- When Tanya Dredge, 59, from Yeppoon, Qld, tried scuba diving in the 50s, she fell in love with the underwater world.
- After conquering the Aussie seas, Tanya travelled to Mexico and Dubai to scuba dive.
- Now Tanya is sharing her story to inspire other mums to do what they love at any age.
Here Tanya tells her story in her own words.
Peering over the edge of the boat at the blue water, it was so clear I could see down to the ocean bed.
Corals, seagrass and all the miniature and mighty marine life awaited me.
Aged 55, I’d always loved the water.
When my husband Wayne, 59, and I had moved to Yeppoon, Qld, with our young sons Joshua and Matthew, 20 years before, we made the most of swimming and snorkelling.
‘Mum why don’t you do a discover scuba diving course with me?’
While I’d always liked the idea of scuba diving, especially with the wonders of the Great Barrier Reef just a ripple away, as a busy mum, and running the restaurant we owned, I was time poor, so hadn’t seized the opportunity.
In the summer of 2021, as a retired empty-nester with Joshua, then 28, and Matthew, 25, having left home, finally I could do things just for me.
‘Mum why don’t you do a discover scuba diving course with me?’ Joshua had suggested a couple of weeks earlier.
A keen traveller, Joshua had learned to scuba dive overseas, and I swooned at the tales of his underwater experiences.
‘Why not!’ I agreed.
Glancing at Wayne, he shook his head. ‘It’s not for me love, but you go for it. Have a fab time,’ he said.
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Wayne had always been a homebody, but loved my drive to experience new things.
So Joshua and I booked a dive with Keppel Dive and Water Sports for the following weekend.
Now, on the boat at The Observatory, a dive site off Great Keppel Island, my legs jiggled like jelly with the weight of the heavy tank strapped to my back, and my heart raced – a mix of excitement and nerves.
‘You’re weightless under water. You won’t even notice all this cumbersome equipment,’ my dive master reassured me.
Signalling me over, Joshua then pointed out a 1.5 metre-long wobbegong shark resting in a trench.
With my mask on, regulator in and buoyancy control device (BCD) inflated, I took a giant stride off the boat. As I bobbed to the surface, I signalled that I was okay.
‘Ready,’ Joshua said, squeezing my hand just before we descended into the deep blue.
Below the waves, all the dread and doubt were swept away with the current, as I wondered at the vast watery wilderness teeming with marine life.
Thriving corals and schools of brightly coloured fish swirled like whirlpools around me, while cheeky clownfish jerked in and out of their anemone homes.
Signalling me over, Joshua then pointed out a 1.5 metre-long wobbegong shark resting in a trench.
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‘That was incredible,’ I spluttered as we surfaced.
The sea had cast its spell on me.
Enchanted, I enrolled to do my PADI Open Water Scuba Diving certification.
The following week, after studying the online theory, I embarked on a 30-minute boat ride to Great Keppel and waded into the water.
‘You must face your fears to live your dreams.’
Taking up scuba diving in your 50s is a challenge – I wasn’t as fit and strong as the two young, male backpackers also enrolled on the course – and adapting to some of the practical scenarios was confronting and unnerving.
I struggled with the weight of the equipment, getting perfect buoyancy underwater and having to practise taking my mask off underwater then put it back on, watertight.
‘You must face your fears to live your dreams,’ I kept telling myself.
Then on one of my training dives, when a fever of bull rays glided above me, again all my qualms where quashed.
Three days later I was rapt to officially become a qualified Open Water Scuba Diver.
I went diving every week after that, heading out with the same dive centre to explore various sites.
Going solo, I soon met other like-minded diving buddies.
The more experience I gained, the more my confidence grew, and my amazing marine life interactions soared.
Underwater I felt so free, calm, content and constantly in awe.
Four months later, I invested in my own dive gear and gained my advanced certificate.
‘I want to build a website for females of all shapes, sizes, ages, and abilities who are keen to discover scuba…’
I was then skilled-up to do a dive at a site called Wolf Rock off the coast of Rainbow Beach near Gympie, Qld.
A challenging dive, while battling the current over a ledge at 28 metres deep, I was greeted by dozens of three-metre, toothy – yet completely harmless – grey nurse sharks circling inquisitively.
In late 2021, I had an idea.
‘I want to build a website for females of all shapes, sizes, ages, and abilities who are keen to discover scuba, already dive or are keen to get back underwater, and share my experiences to help them dive confidently,’ I said to Wayne.
‘What a great idea,’ Wayne said, supportively.
Learning to dive in my 50s has been both exciting and daunting, I wrote in my first blog post. Scuba diving has enriched and expanded my life in unimaginable ways. I’ve formed relationships, travelled, found courage and strength, and marvelled at the diverse marine life I encounter on the reefs I explore.
I wanted to produce content to show that you can do what you love, at any age, and you don’t have to be the best at it! I’d struggled with dive skills and the gear but triumphed.
Soon, I had followers reaching out and asking questions.
I received countless thank yous from new or returning divers, for giving them the confidence to literally dive in!
I’ve been diving for four years now, and scuba and the diving community have changed my life.
My adventures have seen me travel to Cairns to witness the coral spawning in November 2023, and I snorkelled with dwarf minke whales in the Coral Sea.
It was breathtaking listening to their song echo through the water.
As an Empty Nest Diver I’ve also been to many spots overseas.
In Mexico with Josh last year we dived in Isla Mujeres, exploring the underwater museum there as well as wrecks.
I also dived Mexico’s cenotes – natural sinkholes which are connected and form the world’s largest underground river network.
I even went to Deep Dive Dubai – a kooky man-made site where, at 30 metres deep, there’s a pool table and bathtub you can pose for pictures in!
My desire to dive is stronger than ever and I’m so proud of myself for taking the plunge in my 50s.
I hope my story will inspire others to not let age hold them back so they too can do what they love, and discover their true selves.
