What types of divers last the longest?

[parrotman]

I do not seem to fit the norm in any of the categories. I do not live near easy diving. My wife does not dive. I have never been certified past OW but I have been diving for over 20 years. I am now in my 60's and have well over 2000 dives with dive trips planned out for the next two years already. I prefer to dive in the Philippines or Indonesia these days although I have been diving extensively in the Caribbean. I do carry a camera these days and prefer macro photography. I do have a group of friends that I dive with on most of my trips but we all live in different states and only see each other on dive trips.

 

[clownfishsydney]

Access to good diving and love of the marine environment I reckon (together with the right amount of money). Also a spouse who is a diver or willing to fit in helps a lot (I have done over 900 dives with my wife). Also helps if you have divers who are your friends. I would say that 90% of the people I consider my friends are divers, our social activities fit in around our diving.

In my dive club we have a turnover of 20 or 30 people each year, some stay one year, some a few. The core group of 80 or so has been there for 10 to 15 years. I regularly dive with people I first dived with almost 30 years ago.

The ones who leave tend to come and dive very heavily for a while, then move onto some other recreational activity.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

I think if my wife dived I would have given it up by now and taken up something else.
I love her dearly, but sometimes a guy needs his own thing, just like they need their own thing.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

I have been fortunate to have spouses and GFs who dived, so there was always someone to share my passion for the ocean. For many years I was diving deep reefs and wrecks but had buddies drop out and a few die. These days I'm concentrating on becoming a better underwater photographer. It's a frustrating endeavor but one that will keep my interest for many years to come. I figure I'll either keep trying to get a good photo or if I ever do, it will make me want to go out and get more. Either way I can't see myself ever giving up diving.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

I have been fortunate to have spouses and GFs who dived, so there was always someone to share my passion for the ocean. For many years I was diving deep reefs and wrecks but had buddies drop out and a few die. These days I'm concentrating on becoming a better underwater photographer. It's a frustrating endeavor but one that will keep my interest for many years to come. I figure I'll either keep trying to get a good photo or if I ever do, it will make me want to go out and get more. Either way I can't see myself ever giving up diving.

You're a lucky man Phil to have a dive buddy like Merry, that also just happens to be your wife.
That is very rare.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

Lightning struck twice for me. My first wife and I were certified together and made 625 dives as buddies. Merry and I have around 900 dives together. As much as I enjoy solo diving it's great to encourage each other to continue our pursuits.

 

[sealark]

I started when I was ten in 1953 put 20 years in US Navy 15 yrs as a Diver still dive and spearfish at 73 in fact I'm up now at 0130 waiting on my 64 year old dive buddy gonna go kill some Grouper. I think between us so far this year I filled 215 Nitrox fills. If ya never slow down ya never grow old. Never smoked a cigarette, Couldn't take them in the water i guess. Drank a little when in service nothing for the last 25 years. And lastly it gets me away from my bitching complaining wife of 50 years. You get use to it after a wile and just laugh at it and go Diving.

 

[USdiver1]

Thirty-Nine years certified. I think that my longevity in the sport is a combination of the things mentioned by other posters: 1) initial training was very comprehensive (12+ weeks); 2) having a buddy or two nearby during my formative years; 3) getting into a specialty (I was a "spearo" in my youth); 4) working as a commercial diver for a time; 5) getting my spouse and kids involved and certified; 6) becoming a DM and working with my LDS in training others; 7) acquiring lots of equipment over the years (now seen as "vintage") and continuing to use it with other like minded divers.

I would place the training that I received at the top of the list. In the 1970s instructors really prepared new divers for many eventualities: things like self-rescue, confidence in the water, ability to doff and don equipment underwater, etc. If nothing else, the fact that we had twelve or more two hour confined water sessions, with about a third of those dedicated to swimming and snorkeling skills, helped us build a lot of confidence and overcome much anxiety during training.

 

[Ojai Diver]

In a word, I'd say the healthy ones. I started in '92, dropped out due to temporary health issues, and am back. A lot of the divers I see are not exactly svelte, which I think you can get away with when you are younger, but the toll on joints etc. catches up later in life and prevents them from diving in their 50's onward. In my opinion it is helpful to have diving as part of a larger fitness program of strength and cardio.

 

[Nemrod]

This age thing going on is making me feel tired, not old. See you guys on the bottom.

Last man down is a rotten egg. Catch me if you can.

N