Anyone here scuba dive?

floydypants
floydypants Posts: 52 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I am hoping to learn to scuba dive soon but am slightly worried about not being able to fit into wetsuits/boots and floating around like a fool not being able to sink!

Replies

  • brokenhonu
    brokenhonu Posts: 21 Member
    Scuba diving is the best thing ever! Don't worry they make wetsuits in lots of sizes. Divers are weighted with extra weights to compensate the buoyancy.
  • BrianSharpe
    BrianSharpe Posts: 9,248 Member
    Scuba diving rocks. They'll cover buoyancy etc during your open water (introductory) course.

    I still remember my first session in the pool and the liberating feeling of breathing through a regulator underwater like it was yesterday.Scuba divers come in all shapes and sizes and there's gear made that's suitable for everyone. Unless you have an underlying health problem that contraindicates scuba.....go for it (be honest when answering the health questionnaire, and make sure you feel comfortable with your instructor, don't let him or her gloss over material on the course)

    I'm jealous of people who live in the UK, trips to the Red Sea are dirt cheap and the diving is, reputedly, great.
  • RUNN3Rmom
    RUNN3Rmom Posts: 441
    Scuba diving rocks. They'll cover buoyancy etc during your open water (introductory) course.

    I still remember my first session in the pool and the liberating feeling of breathing through a regulator underwater like it was yesterday.Scuba divers come in all shapes and sizes and there's gear made that's suitable for everyone. Unless you have an underlying health problem that contraindicates scuba.....go for it (be honest when answering the health questionnaire, and make sure you feel comfortable with your instructor, don't let him or her gloss over material on the course)

    I'm jealous of people who live in the UK, trips to the Red Sea are dirt cheap and the diving is, reputedly, great.

    Exactly what he said!!

    Thanks for making me think back to my beginning days as a firefighter in the pool :)

    Congrats on your journey to scuba dive - it is liberating to say the least!!
  • floydypants
    floydypants Posts: 52 Member
    Thanks! I have no health issues (apart from being overweight!) I can swim no problems. I just wanted some confirmation that you don't necessarily have to be thin to do it!

    I am in the UK, am planning to learn here and then go away when qualified some time next year hopefully.
  • trhops
    trhops Posts: 295 Member
    Scuba diver here! I have been diving with individuals of all sizes. My husband works in a dive shop and they sell wetsuits of all sizes also.

    No worries, get geared up and enjoy the sealife!
  • mizzie1980
    mizzie1980 Posts: 379 Member
    I'm going to take scuba lessons this summer! January in Minnesota is not the best time, lol. It's been my plan all along that scuba would be my reward once I get to my goal weight. Only about 20 pounds to go, so I should be able to do it this summer easily, so long as stick with things.

    But, I have see divers that were very overweight. You can get wetsuits in all shapes and sizes, and you just add extra weight to combat the extra buoyancy. But... wetsuits aren't very flattering on the best of bodies. One good reason to keep working on weight loss! :wink:
  • floydypants
    floydypants Posts: 52 Member
    Update: I am going for a medical next week to get my forms signed, have a booking at a dive school in Spain for July, and am now part excited but mostly officially terrified at the thought of shoehorning myself into a wetsuit :blushing:
  • upsidedownjelly
    upsidedownjelly Posts: 52
    once you actually get into the wetsuit, they kind of slim you down. i work at an aquarium and we have many, many different shapes and sizes volunteer dive for us. enjoy!
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    I love scuba. I only do it on vacations as I live in the desert, but it's awesome. We pretty much make it a point to go somewhere at least once per year. If it's warm enough, I don't bother with the wet suit...but don't worry, they make all kinds of sizes. Don't worry about sinking either...your weight belt will take care of that.
  • concordancia
    concordancia Posts: 5,320 Member
    I never took lessons because when I was looking into it, I was suffering from asthma. I haven't had an attack in a few years, so maybe I should add lesson into my reward system!
  • floydypants
    floydypants Posts: 52 Member
    The idea of wearing it is not so bad, it's the idea I have in my head of me wrestling myself into probably the biggest one they have in front of a load of men. My main issue is having big legs, whatever weight I have been I have the legs of a weightlifter. Hopefully I'm imagining it to be a lot worse than it actually will be. I'm in two minds whether to email them and ask if it is going to be an issue but that's a bit embarrassing in itself.
  • mattashbrock
    mattashbrock Posts: 38
    My wife and I finally got up the nerve to try scuba for the first time last year in Mexico. Both of us are very out of shape and found that we were able to do it no problem. We wish we would have overcame our fears earlier since we missed out on scuba on our honeymoon in one of the greatest places to scuba Fiji. At least we know we can do it now and we won't let another opportunity like that pass us up. (Although the snorkeling was amazing as well). Good luck, you can do it don't let anything hold you back.
  • woodsy0912
    woodsy0912 Posts: 323
    Diver here! I was diving just fine at my heaviest (310 wow!) with no issue. I was having to wear about 16 lbs of weights though. :laugh:

