Is it better to be tall or short in scuba diving?

[Eric Sedletzky]

Hello divers, I'm 6'3" and new to scuba diving. I was just wondering if being tall is advantageous in scuba diving because it gives me more leverage and longer limbs to propel on water?

Being tall is great but it also sucks because finding wetsuits that fit are a challenge. And hitting my head on everything. Most furniture is not made for tall people but at least cars are better.
6'4" isn't that tall but tall enough.
buying clothes is not easy, I need XLT or 2XLT
I have very long arms.
It is nice in a crowd being able to look over everyone.

 

[Blackcrusader]

Hello divers, I'm 6'3" and new to scuba diving. I was just wondering if being tall is advantageous in scuba diving because it gives me more leverage and longer limbs to propel on water?

Nope. No advantage to being tall. Humans are very slow in the water with all their diving kit on.

 

[a_wat]

Being tall may have some advantages, such as longer limbs for movement, but it is not the main factor in scuba diving. Buoyancy control, technique, and comfort in the water are more important for efficiency and safety.

 

[nippurmagnum]

I am 6'1, and here are five lessons I learned the hard way:

(1) Having long legs means that rigid fins can generate a lot of strain on your hips. I find that I can't really use short rigid fins like Apeks RK3, and need more forgiving fins like Mares X-Streams or Mares Volos that generate decent propulsion but don't kill my hips/knees.

(2) When diving from zodiacs, there is a greater risk of entanglement when doing a back roll, particularly as your legs may get snared on the zodiac. Make sure that your legs are free and clear.

(3) A lot of liveaboards and dive boats generally were clearly designed by people of medium height, as there are often decapitation hazards every time you go through a hatch. To add insult to injury, hatches tend to be made of steel, which is notoriously not prone to flexing on head impact. Be ultra paranoid anytime you see a hatch.

(4) I actually find that having long legs is a disadvantage when boarding zodiacs/dive boats, as the ladders seem designed for people of medium height, and the ladders are missing at least one step. This often means having to either jump to be able to catch the bottom rung of the ladder, or timing wave action so as to catch the ladder on the downswing.

(5) Being tall means a higher center of gravity, which when combined with top-heavy scuba gear, means an even higher center of gravity. So whenever you are standing with your gear on, you will be particularly prone to being knocked off balance. This is true for instance when returning to a rocky shore after a shore dive, particularly if there is any sort of surf. It usually helps a lot to do your shore entries and exits with a stance that is perpendicular to the surf, and to try to keep your center of gravity as low as possible (i.e. crouch a bit, as opposed to trying to stand tall as a giraffe). That is good advice for anyone, but particularly for unstable tall divers.

 

[fred32176]

The only concerns you should have being tall is watching your head on boats. The advantage you have is you can dive bigger tanks. I am 6' 220 lbs and have pair of steel 100 tanks because at depth, my air consumption is more than more experienced small folks. Being new and big a larger tank will matter for your deeper dive times.

 

[hilljo88]

The world is increasingly built with challenges for taller than average people: clothing and shoe sizes, legroom on airplanes, low roofs/luggage compartments/boat overhangs, elevator floor buttons at waist level is a pet peeve. One size fits all? Hah!

 

[Centrals]

Nope. No advantage to being tall. Humans are very slow in the water with all their diving kit on.

LOL.
What you do not know you do not know!
Have you ever seen short Olympic swimmers or runner or athlete to be precise.

 

[Centrals]

Short or tall?
Just be yourself. You are what you are.
There is nothing to do about it.

 

[Litefoot]

My guess is that diving is probably like everything else in life; that is, short people mostly wish they were taller and tall people, in a few circumstances, wish they were of normal height.

 

[jellycatsdad]

The advantage is generally in being female

As for short/tall, I fall in the short range. My biggest gripe is al 80’s hitting the back of knees or head. That’s why I love the shorter tanks. And trying to gear up on dive boats. The tank with bcd is often too tall for me to sit comfortably while in the gear.

Yea, HP80s look ridiculous on me(39M, 5’8”) but they work great for female divers. OTOH, Al80s are drama for me. Long live the HP100.