elgringoperdido
Registered
I reckon average is probably the best, because the world is built for average people. I'm not particularly tall or particularly short, but I have dived with some of them. I had a friend Alex who was about 6 feet 4 inches. He was dreadfully uncomfortable on airplanes. I rode with him a few times and he was always miserable, shifting about trying to find legroom. For the flight there, being short probably has the advantage.
On the other hand, he could sling his carry-on into that overhead bin like nobody's business. Like using an spatula to flip an egg. It was that simple for him. So at the very beginning and the very end of the flight, I'd say that tall has the advantage. But for the six hours in-between, it was obviously a drag.
I suppose that the dive itself is the same way. For some things, like navigating an underwater wreck or a cave, shorties have the advantage. For other things, like boarding a vessel if it is tied off such that the step is more than a meter off the pier, the long bones have a definite advantage.
Probably you want to buy your own gear, especially thermal protection, rather than trusting that the shop might have some urine-permeated garment that will hang well on you. But any diver generally wants to do that anyway, no matter your build.
I will say this: I just got back from ten days in Cozumel. Normally my son is my dive buddy but one morning he was visited with a touch of Moctezuma's Revenge and spent the day holed up at the resort. On that day I went diving and the crew of the cattleboat put me with a group of four guys from San Diego so covered in ink that underwater it looked like they were wearing wetsuits even though they just wore swimsuits and t-shirts. Anyway, they were all pretty tall. One of them, in particular, was a good head taller than I. He had no trouble with the dive. He and I had about the same buoyancy control, the same air consumption, and the same trim. It was a good call by the boat crew to put us together. We all came up with about 800 psi after about 55 minutes with a max depth of 85 or so feet on Santa Rosa wall. And none of the four kicked up sand in the swim-through areas. It was a pleasure to be grouped with them and I'd dive with any of them again.
On the other hand, he could sling his carry-on into that overhead bin like nobody's business. Like using an spatula to flip an egg. It was that simple for him. So at the very beginning and the very end of the flight, I'd say that tall has the advantage. But for the six hours in-between, it was obviously a drag.
I suppose that the dive itself is the same way. For some things, like navigating an underwater wreck or a cave, shorties have the advantage. For other things, like boarding a vessel if it is tied off such that the step is more than a meter off the pier, the long bones have a definite advantage.
Probably you want to buy your own gear, especially thermal protection, rather than trusting that the shop might have some urine-permeated garment that will hang well on you. But any diver generally wants to do that anyway, no matter your build.
I will say this: I just got back from ten days in Cozumel. Normally my son is my dive buddy but one morning he was visited with a touch of Moctezuma's Revenge and spent the day holed up at the resort. On that day I went diving and the crew of the cattleboat put me with a group of four guys from San Diego so covered in ink that underwater it looked like they were wearing wetsuits even though they just wore swimsuits and t-shirts. Anyway, they were all pretty tall. One of them, in particular, was a good head taller than I. He had no trouble with the dive. He and I had about the same buoyancy control, the same air consumption, and the same trim. It was a good call by the boat crew to put us together. We all came up with about 800 psi after about 55 minutes with a max depth of 85 or so feet on Santa Rosa wall. And none of the four kicked up sand in the swim-through areas. It was a pleasure to be grouped with them and I'd dive with any of them again.
