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Oldest new commercial diver?
I have yet to leave for dive school...I'm wondering if being 43 years old is too old to start? Any takers?
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Views: 2813
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Isacc Hudson on
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I'm 34 and currently enrolled at Holland College. I'm the oldest guy in the class other than the instructors. I think that if anything, age is an advantage. I watch the 20 year old during the practical lessons, and giggle to myself. They don't have enough life experience yet to realize that everything isn't a race and it's always better to take a little extra time and do it right the first time. Go for it, and I'll see you out there!
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Permalink Reply by matthew chrysanthus on
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As long as you are in excellent shape and keep yourself healthy. I'm in my 30's and my body hurts from abusing it from extreme sports. Diving is definately a physically demanding job. Topside work is hard, and diving... you use every muscle in your body. You dont realize it until after the dive. It also helps you on staying focused to stay in shape. The Industry is harsh. Everyone knows what i mean. My best advise to you is if you do decide to go through with the diver thing... Save your money when you can. It gets busy and then really slow, Treat everyone the way you would want to be treated, even if they are douch bags (alot of them) cause maybe somewhere down the road you might need that bridge. Get all the equitment you need as soon as you can. It's costly at first but will help you out in the long run. GOOD LUCK!
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Permalink Reply by Rodger on
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I went to school with a few people in their 40's and even a guy who was about 52 and he has a job offshore. It's a smaller company but they broke him out really quickly.
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Permalink Reply by Tony Liddicoat on
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Hi Phil,[and all you other youngsters]
I am 62 and have been commercial, military and recreation diving for 48 years. I have just been assigned as part of a team looking for treasure in Oman, and the whereabouts of 2 ships belonging to the Portueguese explorer Vasco de Gama. We have already found an anchor at the site which has been carbon dated to the time of Alexander the Great. So take heart and be confident, know your physical limits and keep your equipment well maintained. Don't let anybody tell you you cannot do it. Believe me if an old Sea Dog like me can still don the kit - then there's hope for everybody. good luck and best fishes.
\Tony Liddicoat
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Permalink Reply by A.. Parnell on
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The oldest diver I ever worked with was Tom Lindsey out of Tarpon Springs , Florida he was 78 at the time he would just grab a sponge net and head for the bottom then do a 2 hr bottom time and come up. Wowthat was an eye opener. Dive on Tom Lindsey.
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Permalink Reply by tony karlsson on
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hey all
brother just do it im 45,rokkkin like 20
age is all in your mind!
good luck and bsafe
tony
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Permalink Reply by bERT hEINRICH on
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Well, you will think at about the 8th week of dive school,,, what the hell am i doing hear,,,lol
i compleated my dive training at Divers Institute of Technology, I Graduated in march of 08,, class 108-07 ,, and im 48 now,, you do the math,,, lol so I guess I beat you to the Oldest new commercial diver title,, but all I can say is if you can pass the dive physical,, go for it,, Im have been working on and off but is just slow, the young men are just that, young, I found many try vary hard and learn to dive well but don’t know how to work when they get there. So if you have good work experience, best of luck, I have applied to the big gulf companies,, get no responses but to old, but I have good luck with the smaller companies that look for good top side experience that can dive. What I have seen is you will need at least 1 of the following : Underwater welding cert, Underwater Bridge Inspectors Certification , or the best a Diver Medical Technician card to set you apart from the young bubble blowers,, have any other questions feel free,, good luck.
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Permalink Reply by Evan Murphy on
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I qualified as and ADAS Part 3 diver recently at 46 years of age and as some of the other posters have mentioned it is tough to get started. If you have other skills such as a hands on trade will help. I have a Mechanical Fitters trade as well as 17 years experience working as a maintenance and project engineer and I thought that I would follow what I wanted to do rather than sit in an office all day long.
Good luck with your choice of career but be prepared to put in a lot of time afterwards working on contacts to get that first job.
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Added note:
Follow your dream!! At 43 it is not too late - just a little harder beating the perceptions that prevail that younger is better (they are only a little cheaper hehehe). Your brain is your biggest asset and the more mature of us have a lot of experiences stored in our brains which are valuble to diving, even if it is not necessarily dive related your life experiences and work ethic are what will work in your favour. Your brain is what will make you a safe diver that people will want to work with - not brawn.
I am encouraged by many of the comments in this discussion about older divers starting out and it keeps my hopes going for a dive job.
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Permalink Reply by John Helander on
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My husband went to school to become a commercial diver in 2006. He was 47 years old and is still diving.
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Sorry about that - I'm John's wife signed in under husband. LOL
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Permalink Reply by John Carl Roat on
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I got out of the Navy and started in the GOM at 27. Just passed my extencive dive pyh at 67. Yes I still dive. You will never know if you can unless you try!
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