No dive buddy

[Marker 71]

I have been wanting to get certified for many many years now, but have never done it because I do not know anyone that was interested in diving to take the classes with me and then no dive buddy to dive with afterwards. I think I have decided that I am going to go ahead and get my basic open water and hope to meet people to dive with later. Wish my wife was interested but she is not interested and diving doesn’t seem like something someone should do unless they are totally interested in doing and committed to learning. Just looking for advice, should I take the plunge? I should also add that I will be 45 in September, but am overall healthy other than needed to lose a few pounds.

 

[James79]

Well, I'm 42 with a back surgery and a shoulder surgery behind me... And could afford to lose 30 or so lbs. I love diving, but not everyone finds it so all consuming. I'd suggest a try dive (if you haven't already) to see if you like being on SCUBA gear, before paying for the whole course. I suspect finding people to dive with won't be a big hurdle... If you ever find yourself in lower Alabama, hit me up!
Regarding the wife... Mine is certified, but rarely dives. She's the very definition of a tourist diver. Not an issue, I just know what I can or can't expect of her in the water.

Respectfully,

James

 

[Marie13]

I did it alone at age 47. If a gal can do it alone, so can you. I’m tech diving now. I’m gimpy with knee issues and sciatica. There are ways around stuff.

You will meet buddies in class, on trips, through others at your dive shop, etc. I even met several buddies right here in SB.

As the Nike motto says: just do it. if you want it badly enough, go for it.

 

[Diverlady13]

If you really want to dive, then take the class. If you're unsure, maybe take a discover scuba class first, but if it was me I'd just take the OW class. I did the Discover class many years ago while on a cruise, but didn't find it all that useful. Check out your local dive shops and local dive clubs. There may be opportunities through those places to find dive buddies. We've got a local dive club here that I haven't hooked up with yet, but that is currently on a trip to Florida as a group. Our LDS's host both local/regional outings and trips farther afield. It's my understanding that you can sign up for those as a single diver and either dive with a group or the shop will help pair you up.

My husband and I are on the volunteer dive team at the Oklahoma Aquarium. We just started this and have met some really great people. The more people we meet, the more we learn about local events. We're not looking for buddies specifically, but there is opportunity to meet buddies in this group, I'm sure. Plus, if one of us wants to go and the other doesn't, that's not a problem. By the way, it's my understanding that lots of aquariums and zoos have volunteer dive teams, so that might be something to look into once you've had more diving experience. We dive on hookah at our aquarium, so we can't count these in our log, but it does get us in the water when we're not traveling. Plus it's fun to feed the fish when that needs to be done and to interact with the aquarium guests.

Also, my husband (who is my buddy) and I have met quite a few people while traveling and plan to meet up with some of them again. Our new friend out east has a wife that doesn't dive. When we were on the Belize Aggressor (where we met him), the three of us dove together and his wife sunbathed and read her book and just relaxed. She had a lovely time doing that and the three of us enjoyed our dives.

Don't let age stop you! You're young (enough). I got certified 3 months before I turned 50. Of course, I plan to live forever (ha ha), so that's young, right? The great thing about diving is that people of all sizes and ages can do it! A decent level of fitness definitely helps, but there are a lot of old and overweight divers out there that do great, so I wouldn't worry about a few pounds! I could stand to lose a few more pounds myself.

 

[Marker 71]

Wow, thank you for all of the fast replies, I was not expecting that. Well that basically eliminated all my hesitations. Now to track down classes.

 

[Gandalf-the-Diver]

I got my OW, 11 days before my 59th birthday, and I did it alone. I am 10 or 40 lbs over ideal as well. I have made a ton of new diving friends in the last 10 months. Did AOW last November with 40 dives under my belt, and just completed the SDI Solo a couple of weeks ago. Currently sitting at 171 dives, and I had nobody to dive with at first. I am hoping to have 200 dives in in my 1st year, or at least by my 60th.

 

[kelemvor]

I've had two back surgeries, one prior to getting certified. I'm also having yet another later this year. Back surgery doesn't disqualify you from diving in most cases - although you'll probably have to get a doc to sign off before you take the class. Shouldn't be a big deal.

Although I did have one friend who dove prior to getting certified, I met a good friend and dive buddy in open water class. In fact, I've done more diving with her than the friend who got me interested in diving.

In addition to scuba class, this website and divebuddy.com are great places to meet dive buddies. Dive shops often sponsor luncheons/dinners/other events where you can meet buddies to dive with. Most shops put the events on for this purpose. After all, if you're not diving then you're definitely not spending money with the shop so they want you diving.

Something I started doing that greatly increased the number of buddies I have... I started organizing my own dives. Just pick a location and a time, figure out any necessary travel details and start inviting people. I'm not talking about big out of town group trips - but it takes a little effort to get people together. Most "6-pack" boats want a minimum of 4 divers in order to leave the dock so that's the number I shoot for when planning a dive.

 

[TMHeimer]

I always advise new divers to try to locate experienced ones to buddy with. Ideally someone who has taken the Rescue Diver course.
I have had some success finding buddies on the sub forums of Scubaboard and searched the area where I would be diving.

 

[Wibble]

I have been wanting to get certified for many many years now, but have never done it because I do not know anyone that was interested in diving to take the classes with me and then no dive buddy to dive with afterwards. I think I have decided that I am going to go ahead and get my basic open water and hope to meet people to dive with later. Wish my wife was interested but she is not interested and diving doesn’t seem like something someone should do unless they are totally interested in doing and committed to learning. Just looking for advice, should I take the plunge? I should also add that I will be 45 in September, but am overall healthy other than needed to lose a few pounds.

Still plenty of divers in their 70s. You're not old and are considerably younger than when I started diving.

Doing the course is a "solo" activity: you, your book, your instructor, the rest of the students. i.e. you don't need friends for that bit!

Diving after the course needs more experienced people around you and a supply of buddies. You get plenty of experienced people at a dive club. The early years of a club will mean you're relying on them a lot more than they rely on you. Later you can give back and help out newbies as you gain experience.

Typically a lot of clubs are based around the dive shop. Even though it's called a club, you're really their customer. No problems though as you need their help to gain the basic experience. Be aware of the badge collection pressure: taking all sorts of "speciality" classes -- some are good, some are of dubious benefit.

Anyway, experience is gained quite quickly as you learn an awful lot in those first few dozen dives. Once you've done those dives you'll get an idea of what "floats your boat" as it were. Do try to focus on improving your skills; all effort put in is more than rewarded by making your diving far easier.

But do have fun.

 

[wildbill9]

That’s tough…..I made sure my wife loved diving before I married her. 34 years later she is still my dive buddy. And it’s the only time she can’t yell at me