How many dives do you have?

[drbill]

I've got 700+ logged dives since July 1, 2000 (didn't log any the first 38 years because I didn't need to). I often do more than 10 dives/week in summer and about 8-10 in winter. If I had kept this pace up for all 41 years, I'd be dead... er, I'd have over 9,000 dives (which I definitely don't). Since I expect to dive til 86, I could theoretically reach nearly 16,000 lifetime. Damn I'm tired just calculating that theoretical possibility. Good night.

Now I'll have to calculate the number of ScubaBoard posts I could do in a lifetime. Certainly more than anyone would be willing to read!

GO CUBBIES... ONLY FIVE MORE WINS!!!

Dr. Bill

 

[cantlogon]

7 or 8 years, since I became a diving instructor in Guam. There are people here with a lot more than me. I normally do at least 2 dives per day, 5, 6 or 7 days a week....sometimes 3, 4, 5....and a couple times, 6 dives per day. Generally, if these are "intro" (aka Discover Scuba) dives, they are 30~40 minutes at 5~10m (15~33').....if they are ordinary boat or beach dives, they are usually 40~60 minutes, 18~40m (60~130'). If they are "day off" dives, they will usually be 50~1:20 or so, and (sometimes) much deeper. I don't try to "pad" my numbers by sneaking in a lot of 20min 15' dives.

I'm not aware of any ill effects (ie bone necrosis) due to diving....and have never had any diving accidents (such as DCS, embolism, etc). I've had a few minor cuts, stings by sea urchins (under the fingernail HURTS!), lionfish (once was enough!), being bonked in the back of the head by other divers' tanks, and that sort of thing.

I don't have a big pile of log books covering my floor...I did 1 log book to about 50 dives, then a 3-ring binder to about #1,500. Now I just log them on my PC. Usually just date, dive site, dive #, dive # for that particular site, # of customers, max depth & time. If I see something unusual (sharks, mantas, mermaids, etc) I'll mark it down as well. Days off I'll try to find a new place...one site in particular, I've done 1,088 times....so no point in writing down the same fish 1,088 times!

Sometimes I'm envious of some people with only a few dozen dives...because they've done Palau, Great Barrier Reef, etc....I did a bit of diving in Fiji, but other than that, it's almost all "work" dives. But it still beats "real" work!

 

[Jambi]

Think I've made it to 2 dives! over my OW class. It's been almost two months since I dove last! Work, getting married, kids, work....really cuts into diving time

Jambi

 

[paulwlee]

Karl_in_Calif once bubbled...
If you dive all the time, say every other weekend on the average, you can get about 50 dives per year. Everyone I know who is truly addicted to diving logs about that many.

Then it all depends on how many years you will dive until you burn out and change hobbies.

10 years of diving is the longest I have heard of anyone burning the candle at both ends for diving. That would come to about 5000 dives.

Anyone who tells you they have more than 5000 dives is probably lying.

Anyone who tells you they have 5000 dives is probably lying too.

Think of the bone necrosis after 5000 dives???

Uhh.. according to your calculations, that would be 500 in 10 years.

I think most people who have more than a couple thousand dives spent some time diving full time, be it work or play. Or they could be really old.

 

[Diver0001]

Jambi once bubbled...
Think I've made it to 2 dives! over my OW class. It's been almost two months since I dove last! Work, getting married, kids, work....really cuts into diving time

Jambi

For me it's a matter of priorities. I work full time and have a wife who works too and 2 kids and a beautiful old house (up side) that needs constant attention (down side). I still manage to find the time to assist with teaching 1 day a week in the evening and most weekends I manage to dive 1 day. If we have busy weekends then I try to arrange to make a night dive on Friday instead. My wife runs and trains for marathons and whatnot. That's also a hobby that takes her out of the house regularly. She makes the time to watch the kids for me to dive and I make the time to watch the kids for her to run. It's a matter of give and take. We both realised early on that our hobbies are important for stress relief and therefore we give it priority. It works for us because we both have a time intensive hobby outside the house.

