| When I was a child in the early sixties, the age of | | | | vowed on my fortieth-birthday dive that I was not |
| sixty was old, not because I was six and anyone | | | | going to dive with anyone under thirty ever again, |
| older than 21 was decrepit, but because seniors in | | | | whatever the circumstances, and since I have |
| their sixties were seen as waiting by their firesides to | | | | adhered to that rule, I have encountered no |
| die. | | | | problems. The eldest person I have ever personally |
| Five decades later, the conceptual view of seniors is | | | | been diving with was 76, but I know for a fact that |
| more likely to be them bathing on the beaches of | | | | Jacques Cousteau died at the age of 87 and he was |
| Borneo or other exotic places instead of sitting by | | | | still diving. I have also been diving with someone who |
| their firesides. Greater advances in health care mean | | | | was seventy-three and a learner. |
| that people are not only living longer but are fitter | | | | When I learned to dive, there was none of the |
| and ealthier, in control of their health and lives. | | | | gadgetry that is available today. You had to work |
| Seniors over fifty are thankfully no longer prepared | | | | out how long, how far, and how deep you could dive. |
| to accept their life is over. There are many things | | | | These days, a computer does it all. If you are older |
| that they are attempting both by travelling and being | | | | than sixty, you will remember double de-clutch while |
| more adventurous on their own doorstep. | | | | driving and how easy it is now. If you don't know |
| I have been a passionate scuba diver for over thirty | | | | what I am talking about, well, you are too young to |
| years and I have learned a thing or to about it and | | | | be reading this article anyway! |
| the first is that scuba diving is not one of those | | | | We are being told at every juncture that exercise is |
| hobbies that age is a barrier to; age is of a positive | | | | good for us. Well, there is nothing like diving because |
| benefit to the scuba diver. | | | | once under water, you have the buoyancy of the |
| Is scuba diving dangerous? Yes, it can be--but so is | | | | water and all the aches and pains disappear. There is |
| driving, and for that matter, living. And I am not sure | | | | nothing like swimming with fifty or more species of |
| that it is not one of those things that everyone | | | | fish within a few feet of your head. It is something |
| insists is more dangerous than it is! | | | | that you never ever tire of; and night diving is |
| Is it such things as shark attacks that make scuba | | | | different again and offers a completely new world. |
| diving dangerous? Statistically the majority of people | | | | Age is no barrier to diving: age bestows common |
| bitten by sharks are bitten while standing on a beach | | | | sense and a healthy respect for the deep. If it is |
| not far from the shoreline. I have been on hundreds | | | | something that you have always wanted to do, go |
| of dives in the Pacific, the Red Sea, and the Indian | | | | ahead and try it. Have one test dive and see how |
| oceans. Have I ever seen sharks or whales? Yes | | | | you feel. Once you have done it, there is no going |
| many times. Do I consider them dangerous? Yes, I | | | | back--you will have opened your horizons forever. |
| do. Has it ever stopped me from diving among them? | | | | All the rules you need to know about scuba diving |
| No, it hasn't. However, neither fact is highly relevant: | | | | are below. |
| it is a fact that in the vast majority of dives, you will | | | | 1) Gently equalize your ears and mask as you |
| not see either. | | | | descend. That means nothing more that holding your |
| What has accounted for the greatest number of | | | | nose and exerting a gentle blow-out pressure. |
| diving incidents I have personally witnessed? That | | | | 2) Never hold your breath while ascending. Always |
| one is easy: the vast majority of incidents have been | | | | breath normally and come up slowly and steadily. |
| caused by sinus and breathing difficulties, nothing to | | | | 3) Always dive with a buddy. |
| do with equipment error, but just the simple human | | | | 4) Never drink and dive. |
| error of not knowing how to equalize pressure | | | | 5) Don't fly for 12 hours after a no-decompression |
| properly. I was very fortunate when I learned to | | | | dive, 24 hours if your dive required decompression |
| dive--I listened to my dive instructor. Sounds stupid | | | | stops. It won't kill you but it is something you will not |
| but it is true. | | | | want to repeat after you feel the effects. |
| I was terrified of water, and that is why initially I | | | | 6) If you have friends and family that have concerns |
| wanted to learn to dive to face my demons. I was | | | | about your diving, don't tell them until after you get |
| very heavy at the time and frightened witless, so | | | | your diving certificate. |
| much so that I threw a wobbly and refused to even | | | | 7) You do not even have to be a strong swimmer to |
| walk in the water. It was under a pier in Savu Savu, | | | | dive; I have often been diving with people who can |
| Fiji. My diving instructor hauled me in the water and | | | | not swim at all. However, I would personally |
| apparently took me around the pier while holding my | | | | recommend that you can swim thirty yards because |
| hand. Apparently I missed seeing a whale. I was so | | | | you have to get to the boat! |
| frightened that I had my eyes tightly shut. However, | | | | 8) Scuba diving is a lot harder than snorkelling. That is |
| I learned a very valuable lesson despite being | | | | a myth that snorkeller's will tell you but no diver ever |
| hysterical before getting in the water: once in, there | | | | will. |
| is little choice; you have to breathe! Trust me, it is | | | | In conclusion, scuba diving is a relaxing hobby and |
| either that or drown. That was the lesson I learned: | | | | most if it is done less than thirty feet from the |
| all you have to do to make a good diver is breathe, | | | | surface. Most of the world's coral reefs are not deep; |
| nothing more and nothing less. Once you have | | | | we are not taking about forty thousand fathoms |
| mastered the fact that you can breathe under water | | | | under the sea. A few people say they can't bear the |
| quite normally, nothing else matters. | | | | idea of all the weight of the sea above them: while |
| Once you breath deeply and naturally underwater, | | | | diving, you can feel neither the weight above or |
| you are in a different environment: it is your own | | | | below, and in fact, it is the nearest thing to |
| personal underwater Jacques Cousteau television | | | | weightless that I can imagine. A common |
| show. It is too exciting to worry about anything. No | | | | misconception about diving is "I would be too |
| one anywhere in the world is allowed in the water | | | | frightened!" The chances are that you will be so |
| without a diving certificate. Earning that diving | | | | enthralled that you will forget to be frightened, and |
| certificate teaches you everything you need to | | | | you will surely not forget to breathe! Then the |
| know, including how to cope with most minor | | | | excitement of your own private aquarium will never |
| incidents. | | | | leave you, even if you dive only once in an open |
| Have I ever personally felt threatened while diving? | | | | water dive and stay a landlubber ever after. |
| Yes, I have; but not in the last twelve years. I | | | | |