How old is too old to get certified?

[sheeper]

the current school of thought seems to be "keep diving until you can't"

with no physical/medical issues, why not? As an instructor I'd insist that a 90 year old student get a FULL medical workup and a signed statement from the MD that they are clear to dive.

I had a guy who was 86 on a boat last year. the guy was in great shape. I said something to him about us not being that far apart in age. he laughed his ass off (I was 55).

 

[htatton]

I turn 72 in October, I will be in Isla Mujeres on a dive vacation. I'm in reasonably good health be have a bad back. The dive service I use lets me get out of my kit in the water and hand it up to the boat before climbing the ladder. Other than that I can handle the other tasks quite well. I say, if the Dr. says OK, let him dive.

 

[Bob DBF]

How old is too old to get certified

We'renot talking about exumeing anyone or certifying folks the way they register voters in Chicago are we?

If they can pass the class they deserve the card, I've heard it's fun for the whole family.

I dove on a Anacapa boat day trip and ran into a guy in his late '80's early '90's who was solo diving the boat almost every week year round when the boat ran, probably still is. Oh, did I mention that from what I saw he was a damned fine diver, hope I can still do it when I'm his age.



Bob

 

[gekodivebali]

As long as they are healthy, it does not matter.
It may also be a good idea to be aware of ageing and adapt dive plans accordingly. On dive boats in the South of France, I often meet some oldies (80 years +). Now, some of these guys have been diving for half a century, sometimes more. Some still join on charters heading to deep dive sites in the 50 to 60m range with air and no oxy (old school French rec style). Sometimes I do wonder whether it's reasonable, but no one says anything... They are after all certified to dive these depths and have been cleared by a doctor after all!

 

[TSandM]

Why would anybody care, if a 90 year old wanted to learn to dive? He's going to die very soon, no matter what; why not enjoy something exciting and new, rather than sit in a chair and wait for the inevitable?

Furthermore, for those of you who are worried about liability . . . it's going to be awfully hard to show any significant monetary loss to anybody from the death of a 90 year old

I remember a thread a few years back where somebody wanted to know about diving while on some nasty chemotherapy. The condition the person had was not curable. Lots of people told him not to dive because the chemo he was taking could damage his lungs. I said, "Why not? What are you saving yourself for?". Risk assessments often aren't rational, but we don't make more rational ones for other people than they make for themselves.

 

[lv2dive]

Ageism much?

I mean really, with a medical clearance, I'd feel much better with a 90 year old than an overweight 39-year old chain smoker who just checked the right answers on the medical questionnaire!

 

[NAM001]

Its ability not an age factor.

 

[thanksforallthefish]

Oldest scuba diver (from shore) | Guinness World Records

Was there to witness the event, he was not able to walk to the dive site carrying his gear but i have had 30 year olds complain about how difficult the walk was.

 

[Patoux01]

That's not even remotely close to the oldest diver there is... That's just the oldest bragger there is.

 

[beanojones]

Only with his parent's permission.

I've been certified since 1972 and did my first compressed air dives in the early 1960s. I would like to still be able to dive when I'm 90, but I'm not counting on it. I'm 73 now, and still able to lift and handle my equipment and dive solo in local inlets and also with the usual tourist groups in the Caribbean, but I no longer do deep dives or cold water dives. I know and accept my limitations, and I am very careful. I know the statistics and the risks.

I get serious difficulty from some operators when they see my DOB on the C cards, and this gets worse every year. It's on my mind every trip I take. Apprehension. The tyranny of the young. It's the same when renting a car, especially on islands with difficult roads or driving on the left.

I tend to return to places where they know me these days because it's less trouble that way, though I have outlived a couple of dive operators. I can only imagine the reception a 90 year old would get.

This is the crux of the thing. If the diver is just going for the certification as a bucket list thing, they should skip it and just do an intro dive.

Because they will face real (and from my perspective justified) resistance if they try and get on a boat in a tourist location as a certified diver. Everytime someone dies, or suffers serious injury on a boat, the boat takes months or years to recover if they ever do. At 90 years old, there is every reason to see problems and no huge upside from the operator'd side.

From the diver's side:

If someone wants to hire me and a boat for the day for themselves, then that is different. There would be no hard weight on the boat and the gear would be put on and off in the water.

But there is no reason to risk a disabling injury from a weight belt hit, of tank valve hit. I have broken bones in my feet many times from working on boats. Foot injuries take years to recover from in young and active people. At 90, the long term prospects of a smashing foot injury are not good.