On the other hand, I have a friend whose wife has a very busy job and no hobbies outside the house. When he dives she sits at home watching the kids (both young) and waiting, sometimes impatiently, for him while he's gone. Needless to say he doesn't dive much. He loves it but he feels guilty when he takes the time for himself and his wife doesn't appreciate being left alone with the kids so the guilty feeling isn't entirely unjustified. For them to change that would require reestabilishing a whole new rhythm and set of priorities which isn't easy for a lot of people to do and he's not addicted enough to diving to put the energy into it. In other words, his priority isn't diving so it doesn't happen. That's not to say that his priority is wrong, it's just to point out that you make your choices and live with the consequences.

R..

 

[Nemo-the-Fish]

NatureDiver once bubbled...
`

Each dive is counted separately. As long as the dive is at least 15 feet for 20 mins. (or however your agency defines a "scuba dive") then it's a dive. Doesn't matter if you do it once or 600 times. Every dive will have something different about it. Weather, nature, something.

Hey, come on now, where's the philosophical debate on Mike's idea. I think it's a pretty valid point. But comparing numbers of dives of people within the industry, who work at resorts, to those who aren't, seems a little futile, maybe its shows their "experience", but then its back to the 100 dives in the same place, with pretty much the same conditions. Although hopefully most are very good at their job? Or maybe not? Either way, so long as people don't get to the point where the only reason they seem to dive is for dive counting, Ive dove with people like that, and certainly the initial appeal in diving was lost on me rather quickly. We [mostly] dive for fun, and maybe while certain numbers of dives are needed for some courses, and actual inwater ability is needed to properly progress to tech diving, we should all just be happy we have the ability to go into the underwater world, regardless of how often we are there. AS has been noted many times on this board, some people gain experience very quickly, others never do, seems like basing someone's skill on the numbers of their dives not necessarily a good thing (and since I'm newer, it took me a little while to accept this point , but I'm slow ut: ).
Have fun & Safe Diving
Eric

 

[CincyBengalsFan]

lobstermobster once bubbled...
I was at a local dive shop and the owner told me he had over 9000 dives. Can this be true. Ive been diving for about 10 years and dive ever nice weekend. Saying that ive only logged just under 300 dives. If he dove for forty years he would have had to dive 225 time evey year. Wow So again i ask the question, how many dive do you have?

There is a guy on The Brac that has over 15,000 dives now. I have over 3000. I've been diving for 20 + yrs. now and have been teaching since 1996. Once you start teaching seriously the dives just add and add up. If I had just been an independent instructor I would probably only have half as many dives. But since working for shops and owning a shop I have really racked them up. I can't wait until I hit 1000 students. That will be several yrs. down the road though.

 

[diverbrian]

I certified in July 14, 2002. I currently have 120 dives logged and they add up. I do try to dive year around even though it tails off in Dec.-Mar. a bit. (This is why they invented drysuits. LOL)

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Karl_in_Calif once bubbled...
If you dive all the time, say every other weekend on the average, you can get about 50 dives per year. Everyone I know who is truly addicted to diving logs about that many.

Every other week-end isn't diving all the time. Depending on where you live, you can dive every other day (or every day if you want to). I live in Seattle. I know lots of folks here who average 5 or 6 dives per week.

Then it all depends on how many years you will dive until you burn out and change hobbies.

Diving is a hobby?

10 years of diving is the longest I have heard of anyone burning the candle at both ends for diving. That would come to about 5000 dives.

I know quite a few active divers who were certified in the 60's.

Anyone who tells you they have more than 5000 dives is probably lying.

Anyone who tells you they have 5000 dives is probably lying too.

Perhaps where you live ... I personally know a few folks with more than 5,000 dives, and I'm sure there's quite a few around here that I don't know about.

Think of the bone necrosis after 5000 dives???

That's a new one on me ... I've never heard that this was a diving-related malady. I guess I'll find out eventually ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[MyKO]

Certified this past June and I have 13 dives.