The Increasing Average Age of Divers

By Robin Battley

Is it just me or are you also noticing the gradual change in the diving profile at shore sites, on the charter boats, at club meetings, everywhere. Diving was once the domain of males in their twenties, the fit, the macho among us. These "water warriors" often unloaded homemade gear, dove at random to unknown depths and even speared fish. It was a mysterious world full of adventure, danger and unseen by most of the population. Thankfully times have changed.

The most significant change includes the present accessibility of scuba diving to the general population. Certification agencies provide economically-priced training programs. Equipment manufacturers provide full scuba sets designed for every conceivable style of diving including warm water to Canadian cold water, deep diving, night diving, cave diving, wreck penetration, ice diving, boat diving, and underwater photography. You name it, it's out there. Computers now calculate ongoing bottom times and dive limits that are available at a glance. Divers no longer need to precalculate or remember dive profiles. Their computers even keep records for later reference and downloading. Titanium-lined suits and gloves help solve circulation-based problems by maintaining suit flexibility and providing increased durability and warmth. Compact underwater video systems record colourful invertebrate marine life and fish to share with your closest landlubbers . Scuba diving programs on most cruise ships visit exotic destinations around the world. Detailed information and travel packages are available on web sites. Scientific and recreational television documentaries educate you on the marine life and undersea environments anywhere in the world. It's all out there.

So, who is the diver of the 21st century? Who has access to this underwater bonanza? According to statistics from P.A.D.I., today's diver is usually forty-something. A professional, most often married, earning over $50,000 per year and one out of four times will be female. Yes, once again the baby boomers have the majority. And why shouldn't we...I mean, they?

After devoting time to acquiring an education, finding a lifetime partner, becoming stable in a career, paying off the house and watching the kids go off to college, it's time to reinvest in oneself. Just when people have the leisure time and the disposable income, they conveniently start looking for a little more excitement in their lives. The answer, of course, is scuba diving.

Scuba diving is the perfect solution to any mid-life crisis. An extreme activity without too much extreme. Scuba diving has enough physical activity to set one's adrenaline flowing. Don't like carrying all that equipment on shore dives any longer? Either the hill at the local dive site has "grown" steeper over the years or those pesky joints really are getting stiffer. No problem, just sign up for the next boat charter. Dive sites can always be different due to changes in season, visibility and depth. Need a challenge in your diving now? How about a course on mixed gas diving or taking photos for an underwater photography contest? Who says you cannot go back to school? There is so much more information now available to divers. Technical aficionados can revel in the latest digital accessories. And best of all, the apres-dive social, where tales of new experiences, new buddies and new marine life sightings are compared and embellished.

Another positive aspect of diving is the therapeutic quality it has for many participants. After a few days of scuba diving and coping with the demands of an alien environment, most problems in one's own life take on a more realistic perspective. Solutions often come to mind without conscious effort. Perhaps today's mature diver has had more practise at solving issues in their life or perhaps it really is the influence of being immersed in nature. You decide. Whatever choice you make, it seems evident that scuba diving and aging divers go together like a glass and a good bottle of wine. They just keep on getting better.