Over 75 and I am not allowed to dive?

[JonnieB]

I'm not quite 70 and was dismayed to run into the age 70 diving in the Similans out of Khao Lak, Thailand a few months back. My wife (over 70) went along on 1 boat as a snorkeler and I had to discuss with them that she was in good health and had recently been snorkeling in Hawaii, but they let her on. This does make me wonder if people who have run into this might want to start creating a database here with information such as:

Location
Dive Operator
Age limitation? (No or list age)
Details - e.g., ok if have medical clearance letter from MD, DAN or other dive insurance, hard cutoff, just needs discussion, sign special waiver, etc.

Should dive in Bali...if you can walk, you can dive (or snorkel)

 

[justinthedeeps]

Funny several comments in the thread from the DANNies who have been convinced (by DAN marketing) that the DAN gods cover *everything* including general liability for all dive operators,

and/or the generally increased likelihood and broader impacts of a trip- or career-ending incident when serving divers over ~65yo

Some shops and locations (the good ones?) will still take a chance on you, DAN will still likely have little to do with it (though flashing your DAN creds may help anyway)

 

[NW Dive Dawg]

This is not that unusual. Your DOB is on your cert card. I've gotten turndowns in a few different places, being in my 80s.

There's no DOB on my Instructor Card.........and I have NEVER had a dive op ask me for my ID or any other proof of age. I'm 69 now and so I guess I'll just stay 69 for another 10 years and then re-evaluate my game plan after I'm 80..

 

[lairdb]

In Cabo San Lucas anyone over 70 is being refused scuba, no doubt due to insurance. My 80 year old friend was refused snorkeling! Is this true elsewhere? I'm a very experienced diver and have my physician's clearance (he is a diver too). I haven't dived for 3 years due to finances but now my son and I are ready to dive. We were thinking of Central America.

There are several operators in CSL; which? Or are you claiming a conspiracy or regional/governmental diktat?

 

[nippurmagnum]

I was on a liveaboard out of Cabo San Lucas to Socorro a year ago and there was a diver in his 80s, and he seemed to have no trouble at all booking his trip. I was also a on a liveaboard in the Galapagos in June where a third of the divers were over the age of 70. All good divers, all in good health as far as I could tell. There were a couple of empty berths on that boat, so if those divers had been rejected based on age, the operator would have lost a third of their revenue. It would make very little business sense to turn away your more moneyed customers (who are going to tend to be older) because of some arbitrary age limitation.

 

[lairdb]

There's no DOB on my Instructor Card.........and I have NEVER had a dive op ask me for my ID or any other proof of age. …

There’s no DOB on any of my cards, but there is a DOB on the WRSTC standard medical form.

(Mind you, I’ve only once ever seen a non-trivial medical form at a dive op that wasn’t doing classes, but DOB could be on a med form, liability release, etc.)

Still want to know what operator OP was using.

 

[scrane]

I just don't dive in the US. Seems to be too much of a hassle for a marginal dive experience. Never had any problem with my age (now 75) in Mexico, Honduras, or Indonesia.
"Don't ask. Don't tell." is your best bet.

 

[tursiops]

There is a lot of confusion, conflation, hyperbole and outright misinformation in this thread.

The OP said his girlfrined had been rejected for diving in CSL because she was over 70, and then generalized that to say it was true of all diving in CSL and added the assumption that it was because of the operator's insurance.
Many responses asked for clarification, and some asked if the rejected GF had no insurance (so was diving under the operator's insurance policy) or if she had DAN accident insurance (which has no age restriction) or some other policy.
At this point the thread is mostly worthless.
I even doubt the accuracy of the original post and the OP's consequent info; at the very least it is incomplete and hearsay.

FYI, I have a combination of recent and ancient NAUI, PADI, SSI, SDI, TDI, NACD, and NSS-CDS physical cert cards, both recreational and technical, instructor cards from three agencies, and NONE have my DOB on them except the non-instructor PADI cards, and the NACD cards. However, ALL my PADI e-cards have DOB on them.

 

[scubadada]

All of my PADI certification cards have my date of birth on them. My SDI certification card and my DAN card do not. Date of birth is very often, if not always, required on a liability waiver. A Medical Examiner's Evaluation Form was required for training I took at the end of last year and it included my date of birth. I have never been asked for my driver's license or passport along with certification card(s).

I have only been 70 since last January, age has not been an issue for me to date.

 

[scubadada]

I just don't dive in the US. Seems to be too much of a hassle for a marginal dive experience. Never had any problem with my age (now 75) in Mexico, Honduras, or Indonesia.
"Don't ask. Don't tell." is your best bet.

I've done some great diving in California, Hawaii, Massachusetts, and Florida. I liked Florida enough that we bought a townhouse there a dozen years ago. It allows me to dive much more often than if I relied only on my international travels.