How old were you?

[Divmstr223]

Honestly....I was about 17-18 years old when I took a College weekend trip to Catalina. We did some snorkeling there and I was hooked. Although I had been to the beach alot up to that point, it was like a whole new world had opened up for me during that trip. I got certified OW at 19yrs old and have been diving since....I'm 31 yrs old now...:14:

 

[fsik]

I did much snorkeling when I was a kid. Forgot about it until a snokeling trip to PR with some divers, who were great about sharing what they were doing. So, at 27, I was hooked.

I think if I look hard enough I'll find the Sea Hunt-era knockoff masks buried somewhere in the garage back home. They leaked so bad at the time, but it was a good thing...20 years later, mask clearing was instinct.

 

[divinginn]

nice stories everyone,spent my childhood living on clearwater beach fla,was snorkling since about seven. in college they offered a scuba course,couldnt wait to take it. took the 90s off from diving couldnt find any dive buddies,got back in it about 2000 on a trip to pcb fla went snorkling and after seeing all the marine life around me i fell back in love again.

 

[all4scuba05]

started swimmimg REAL early...9 months later, I was born

 

[bcleveland]

Just certified, age 44 and can't believe I waited this long.

 

[tlawler]

I started snorkling at 6 down in the keys. First time I breathed off a reg, it was in a rock pit near Miami when I was 9. Didn't really dive until I was 13 and finally got certified when I was 19 and stationed in Hawaii in the Navy. Been hooked on it as long as I remember. Sadly, I married a woman who couldn't make it through basic scuba class due to a childhood near drowning incident and there were a few years there when I don't even think I made ten dives for the year. Got divorced in '98 and been diving like a madman ever since.

 

[mdb]

When I was 8 years old, my dad gave me a mask and some fins, when we were camping at Ponce de Leon Springs, near Deland, FL. First time in the water I was hooked and had to be dragged out of the 72 degree water, with blue lips and wrinkled toes. I did my first scuba dive at 14 and was an avid diver by 16, though I didn't get certified until I was 21.

My daughter Laura, received her first mask and fins, literally, when she was just learning to walk. She was a natural and was snorkeling all over the pool, before she could even walk around it, without falling down. I kid her that her second pair of shoes were fins. At 8, while camping in the Keys, I gave her my pony bottle and a two pound weight, to carry in her hands. The campsite had a small, roped off swimming area, where she could see and swim with tropical fish in about 5' of water. She was hooked and started her OW class, a week before her 12th birthday. She's 21 now and looking forward to the day when she can show my grand-daughter the wonders of the sea.

Oh, and that's not my grand-daughter pictured in my avatar, that's my youngest daughter, Jordy, now 4.

How old were you when you first discovered snorkeling and diving?

22, fresh from Vietnam. I had a small apartment very close to the beach in La Jolla, CA I went in the ocean daily, most of the time solo, with a small 50 cf steel tank. A great tonic for all that came before. Wish I would have started early like so many on this thread.

 

[dbittner]

At some point in my early teens I learned to use mask, fins, and snorkel.

When I was 21, during my last year at Marquette University I took a scuba class, but wasn't able to complete all the pool sessions, and thus never got certified.

I started another class when I was about 27 or 28, but once again I was unable to complete the course.

In 2001 (age 46) I did an Intro scuba dive at Moloikini Crater (Maui). I knew then that I would, indeed, finally complete a course and achieve Open Water certification.

I was 48 when I got me C-card (June, 2004), and have spent as much of my holiday time as possible making up for lost time.

 

[awall54308]

I was 14 when I snorkeled for the 1st time in Hawaii. I was hooked for 20 years. For some unknown reason I waited until I was 34 to become certified (trip to Hawaii again). Now I love diving. I wish I lived somewhere warmer so I could dive year round!!!

 

[vladimir]

I was YMCA certified at age 15. My checkout dives were a 45 minute boat ride from Marine Park in Brooklyn. I didn't really begin diving avidly until I could afford flights to places with warm water and more that 5 feet of visibility.