Senior-friendly dive sites

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R

ricsut

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Messages
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Location
Vancouver, Canada
# of dives
50 - 99
Hi - I'm a senior man (71) in pretty good health looking for sites that are senior-friendly. I'm not as flexible as I once was and tend to be an air hog, but I love diving and am looking for sites, particularly in the Caribbean area that make it easy for seniors to dive. I'm not looking for real special treatment - but I am finding it harder to keep up with younger divers. There's a great outfit in Cozumel called Dive Blue that made it easy for me, but I'm looking for new horizons. Any suggestions?

Ricsut in Vancouver
 
You might want to consider a liveaboard trip--no carrying gear between sites or having to change tanks. I'll be doing my fourth trip with Explorer Ventures this April and they've all been good, although the Southern Bahamas was my favorite.

(And I turned 65 today!)
 
Even if you're not in your 60s or 70s a liveaboard is great! I'm in my mid 50s and enjoyed an Explorer Ventures trip a couple of years ago.

My goal is to keep diving into my 70s and 80s. Good for you, OP!
 
Cozumel drift diving is as easy as it gets for boat diving. You might consider Bonaire. The beauty of Bonaire is that you can pick the time, location, duration and pace of every dive. Stick to the easy entries and you will love it. I turned 65 yesterday. I am planning to make another trip to Bonaire in the spring.
 
rongoodman:
You might want to consider a liveaboard trip--no carrying gear between sites or having to change tanks. I'll be doing my fourth trip with Explorer Ventures this April and they've all been good, although the Southern Bahamas was my favorite.

(And I turned 65 today!)
Click to expand...

Happy Birthday! Keep it going.
 
Another option would be Cocoview in Roatan. They load your gear, do 1 easy dive, get back on the boat, do another (optional) boat entry with a shore exit at your pace. The typical boat dive is a drop down on the wall to 70-80 ish feet, follow the wall, turn, accending to the top of the wall at 35ish and go back to the boat. While not an air hog I just don't see a need to go deep so I tend to follow the divers bubbles as they travel deeper along the wall then rejoin them as they come back up...this would counter act your excessive air use and keep the nitrogen loading down on the body. You would need a buddy that agreed with this approch but that should not be too hard to find. There are 2 dives like this in the morning and 2 in the afternoon. You can also so do nice, easy shore dives if you prefer. Short of a live aboard, it's as easy as it gets.
 
If you can manage a short ladder climb, go to Grand Cayman and shore dive at Cobalt Coast, Turtle Reef, Eden Rock, Sunset House.

The ladder at Cobalt Coast and Turtle Reef are angled like stairs and very secure.
 
Try Key Dives in Islamorada. They'll do about whatever it taks. They change out and store your gear for no extra charge.
 
Lots of great shallow diving w/ little or mild current on beautiful reefs in Key Largo where you can have long easy dives. Although you may not need assistance, just about all the dive operators in Key Largo are willing to help folks set up gear, don/doff gear in the water so you don't have to walk around the boat deck or hoist yourself up ladders. Just let them know up front. Personal dive guides are also available to dive at your pace, help you exclusively with any needs you have as well as ensure your safety and that you see cool stuff and have fun! It may be easier with the dive ops that run smaller boats (6packs) - fewer divers, more personalized attention from the crew.

Keep on Diving!
 
Thanks for all the replies - I really appreciate them. You've all given me some food for thought. I've been to Roatan and may consider going again, so thanks for the tip. I'm starting to get excited!

Ricsut
 
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