Old Newbie

[Charlie W]

Well, I finally pulled the trigger and, after thinking about it for the last few years, signed up for the NAUI open water class.

My wife and I go on a couple of Caribbean cruises every year and I got sick of looking at the water from above. So, here we go.

Other places that I have been and am looking forward to diving are Nassau, Bahamas; Cozumel, Mexico; Roatan, Honduras; St. Thomas; and Cancun (yes, I like warm places). I have snorkeled in several, but I'm really looking forward to staying on the bottom.

I am really looking forward to our next trip back to Belize - I've heard the diving is incredible. There are not a lot of diving spots near me (I am in the Baton Rouge, LA area), but I have family in Florida and the NC Outer Banks (I don't know if the diving in NC is any good, but I'm willing to try it).

Any words of advice for a 51 year old newbie would be appreciated. I am sure I'll have questions looking for advice on what to spend money on, but, seeing that I don't start class until Tuesday, it mat be a little early to go buy tanks. LOL

 

[scubadiver888]

Hey Charlie,

I started diving whenever I went on vacation in the Caribbean. Really enjoyed it. Took my time renting gear until I knew enough to feel confident I was buying the right stuff. Learned more and realized I wanted better gear. But the first set I bought was good and sold it used for a good price. So I don't regret buying something good even if it wasn't my final gear config. It got me diving more just to I could justify the money spent.

I'm at a point now where I have everything I need. If you want, we could go diving right now. I have ALL my gear and 5 full tanks (soon to be 9 full tanks). And I do go diving all the time now (every weekend, sometimes more).

Mask, fins and snorkel is a must around here. If you are diving in the ocean, a snorkel is a good thing to have. So if you have a surface swim or waiting for dive buddy, you can use the snorkel rather than your air.

A wetsuit is the next good choice. If you get good at buoyancy, you will move around less. Moving around less means you get cold quicker. A wetsuit will become a must.

Your own BCD is a good choice. Plus a dive computer is standard now a days. I like to learn how to use dive tables but enjoy using a computer. You will get longer dives with a computer than with tables. With tables there will be a LOT of rounding off. So tables you might get a 55 minute dive but with a computer it might be a 70 minute dive.

Having your own regulators is nice but there are many variations on regulators. A little knowledge can help you here. Too much knowledge can be a bad thing however. You might get analysis paralysis. Plus, a regulator needs to be service. Some annually, others every 2 years. The cost of service is probably more important than the initial purchase.

Also, on here are people from all over the world. What works for me might not work for you. I do wreck diving in Canada's Great Lakes. Very different from diving with fish in St. Thomas.

Darrell

 

[Trailboss123]

Congrats and welcome to the scuba family. It will definitely change your life for the better and you are getting into it at a great time of your life! If you are anything like me, all of your vacations will now be planned around diving. Let us know how your training certification goes. All the best to you!

 

[TMHeimer]

Funny I got certified 12 years ago at age 51. The gearing up, possible walking, gearing down and rinsing it all off wasn't fun then, but well worth it. Fortunately, I can still do all that pretty much just as easily now.
We snowbird usually on the FL panhandle (Destin). There are several pretty good shore sites there and one or two in AL which you may consider driving to, meaning a long day. Once you hit Mobile Bay area it becomes useless. Let me know if you consider those areas and I can fill you in. I know there are charter boats somewhere in LA to the oil rigs, once you get a bit of experience. Good luck.

 

[RTC'83]

I got certified at double 5's a few months ago. Been diving in Cozumel and Playa Del Carmen. Also been getting in the water at our local quarry and continuing getting educated. My dives have been with my kids and that is the best part.
Enjoy and be safe!

 

[ram04769]

Hello Charlie and welcome! Like you and TMHeimer, I was also 51 when I got certified a couple of years ago. It was something I had always wanted to learn and do and haven't regretted it since. Life's too short to not live your dreams. Best of luck to you both with your course and I hope you enjoy lobs of safe dives together!
Roger

 

[Marie13]

NC is known to have a lot of good wreck diving!

I wreck dive on the Great Lakes. Certified last October, still haven't hit salt water yet!

Enjoy!

 

[Sam Miller III]

[QUOTE="Marie13, post: 8083810, member: 478333"
]NC is known to have a lot of good wreck diving!

I wreck dive on the Great Lakes. Certified last October, still haven't hit salt water yet!

Enjoy!
[/QUOTE]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Shame on YOU!
! love the taste of salt water in the morning-- noon ---and night !
SAM

 

[Clark Fletcher]

Hi Charlie. Welcome to scuba diving. And, I don't think you're old. I just started back scuba diving this year after a more than 35 year absence from the sport. And, I'll turn 60 in a few months. What I'm finding is that a lot of folks are now taking up the sport after the age of 50.

I realized early on that I wanted my own gear to dive with. Consequently, I purchased my basic scuba kit (with the exception of tanks) and did my cert with my own gear. And, while I've been very happy with the gear I have, if I had it to do over again, I would try to dive as much different gear as possible before I started buying gear. I will say that I did quite a bit of research before making my purchases so, I don't have any piece of gear that I don't like. It also helps diving with a lot of different folks. I've learned a lot about different equipment by seeing what other folks are diving.

From the standpoint of being an "older" diver, I'd say anything you can do to get into better physical condition (especially your legs) is going to make diving easier for you. Even if it's simply getting out and doing a lot of walking. My legs have always been pretty strong but, on a recent trip to Pensacola, getting out of the water after our third dive of the day, my legs gave out and I went to my knees stepping up into the boat from the dive platform. Also, if you can get in some kind of aerobic exercise, that will help make things easier as well.

Hope this helps.