Grow Your Own Dive Buddy

[SteFord]

My sons got certified as early as possible. Problem is, they continue to get older and have gone off to college and their own lives. Solution was to marry Judy - who has caught the bug and will dive anywhere, anytime!

 

[WileEDiver]

I'm just curious as to who on SB has grown their own dive buddy. I, for one, did. He is now 14, has an aow plus a couple of specialty courses. He is a good diver and hopes to qualify for dm by the time he is 16!

BTW: the avatar is me on my first dive in 1967. My kid won't let me post his picture.

Sounds like you've got yourself a great dive buddy. My daughter is 12 (Junrior Advanced Open Water with 5 specialties) and I love diving with her.

One thing, though, I think 18 is the minimum age for starting a DM program for most agencies.

 

[Bob_B]

My daughter (15) got OW certified in June, AOW / Nitrox in Sept. After a long break from diving I was very happy to get her started and get myself back in the water. we make a great team and, for now, she wants to go every time I plan a dive. I'm sure that will change as she is starting to get more into boys. For now she is hanging with Dad.

 

[Kilroy]

My 15 year old son and I got certified in Aug. It was a great experience doing it together. He is a great buddy and we enjoy diving together, however, girls, basketball and a drivers license in a couple of weeks all compete for his time so it has grown increasingly more difficult to dive together. It's hard to argue go dive with dad rather than hang out with hot chicks. So it know looks like I will have to find additional dive buddies here in So Cal if I want to dive. I'm definitley not growing another!!

Mike Mc

 

[ScubaCrow]

My two sons, 17 and 15, certified last year. My 15 year old is now AOW and Nitrox certified. This last summer in GC we had a great time. Watching my two sons grow as responsible divers is a thrill. Most of my u/w photos are of them. Fish, sponges, and coral come and go, but my dive pictures of my two boys are priceless.

 

[drbill]

I wish I could share my love of diving and the ocean with my son, Kevin. He is 21 but has asthma and is not a diver. Besides, he's off to make his fortune and probably works too hard to find time to dive. He says that when he makes his first million that he'll take me on a trip to South America or Vietnam. That's a lot more than I've been able to do for him.

Fortunately I do have nieces and nephews who dive and love it. My nephew David (age 17) was out from Atlanta three times this year to dive with Uncle Bill. He's on his way to the Dominican Republic after Christmas and already has a trip planned to Tahiti next June. If only I could fit in his luggage!

 

[jiveturkey]

I never considered this. It's almost like the time when I grew sea monkeys. But I could never manage to put a regulator on those. So how long do I need to gestate these "dive buddies" for anyway?

 

[RumBum]

The whole reason I wanted to learn to dive was from looking through my dad's u/w pictures when I was a kid. Before I was born he lived in Guam and dove all the time. Now he doesn't dive anymore; no particular reason. Since I have gotten into it he has said he might try again, but he hasn't acually done anything. I wish my dad would dive with me.

 

[Dr. Doug Ebersole]

I first got my wife certified. Then my daughter once she turned 12. She's now 17 (today's her birthday) and she's a master diver with almost 300 logged dives all over the world.

My son who is now 12 got certified at age 10 after being in scuba rangers for two years. He now has about 100 logged dives throughout Florida and the Caribbean.

Now we can all go diving together as a family vacation. I recommend it for all families!

 

[kenlt]

My son, who's 10, recently went through the Seal Team class, and did wonderfully. I think PADI will certify at 10, but I also think he's still a tad young for it, as far as attention span and being able to handle less-than-ideal situations. But he wants to do it, so the day will come!