At 49, I cant sleep through the night, I cant eat red meat, cant drink beer, cant run a marathon, but I can still scuba, and thank God for the miracle. you will never regret the things you do, only the things you did not do.
Is 40 too late
- Thread starter onejubb
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40? I was in Northern Manitoba meeting my wife that year. Dark cold lakes-- no reason to dive. Moved to Nova Scotia and also became a DM and Snowbird. I'm 59 nexct month.
The Chairman
Chairman of the Board
What's the diff between a large pizza and a dive instructor?
A pizza can feed a family of four!
Bill Parker
Contributor
It's not about age it's about your health. Plenty of people in their 60s (and beyond) dive.
-hh
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Good insights in both of these as well as several other comments.
Simply put, is that it is quite feasible to go to the "Living the Dream" job of an instructor at some tropical resort even at more advanced ages.
However, the first thing that's going to happen is that you're going to get whipped into shape by the daily hauling of tanks, gear, etc. If you're not healthy, you'll be history in just a few weeks.
And then there's the question of just how long you'll last in the field. The burnout/dropout rates can be quite high ... it varies by region (of course), but an 80% washout rate within the first ~2 years is the norm in some destinations.
The reasons why there's often a high turnover is a combination of several factors. A common one is low pay: since diving is perceived as a "fun" job, supply exceeds demand...and the industry's qualification requirements are very minimal - it isn't a meaningful barrier to entry (less than a year's worth of training, without even a requirement for a high school dipolma).
There can also be a lot of "BS" hassles too, which can be best summarized as the people & politics of small island life...think of Middle School cliques.
Finally, some will try to escape their troubles through the booze at the local Tiqi Bar...this isn't necessarily anything unique to diving, but the 'small island' petri dish does tend to amplify things. A suprising number of small tropical islands have epidemic levels of alcoholism, which only becomes evident after one looks for it... and is generally invisble to the casual tourist vistor who's only around for a week.
-hh
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Definitely not for normal recreational scuba diving! I just met a guy in his 60ies who started from Open Water and his goal was some professional level - he did it in the end. depending on your interests you find in diving you might even go to do some tec or ccr-diving. since i just did these technical trainings last year i'm still a bit on that trip. if you're interested you find an article about tec/trimix diving as well as an article about ccr closed circuit rebreather diving on my website.
already know where you want to do your training? otherwise ther certainly are some good hints around in this forum. you find my preferred dive shops for training on that page.
enjoy
thom
already know where you want to do your training? otherwise ther certainly are some good hints around in this forum. you find my preferred dive shops for training on that page.
enjoy
thom
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I started DMing last year at age 58. Intend to keep doing it to maybe 62-63? It's a nice hobby, yet I have managed to make enough so far to cover the insurance, membership, gas, etc. with a few bucks to spare. Making more than that is a different story. I'm sure someone of 40 can start in and eventually make some sort of living at it, but from what I've read on SB, it is very difficult to do at any age. Depends on what you want to do, where you go, what luck you have, what you expect your standard of living to be.
Oh yes, you are far far too old. Why? Because you're still hung up on your age.
The rest of us have tossed that boat anchor over board long ago. I suggest you do the same and don't look back.
The rest of us have tossed that boat anchor over board long ago. I suggest you do the same and don't look back.
elmer fudd
Contributor
I notice that you live in India. To really find out the answer to your question you'll probably have to ask some of the local dive pros.
As others have stated, 38 is too old to become a commercial diver, but not too old to be an instructor....IN THE US. India might be different. It might be that commercial diving is still within your reach over there. There are other diving careers as well that haven't been mentioned yet. There are also divers that harvest things like geoduck, sea urchins and sea cucumbers. I've met divers that do odd jobs underwater too. They recover lost and sunken items and help anchor docks and that sort of thing. It sure looked like a hand to mouth existence though.
It also might be that only young divers are wanted professionally where you live.
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