How many dives do you average a year?

[Dr. Doug Ebersole]

I am proof that you can hold down a full time job and still get in a lot of diving. Of course, living in Florida helps! I average about 150 dives per year and have a full time job as a cardiologist as well as a part time job as an open water/technical/ccr instructor. I am also the Florida Sales Rep for Kiss Rebreathers. Yes, I dive most weekends that I am not on call and I am fortunate to take several dive vacations per year. It's easy to log 20-25 dives on a weeklong liveaboard!

I also have the advantage of a diving wife and two children who also love to dive.

However, it's not about numbers of dives. It's about enjoying the water while maintaining and improving your skills. Personally, I feel I need to dive "a lot" to keep up my skills on various fronts -- open water diving & instruction, various rebreathers, deco and trimix diving, cave diving, ....... For the general recreational warm water diver who has lots of other interests, you can maintain the needed skills with many fewer dives.

Like has been said above, this isn't a competition. It's about having fun -- and being safe!

Just my 2 cents.

Doug

 

[spectrum]

I've dropped off considerably but the high answer of 25 was still a slam dunk. With a late start (July 1) I did # 26 last Sunday. I hope to end near 50, my high years had been 100- 115. With the exception of 1 year in 8 they were local New England dives.

pete

 

[TSandM]

I spent a lovely day with some visiting folks from Minnesota last week. We spent some time talking about their diving versus my diving. They drive a couple of hours to dive in a quarry or a lake; I drive 30 minutes to shore dive in some of the best marine environment on the planet. It's incredibly easy to rack up dives here. We don't get blown out by wind or waves, and with planning, not by current. We shore dive, so we aren't depending on boats or captains or adequate load numbers.

I've averaged about 180 dives a year since I've been certified, but this year may be more, because I've been doing a lot of
DMing classes, which involves many, shorter dives. My bottom times go from 15 minutes on an OW2 tour, to almost three hours in the caves in Mexico.

 

[Acanthurus]

I average about 50 dives a year which I think is pretty good given that local diving is affectionately called ice tea diving coz northern lakes are cold dark and the color of ice tea. As well my job doesn't allow for much mid week. It's sometimes hard to get motivated to go for a dive in a lake and see nothing but aquatic weed and the occasional underwater bug in poor viz........having said that we do dive on holidays frequently as well. I am somewhat envious of those who have such remarkable diving at their doorstep.

 

[kathydee]

I truely do envy you here. Last year was my best year, I probably logged about 100, probably 25 from vacations, 75 local. I guess if my gf start diving, it will get better.

Not having children or a SO makes logging dives easier .

Having a SO/built in dive partner who is equally passionate about diving would probably be the best .

Good luck inspiring your GF!

 

[dumpsterDiver]

I often do 40-65 dives per day with depths of maybe 40 to 65 ft or so...Of course, that is freediving...

 

[Tigerman]

I average about 50 dives a year which I think is pretty good given that local diving is affectionately called ice tea diving coz northern lakes are cold dark and the color of ice tea. As well my job doesn't allow for much mid week. It's sometimes hard to get motivated to go for a dive in a lake and see nothing but aquatic weed and the occasional underwater bug in poor viz........having said that we do dive on holidays frequently as well. I am somewhat envious of those who have such remarkable diving at their doorstep.

Me too!
My local diving isnt ice tea diving though - its more like vodka on the rocks diving, but its still generally pretty boring compared to what I get if I travel a couple of hours - which of course means I need a full day

 

[Searcaigh]

I agree 25 is too few, but I do wonder how do you guys pull off 200+ per year, espeically if you are not a dive professional, ie. instructors, PSD, ... 200 per year means 4 dives per week EVERY week. If you have a full time job not involve diving, then you need to make 4 dives per weekend EVERY weekend. So diving is all you do on weekend all year long????

I am not a dive professional but when I lived in Jeddah I was averaging 150 dives per year over a 5 year period. I lived next to a marina and Monday night was night dive night, good for a mid week stress reliever - our weekend was Thu/Fri.

Some weeks ran like this

Mon - night dive in the marina
Wed - night dive at Blue Beach - shared a cabin there
Thu - 0700 shore dive, 1000 shore dive, after noon was spent processing slide film from the previous week's dives
Fri - 2 boat dives on my friend Kevin's boat or two shore dives north or south of Jeddah.

My major expense was for film and processing ($13.33 per film incl processing) , next was fuel for my car and share for the boat (that belonged to a friend), and air fills were only $1.06 a fill (4 Riyals)

When I moved to Dubai things changed dramatically and have never reached anywhere near 100 per year along with no diving at all during three years after 2002, proving it is all about location. Currently I have to drive for 2 hours before taking a boat to dive. If there were reasonable shore dive sites, I would be logging more dives.

 

[paolov]

not being competitive but top number of dives 25 seems to be on the low side.

that could be done in a month even by guys with regular office work during the weekdays in our end of the sea.

ex.

weekend dive saturday (on the conservative side) 3 dives (not counting night dive)
sudnay two dives,
so in a weekend you can have 5 dives

then there would be holidays, long weekends, days off, and even sneaky daytrip dives... (takes 3 hours from city to Batangas, do two dives and by night your back in the city.

 

[dmoore19]

3 years 75 dives for me.