Jax
You may not have seen this as it was posted in one of the other half-dozen threads you've started this week. But I wonder if, between deciding whether to spend your wife's borrowed student grant money on your diving equipment, figuring out what to eat while diving and adding to your possible DCS woes by deciding to dive primarily in cold water...if you have bothered to ask either your prospective dive instructor or DAN about the correlation between DCS and obesity.
Please read below:
Gee, hate to throw a wet blanket on this thread, but Jax...I didn't get his age, says he's "5'11 between 260 and 275." That ht and wt gives a BMI of 36+. 30 being the level of obese. Two things come to mind....
1) DAN says that obesity can increase the chances of DCS (specifically the bends). This can be avoided for the most part by diving conservatively, but the fact is the more tissue you have, the more nitrogen you absorb.
2) Most certifying agencies require at least the minimal ability to both tread water for a period of time and swim a number of laps in the pool without the assistance of fins or flotation devices.
While it is true that adaptive techniques have allowed differently-abled divers to enjoy the sport, there is still a certain level of cardio-vascular health needed for diving. You may also be required to carry tanks over a distance for a shore dive or be able to swim to or from a dive site from a boat. Are you doing a triathlon? No, but only you can decide if diving is right for you.
You may want to find a local dive shop (LDS) and speak with an instructor about your concerns. You can also call or write the Diver Alert Network (DAN) about the correlation between obesity and decompression sickness.
Good luck!
You may also want to read Jim Lap's recent post about who is responsible for what. Bottom line is the only person responisble for your dive safety is you.