Yep.. 18..right out of h.s. Did it all in the indoor pool at the YWCA then did an openwater checkout in Morrison Springs, FL ... IMHO it was a wimpy course and NASDS certification... PADI was still young and I didn't even hear of it until a year or so afterwards except in Skin Diver magazine. But, hey, I got this really nice patch which looked really KEWL with my corvette patch on that nice blue windbreaker with the pretty racing stripe... and guess what?... I've still got it! One of my few artifacts from my "coming of age" years....