It kind of depends on where you are and your financial where with all. I am in landlocked Louisville, KY. My best year was 100, that was diving nearly every weekend all year (some under the ice) and a couple trips to PCB. We normally see 20 to 40. That is also 30 - 40 hrs bottom time. We generally won't get in the water for less than an hour, any depth. For example, on our last trip through Panama City we only had 2 dives but 3 hours bottom time at 22msw. It has taken me 20 years to amass a little over 1000 dives.

However, one can have too many dives and that is when one has to dive when you don't want too. That should only happen to professionals, i,e. DM's and instructors in the recreational realm. I have had a few of those. As far as I am concerned though, there are rarely enough personal dives. Kind of like a kid in a candy store, the more I get, the more I want.

Now for those who live on a coast and have shore dive venues or boat access, and most important, an understanding partner, I would expect 100+.

Safe Diving

 

[geogator]

It's a coincidence that this thread just started, since today is my "scuba birthday" - 1 year ago today I got my OW certification and life's never been the same since! As of today I have 43 dives logged (was hoping to get 50 though) & was also curious to know how many dives people usually did in their first year of certification. Although I live in Florida, I'm in an area where I still have to drive nearly 2 hours to get to a dive-able shore location (springs), otherwise it's shell out the $$ for an offshore charter. However, those also aren't an option in the winter time due to water temps. Compound that with the typical FT jobs of myself & spouse plus 2 young kids & all of their activities & I guess 43 should be pretty good all things considered.

 

[koozemani]

We live in a desert, so location and limited numbers if vacation days limit our diving. Unless We want to dive in a cold murky lake with nothing to see, We're looking at a 6 hr drive to our regular spot and several hundred dollars spent over the weekend. That being said, we're looking at getting 25 dives in this year, and about 50 next year.

 

[cbrich]

It also depends upon where you live. I live in Colorado. During the summer I get in 25 to 30 dives during training and certification weekends, and Debbie and I usually get 2 dive trips in per year, sometimes more (4 is our record: Florida, Fiji, Cozumel and Hawaii all in one year- a GREAT YEAR) sometimes less (but always at least one). If I get 50 dives in during a calendar year at this point in my life, it's a pretty good year. That does not count about 100 hours of pool time. If I lived in Florida or the Carolinas or Hawaii, even California, I'd get in more- at least twice as many, for sure.
The important thing is to be an active diver, whether that is 25 dives a year or 200. And sorry, cbrich, but I think everyone should log their dives. Lots of personal data can be accumulated that is of great use, including time per dive and total hours under water, which I do agree is an important stat as well.
DivemasterDennis

I agree with you, logging is a very good way to keep a track record of a lot of stats, I personally am very bad at it.

 

[asha]

70 so far this year for about 55 hours underwater. Took the month of March off to ski, and won't dive much in June because I'm crewing on the boat instead of diving off it. In California, DMs don't get in the water unless someone hires them as a guide. Regardless, I expect to get in ~200 dives this year, very few of which will be "working." I feel like that's a pretty solid number of dives.

I look at it this way: do I pursue any other interests as frequently and regularly as I do diving? 200 60-minute dives in a year averages out to an hour a day for better than half the year. The only thing I can think of that I might spend more leisure time doing on a regular basis is going to the gym or practicing yoga. Therefore, I call my number "a lot."

 

[Scubadam]

As a college student myself, I don't get to dive as often as I would like. Normally, the only chance I get to dive is on vacations, which unfortunetly for me, is only 2-3 times a year. Last summer, I logged a total of eight dives, which is an extremely low number, but then again, I don't have the time to dive on a regular basis.