How old is "too old"?

[Kharon]

I'm going to be 67 this November. I will dive until I can't get equipped and get into the water. I've made concessions here in upstate NY. I sold my 72 & 80 steel tanks and bought a 27 and 50. There ain't that much in this area to make me try to extend bottom time and no reason to go deep. I'll dive till I can only snorkel and then snorkel till I die.

 

[emoreira]

I'm 52 yo and started diving 6 years ago, when I was 46. Now I'm doing the SSI Dive Control Specialist course (Instructor Assistant).
One of the things that I experienced is that I'm now in better fitness condition that when I was 45 yo.
Diving, Internship, and dive travels keep me fit and I'm always considering what I eat, what I do, and what I should not do. This will extend my limit age when I could not dive any longer.

 

[divekraz]

I'm 60 my dive buddy of 25 years is my wife at 50. Physical and mental condition should be the only reason to prevent you from diving. I exercise every day and as long as I'm mentally fit, don't plan on stopping. Going to Komodo for my 60th birthday for 10 days of diving in 6 weeks and planning on doing every dive.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

Torrance Parker still diving at 85 after a storied life, much of it spent underwater

 

[73diver]

I'm 66 and still diving regularly and hope to continue for a while. I'm blessed with good health, I guess. Ears and sinuses still work fine. I try to exercise regularly by taking 4-mile hikes with a loaded backpack or a 40# weight vest, so walking with the tank and weights isn't "too bad" climbing up on shore. I think I keep up the the younger folks once in the water, but I prefer to be a slow moving sightseer anyway.

 

[Nemrod]

The recent thread on the folks who might quit diving prompted me to ask this question. (I couldn't begin to think how to search for other threads on this - sorry).

My husband and I are 59 and 53 (respectively) and have no immediate plans to quit diving, but I'm wondering if there is a general age when the body begins to fight the rigors of diving. I know there are exceptional people who dive into their 80's - and I'd sure like that to be us - but what is the average age when people hang up their wetsuits one final time? Of course I know that individual health concerns can sideline us at any time - so again, just looking for an "average". Friends go on these cool trips to Europe to tour castles and museums, and we say that as long as we can dive all of our trips will be dive trips - we'll do that other stuff when it's all we can do! I know we have a seriously narrow focus - but if we're going to spend the money it's going to be on diving!

I would not fixate on an age number as a line in the beach sand. I am your age and I am fully capable of any dive essentially anywhere. I maintain a very high level of fitness. If you and your wife/husband are fit and healthy and have no particualr issues (ask your doc) then there is no reason you cannot continue to dive for many more years.

While I may be capable of any dive, I do restrict myself and my wife even more so. Why push my luck. Being able to do something does not mean you have to. By this, I mean deep, strenuous or other wise demanding dives. Leave that for the young folks and counsel them to be careful so they can be old(ish) too.

N

 

[AfterDark]

My 43rd year is winding down and am looking forward to my 44th year. I'll dive as long as I can make it to the water.

 

[DCBC]

...I'm wondering if there is a general age when the body begins to fight the rigors of diving....

It all comes down to the individual's health and fitness. I'm 60 and passed a Commercial Diving (saturation) medical last January (although I'm more or less retired from the industry). I know that I'll have to hang-up my fins at some point, but even if it was today I feel blessed that I've had the opportunity to dive as much as I have over the last 48 years.

Perhaps the issue is not how long I'll be able to dive, but the memories I'll retain of the underwater world until the day I die. The greatest joy for me has been the opportunity to teach my wife and three sons (now adults with children of their own). The torch has been passed...

 

[Subcooled]

My husband and I are 59 and 53 (respectively) and have no immediate plans to quit diving, but I'm wondering if there is a general age when the body begins to fight the rigors of diving.

My diving instructor is 73 years old and still going strong.

With proper equipment you can stay warm and avoid excessive carrying. After that, only bubble count counts. And maybe the oxygen clock.

 

[billt4sf]

Resurrecting an "old" post here...(sorry!)

I have been thinking about this since I may have been the one that gave the OP the idea after I posted about "we might stop diving" and I cited age as one of the possible issues.

So here are my "deep" thoughts (sorry again!)

Lots of folks cited knees, fitness, etc. but I think I identified something else as well: situational awareness and instinctive responses. Yesterday I pulled out of the driveway at 6:30AM as per usual and looked to see what was coming. I couldn't quite see but there is never anything on my street at that hour. Somehow before thinking about it I stopped -- good thing. So this made me realize that those instinctive responses are extremely important in diving. So what if I can exercise, and carry the gear, but if I start having some poor instinctive responses while diving, it might be time to think about quitting, or dialing back the conditions under which we dive. In diving, those responses are based on our training.

What about a decline in situational awareness, too? Related concepts.

It was great to see that so many folks that are diving on ScubaBoard are my age (62). I was surprised, actually. Of course those who may have already decided that they are "too old to dive" didn't see the post.

One thing for sure: we will all be too old to dive at some point!

- Bill