    Now I am down to wearing 5 - 7 lbs and diving is just as great if not better at my lower weight. When I was at my heaviest, I bought a wet suit I knew I could fit into so I would not be embarrassed trying on the ones at the dive centers. But then again, I am going for Dive Master so I needed my own gear anyways.

    I love warm water caribbean diving the best and that is pretty much no wet suit required. Just a skin or your bathing suit!

    Here's to my Roatan trip coming up in May! Going to knock out another couple of specialty certs and work towards that dive maasters! :drinker:
  • Funnyfishat40
    Funnyfishat40 Posts: 52 Member
    Diving instructor here, obviously the healthier you are the better (including weight) but bigger people dive (and teach diving) go for it, it will change your outlook on life at the very least xxx
    Happy bubbling
  • floydypants
    floydypants Posts: 52 Member
    Thanks for all the encouragement :smile:
  • luckydays27
    luckydays27 Posts: 552 Member
    Enjoy the diving, i do it often and love it.

    When diving in the waters off LA and using an AL tank, I need add around 30 lbs of lead to dive. I wear a drysuit with thick undergarments because the waters here a surprising cold. When I dive in the caribbean waters, I wear around 12 lbs of lead. Dont worry, there is plenty of us bigger folks that dive but the better shape you get into the better your diving will be.

    If I could dive every day I would but my day job gets in the way. However, i plan lots of vacations to make up for it.
    SoFL in May
    Bonaire in July
    Grand Cayman in Sept

    I plan my vacations around diving.
  • Scott2ndGradeTeacher
    Scott2ndGradeTeacher Posts: 147 Member
    Any time you can spend underwater is a good time.
  • azure7
    azure7 Posts: 136 Member
    I love diving so much that I made it part of my job :) Here's an awesome hint from someone who wriggles in and out of wetsuits all the time...buy yourself a lycra dive skin to wear under your neoprene wetsuit. They are stretchy and made of a very thin lycra material. Putting the dive skin on first makes pulling on a neoprene wetsuit MUCH easier (wet or dry) because it reduces the friction that neoprene has against your skin. Enjoy yourself!!! :drinker:
  • Victorian131
    Victorian131 Posts: 130
    One of the most liberating and exciting feelings there is, enjoy!
    I live in the UK and go to the Caribbean and Bali/Australia to dive...by the sound of it I'm doing it wrong haha, I've never been to the Red Sea, I'll have to give it a go!
    Nothing is more relaxing than the moment you've got your buoyancy perfect, a tank full of air and free reign on a site full of new things to explore :D
  • HealthyEscape
    HealthyEscape Posts: 255
    For me, there is no place I would rather be than under the water, alone with just my heartbeat, the inhale/exhale of my breathing, and the sound of the ocean living around me. It's purely one of the most amazing things I have ever done in my life. Enjoy it :-)
  • floydypants
    floydypants Posts: 52 Member
    I just remembered this topic, and if anyone else is in the same situation I just want to say do it! I love it. I am going to Turkey this summer and booked a few days already. It was a bit of a mission getting in some of the wetsuits they gave me but my first instructor also had weightlifter legs so she had the same issue :laugh:

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