How old were you when you started diving?

[ancientdiver]

14. Bagged groceries all summer to get the dough to buy my first scuba rig. Everyone though I was looney. I had to be self-taught back then, but hey, that was in the Paleozoic - read the U.S. Navy Dive Manual and the YMCA manual - there were no others at the time. Have taken lots of courses since. In my 50's now, still love it. Only thing different is when younger, had more time than money. Situation now flip flopped. Don't know which is better. Do know that once you experience world class dive sites, it is hard to go back to crappy vis. and cold water, at least that's how it has been for me. I would rather drive 5 hours and get to the Keys and have 30 ft vis on a bad day, 60 on typical day, and 80 on good day, rather than dive locally in 10 feet of vis. You're still plenty young and plenty of time, so no worries.

 

[superman4388]

Just getting started now at 21..

 

[Bogie]

I was 19. Learned diving Lake Tahoe and other mountain lakes then finished certification with an ocean dive at Mendocino, CA.

 

[james croft]

I was 11 or 12. Traded a pony bottle to an instructor for my first c-card in 1987.

 

[jen_b]

25. I wish I had started earlier, and yet like someone else said before me- I can barely afford it even now!

It's never too late to start something new!

 

[NSMEDIC]

I was 23 and will have 10 year's in this summer

 

[3rdgendivegirl]

im 25 and just starting out, im getting my open water next month. My dad first got certified in 79 when he was 19 and never went, but he did a refresher in 08 and has been unstoppable since lol he is currently going though his dive master classes. So i dont really think it matters when you start just as long as you enjoy it. happy diving.

 

[shoredivr]

I was 40, I'm going to be 52 this month. I often say that if I'd started when I was 20, I'd be a penniless bum on a beach somewhere and own nothing but my dive gear.

 

[tkdgodess]

18 years old. I guess I've been diving half my life now!

 

[Akimbo]

Certified SCUBA (it was an acronym in those days) age 11, 1962 — sure glad national certifying agencies and their lawyers weren't in my area then. Another Mike Nelson disciple. Nylon-0 wetsuits, double hose regulator, oval mask, double D-ring quick release weight belt, CO2 fired May West, and a knife that Zorro would admire. The Navy Diving Manual is about all that's left.