Colpait

Having never gone scuba diving i was wondering if you had to be a certain weight,height,etc to go. Also is it harder if you are tall or overweight?

teodors

Intresting topic. I never wondered if such things even matter diving. All i feel is as long as you feel strong, can hold yourself and your weight together and are confident and comfortable in doing whatever you want, for that matter let it be diving, is enough to do any sport.

scuba jerm

The only way it would be harder if you are tall or overweight would be with fit of your gear ie... wetsuit and BCD. Also with concern to overweight, the person would need to pass the swim test (if certifing through PADI) which is quite easy. The other consideration would be buoyancy, people who carry more fat are more buoyant so they will need more weight on their weightbelt or in their BC to help them decend, especially in cold salt water when wearing a 7mm suit or drysuit. For example, I am 5'10" weighing 165lbs, in pretty good shape, but when I dove in Catalina, California I needed to add 26lbs to a Farmer John 7mm suit. That's alot a weight, so if they can handle that, once in the water, the only other thing to worry about is how much current there is, if it's light, no worries, if it's heavy... take frequent breaks. Diving is for fun, there is no hurry and in my opinion, anyone with a desire to do it.... can.

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Scuba Jerm

lagoon

I aren't very big, 1m60 to be precise but it's never seemed to be a problem for me, maybe the weight has more to do for it than the size itself...

greatwhite

Weight... humm... I never thought of that.
Maybe if you are "bigger" you will tend to float more? LOL
But no unless you got things like heart problems your size should not matter. ( unless you can't fit to your gear... )

sharky

yes i don't think that height and weight have anything to do with it and as above i'd say that only consequences of over and under weight, health problems they provocate should be taken in consideration