Eight Year Old Diver

[dive4funOften]

Good!

Scuba Rangers are wonderful. I have 5 children myself! 2 are certified, one Scuba Ranger graduate, One too young for either but can't wait.

 

[Afraid_of_Fish]

Oh God when I was eight I would have killed to go Scuba Diving. I started studying when I was like sevenish or something. But I picked it up really easy. I guess it depends on how much you feel she knows. Remember, if she's with an instructor then it's fairly safe if she has an idea of what shes doing, but if shes starting at square one (doesn't know air pressure from depth) I wouldn't let her do the 15 ft. dives.

Just my 2 cents. Take it or leave it.

<33 Jess

 

[garyfotodiver]

I noticed a couple of old threads on this topic. Thought I'd see what everyone had to say.

My daughter turns 8 next month :11: (I'm getting old). Although I am PADI certified I have already enrolled her in SSI's Scuba Rangers (8-10 yr olds). However, I should point out that I looked at ALL the schools (PADI, NAUI, etc) here in the Houston area. The shop I am going through has a large, established Scuba Rangers program. The class (which a sort of club from the kids point of view) start with five hours of one on one PRIVATE instruction and then continues to meet twice a month all year long to practice in the pool. Parents are welcome to dive with the kids in the pool which is suprisingly fun. Upon the instructors approval the kids are allowed to go on open water (lake) dives but only with an instructor as a buddy. Depth is strictly limited to 15 feet. I think the main thing to do is to find a school that specializes in young divers and has an established program. Additionally, I am taking the rescue class for my own peace of mind. Just my two cents.

Thoughts??

Too young, too young. Wait until the children are older, 12 or so. They will get more out of the experience and so will you.

 

[dive4funOften]

Too young, too young. Wait until the children are older, 12 or so. They will get more out of the experience and so will you.

Once again Scuba Rangers is only for fun and it is not a certification. IT IS VERY VERY controlled.

I have replyied to several of these types of posts. I am a former Scuba Ranger Instructor. I have Scuba RAnger graduates as children. Trust me I do not want any of the Scuba Rangers to have to be my buddy on an open water dive. That is the key question when looking at children and diving. Could this child rescue you if you needed assistance? Would you want them to have that responsibility?

Scuba Rangers prevents that issue.

 

[wolf eel]

[Once again Scuba Rangers is only for fun and it is not a certification. IT IS VERY VERY controlled.

I have replyied to several of these types of posts. I am a former Scuba Ranger Instructor. I have Scuba RAnger graduates as children. Trust me I do not want any of the Scuba Rangers to have to be my buddy on an open water dive. That is the key question when looking at children and diving. Could this child rescue you if you needed assistance? Would you want them to have that responsibility?

Scuba Rangers prevents that issue.]

Why do you feel anybody thinks it is a "C" card ?

As for diving I do not think anybody is taking their kid off to a wreck at 80' All anybody is taking about is 10' if that. As for the rescue end of things to be that worried all the time would be a waste of life it's self. Live just a little a kid and her dad or mom enjoying the day out at the lake / ocean being safe. Being truly safe is what matters. I was diving at 11 so and I mean diving.

The point that needs to be addressed is are the parents truly good enough divers that they should take on that much responsibility ?

People rarley tell the truth about themselves to themselves and that is where trouble comes from.

Cheers
Derek

 

[outlawaggie]

It seems that all of the people on this and other threrads that appalled at the thought of an eight year old diving are unable to fathom that there is a DIFFERENCE between open water diving and what we are refering to here. Scuba Rangers is little more that snorkeling with scuba gear on. They are diving in a SWIMMING POOL under close supervision. This is not a wreck dive 30 miles offshore in a 5 knot current.

 

[Tom Winters]

Let's see here - I started scuba diving when I was 9 - I taught myself out of the NOAA manual. I knew this was what I wanted to do and I managed to scrounge up some really primnitive Aqualung twin hose gear, and that was that. This was in Connecticut so I got to dive freshwater lakes and quarries and Long Island Sound for 7 years. And ice diving in a 3/8'' wetsuit is cold no matter how tolerant of the elements you are.That was 43 years ago, and most of me is still here.

My wife and her ex are both instructors - their kid was on scuba when she was 7. AT 10, she was certified with the PADI squirt cert. The kid can take diving or leave it - down in Turks & Caicos, she dived when she felt like it. If that had been me as a kid, you would have had to physically winch me out of the water to get me back in the boat. Diving with her is a working dive in that I don't trust her skills at all and have to watch her like a hawk. There are a lot of kids ike this who dive because the parents dive, but all in all, they'd rather play with the Gameboy instead.

I have heard all sorts of pros and cons on kids diving on compressed air and nitrox. On my travels, I come across all sorts of physicians who dive - neurologists and the like who are medically well-versed in diving physiology. Their kids dive if they want to, and these people read all that medical stuff that looks like Latin or Greek but is actually English.

Whenever I had a kid for an intro dive, the ones that were pumped to do it were just awesome little fishies in the water. Even when they had problems, they were still fun to take diving.

If you have a kid who is bugging your butt to go diving and it's solely their idea and not you wanting them to love what you do, then dive 'em. Do your homework and find a nice program for them. Keep a good eye on them, but keep them wet. They're going to do just fine and will never forget that you listened to them.

 

[wolf eel]

[The point that needs to be addressed is are the parents truly good enough divers that they should take on that much responsibility ?

People rarley tell the truth about themselves to themselves and that is where trouble comes from.]

That was not too anybody in particular.

But I have seen both parents dive and climb and feel they are the best and try to teach there kid but do it all wrong. And almost hurt there kid from trying. Thats all I ment by that. good intentions bad instructors

Cheers
Derek

 

[ohmdiver]

I don't think it matters at all. As I said, I'm PADI certified but Scuba Rangers is a SSI program. [/QUOTE]


I only asked because of my experiances here. I belong to a club that for years was nearly PADI members only. As more SSI divers got involved it seemed like it became two clubs. Just wondering why?

The two have mixed but it still has that "Sharks" & "Jets" feel to it some times.

 

[boatergirl_1990]

i am a 14 year old teen i have only dived for one year but it is an amazing experiance i would recomend it to anyone that could clear their ears!