Question How old are you and how long certified? Poll- please take part!

[Scott G. Bonser]

…another anecdote just to pass along. My father, intrigued by SCUBA divers in Islamorada, FL Keys in ‘54 was asked if he would like to try it. He said “Yes” and spent 20+ minutes checking out the coral and fish in a lagoon with other divers….never got certified, encouraged me to follow my dreams and take lessons…so I did. It led to an unforgettable life of adventure and Fun I would have never thought possible. Dad always enjoyed hearing about my trips, volunterr work with the Yorktown Shipwreck project, Divemaster training and Florida Springs trips. At age 78, still working as a pharmacist in Florida, he took PADI SCUBA open water instructions. For the next 4 years as the rheumatoid arthritis allowed he went diving when he was able and i had my Dad as a dive buddy to go to Ginnie Springs, Troy Springs, Crystal River on numerous occasions Over that time period until he was too crippled to be able to get in and out of the water even with me assisting him. He continued to live a quality life going everywhere he was able until he just plumb wore out and passed away at age 95. Active and ready for anything up until 10 days from the end. Sail on ‘Cap’n George J. Bonser
your son, Scott G Bonser the ‘Giantfroginthepool’. So if you ask…Am I too old to dive. You be the Judge of that…please read my profile if you get a chance.

 

[tridacna]

Brings a whole new meaning to 80 for 80 at 80

Wish that my golf game was as good.

 

[BRT]

67, certified in '85, dove with a hookah before that. Dive count? Who knows? 1000, more or less.

 

[Will1760]

I'm 20, certified about 8 years ago on family vacation.

 

[Scott G. Bonser]

66, SSI 1980, ~850 dives -- 200 since 4/21

…number of dives, I would say are maybe 600 - 700, but to be honest, I have really lost track over time and not all are logged. 4 seasons, ‘78, ’79, ‘80, & 81 with Yorktown Shipwreck Project ( ..almost got to dive on the ‘Mary Rose’ in the Solent w/ the current ‘King’, but U/W archaeloogy group I was with lost funding to go over…saw her in ‘85 in the dry dock in Portsmouth, England ) also assisting with SCUBA instruction in Big Pine Key, FL… ‘SeaCamp’ in ‘82. Many good, lost dives that I enjoyed.. working but Fun dives plus countless others.
giantfroginthepool
Scott G. Bonser

 

[Divin'Papaw]

Well, so far the poll looks like a graduating scale going up and peaking at the 60-69 age group.
I wonder how close this cross section mimics the outside world of active divers (divers not on scubaboard). I’m assuming that most people on scubaboard are active even if it means a few dives a year.

This poses another question, one that would be difficult to obtain an accurate poll for, and that would be to find out how many active divers there are out of the entire population of certified divers.

For this poll so far, if the numbers are a general idea of how things actually are then diving will suffer an even worse participant crisis in the next 10 years, provided nothing changes.

Agreed. Every time I meet another "diver" I realize that they aren't really a diver. Like ... not a REAL diver. They are someone who has learned how to dive. I can count on one hand the number of friends, colleagues, and general acquaintances that I've met outside of a diving activity who turned out to be an actual diver. I think the total is 2, 3 at most, out of dozens of people I've met in the last 17 years who are certified to dive.

 

[JMarc]

54 yo, certified in 1988, interrupted diving in 1999 when I met my future wife, started again in 2021, 18 months after her death as a way to get active in a context which doesn't have lot of memories of her.

Slightly fewer than 300 dives in the first part, slightly more than 100 dives in the second part (total doesn't reach yet 400).

 

[GreggS]

For this poll so far, if the numbers are a general idea of how things actually are then diving will suffer an even worse participant crisis in the next 10 years, provided nothing changes.

Well, maybe. But what I think you're missing is that a lot of divers that have responded to this poll as well as answered in the 50 and over thread, myself included, didn't get certified until late in life. I had wanted to do the certification classes for more than 10 years before actually doing it, but just never seemed to have the time. But since I did, I've been diving steadily since. Perhaps that trend will continue and we'll have a whole new generation of new "vintage" divers.

 

[Gandalf-the-Diver]

61, got my OW, 11days before my 59th b-day. On my 60th b-day, I did my 200th dive. Slowed down a bit since then. Currently at 321 dives, in 2.5yrs of diving. My b-day is in Sept, and I should be well over 400 dives by then. All my diving has been cold water, dry suit diving, PNW, Salish Sea off Vancouver Island. Currently, SDI Solo cert.

 

[Seaweed Doc]

56 YO, diving for 37 years (since 1985)

I've logged around 1,000 dives, the vast majority cold water. And a lot of them face down in the muck sampling for work. (On the other hand, maybe 40-50 dives were tropical and also work-related. Gotta like that.)

Since I kind of control my work diving myself, my diving career has been influenced by what was going on in my life at the time: As follows:

1. Undergrad thesis and dissertation data collection: Above average dive year
2. Became an instructor in 2019: Serious uptick in diving frequency.
3. Had grants to support diving-related research: Lots of dives.
4. Had young children. Now where did I put that wetsuit? Do I still own a wetsuit? How does this screwy thing connect to that tanky thing?