I'm 13 years old and want to start scuba diving

[Sue J]

Hi Amazon!

As the mother of a 13 year old diver I can say...go for it!

The advice to talk to local dive shop (LDS) owners is good. You and your parents should be able to get a sense of how the owners and instructors feel about teaching younger divers. Don't be afraid to ask a lot of questions.

Another source of information is your local SSI Scuba Rangers group, if any. Although you're too old to be in the group the instructor/club leader should have good information on where their graduates have become certified. He/she will know which shops are more attentive to young divers.
Search for a Scuba Ranger Club

Another thing to think about is who you will dive with after certification. If neither of your parents is certified you may want to talk them into taking the course with you. Even after certification they won't be able to teach you what you need to know, so you should still plan to dive with more experienced divers, but getting certified together is a great way to guarantee that you'll have someone to share the experience with. You'll get in more dives if a parent is invested in diving too!

Certification involves class work, pool training, and finally open water dives. The class work and pool training can be done seperately from the open water (often referred to as "check out") dives. You're right-spring diving in New England is too cold for all but the hardiest divers and requires a thicker suit than the kind you probably used on vacation. You may want to look into taking a trip somewhere warm, such as Florida or Bermuda for your open water dives.

I would also get copy of the PADI Open Water manual in advance of the class. The information is manageable, but the more you've mastered in advance the more comfortable you'll be taking the class.

Good luck!

 

[SlowRain]

Can't speak for all the agencies, but SSI will allow you to take the full blown OW diver course at your age, however you will receive a Jr. Open Water Diver Certification until you are 15, where you can change it over to Open Water Diver. I believe adult (your parents) approval is required to take the course. I think the youngest person I put through training was 14 and she did just fine (she should have as she was the shop owner's daughter).

As far as the time frame to get through class. Some agencies have "crash" programs where you do a lot of the academics at home, then do a classroom session with the instructor...some pool work and then open water. (I honestly don't know if they allow this program anymore). I did this for one guy and it is an exhausting, and very expensive way to go because you are in essence getting fully certified in a weekend and are going 1-on-1 with an instructor. I really think you miss something in this course as well, as a lot of questions/discussions/answers are fielded by students/instructors in a regular course, so you might miss out on that sort of discussion/learning doing a crash course. Regular classes, depending on how the shop and instructor have them set up can take anywhere from 4-6 weeks.

Do a google search for Scuba Schools International...and for that matter look at the PADI and NAUI websites as well, and they will usually have their training standards available for you to check out.

 

[newtish]

If you can talk your parents into holidaying in Malta, as we do often, try Corsair Diving Centre in Bugibba - Corsair Diving Centre Malta, Scuba Diving Malta, Holidays in Malta Gozo Comino, PADI diving. They do recreational diving from a modern, purpose built dive centre in Bugibba - and they're PADI 5 star.

I can highly recommend Melita, Director of Diving, and Kevin. Melita has been teaching my son since he was 14 years old. He's now an 18 year old Divemaster, thanks to Melita's great tuition, and he wouldn't go to anyone else in Malta. In fact he intends taking the Assistant Instructor course with them. They're fun, safe - which was important to me as his mum of course - and they also have excellent equipment (which incidentlaly is all new this year).

 

[Jim Kerr]

Since it's too cold right now to do open water in your area I would not do the class until it is. Reason being if you do all your pool work now it may be several months before the open water portion and the skills you learned will be rusty. You would be better off doing the open water portion soon after the pool training so everything is fresh in your mnd. I would however get the manual so you can prepare for the class and get all the knowledge reviews out of the way. Then just review everything right before your class starts.

Of course if you are going to do the OW portion in warm water that will be up to Mom & Dad when and where you go so you'll want to talk it over with them first so you can time your class dates to be just before you leave. Good Luck and Have Fun!

 

[fisherdvm]

As I vaguely remember, as a junior OW diver, you are required to dive with either your parents, or a divemaster/dive instructor. As long as you are under 18, your parent's consents are needed. Then, they either have to dive with you, or have to hire a divemaster to dive with you.

Both PADI and SSI allow junior OW certificate to be granted to divers as young as 10, but as I understand (having a hard time finding a shop to finish my son's 11 year old ow dives), many shop limits it to only kids above the age of 12.

 

[ronbeau]

Hello, everybody as the title says I'm a 13 year old girl and I want to get certified for scuba diving. I just got back from vacation to Cancun, Mexico yesterday and did a 1 hour lesson in a pool and loved it! The lesson was all of the basic skills like getting the water out of the mask underwater etc. and I got to swim around and stuff. Now, I am back home in Rhode Island and am interested in getting fully certified. Can anybody recommend any places that would be good for somebody my age to get certified for scuba diving in Rhode Island? From readings on various websites that I have read, I have decided that getting PADI certified seems like it is a better choice than getting NAUI certified, would you agree? The instructor in Cancun was PADI certified. I have read that on average it takes 4-8 weeks to get fully certified, is this correct? And if anybody has any links to readings that they think would be good for a beginner like myself to read that would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

I would have to disagree with Aquaman that the NAUI courses are to demanding.

My daughter is now 14 but passed the NAUI open-water certification at age 12. Our local LDS requires a passing grade of 90 or better on the written exam.

With something like scuba diving in-depth/rigorous training from a qualified instructor is crucial when you consider the possible result of a serious screw-up.

The qualifications of the instructor is the most important criteria. I have an open-water certification from PADI and 4 certifications from NAUI.

NAUI courses add a small component of rescue into the open-water training which is a good idea. Some PADI instructors may add this to their training but PADI tends to be very rigid about course content. NAUI tends to set minimum requirements for their instructors and encourages them to exceed the minimum requirements.

There are good and bad instrcutors with every agency. The key is finding a good instructor.

Below is a list of instructor selection criteria developed by Walter. Walter is a long time ScubaBoard member who has more experience now than I will ever have.

Questions To Ask a Prospective Scuba Instructor​

[Take your time to research and find the best instructor in your area. Next, take time to complete the course. A good course will last several weeks. Don't rush this, it's something you can spend the rest of your life enjoying.

How do I find an above average course and how will I know I've found it?

Interview potential instructors. Most people never ask any questions beyond price. As the old saying goes, "You get what you pay for." Excellent instructors will usually have a higher priced class for a number of reasons. The instructor is dedicated toward providing you all the time you need to master necessary knowledge and skills. Extra pool time can be expensive. Keep in mind; the instructor is trying to make a living. His time is valuable.

Consider alternatives. While many instructors teach through dive shops, some of the best are independent instructors or affiliated with colleges, universities or YMCA's.

Questions to ask the instructors:

How long have you been teaching? Most instructors improve over time. They learn new techniques and get ideas from other instructors and through experience to improve their classes.

Do you certify all your students? Only instructors who are in a hurry and care nothing about your safety will answer yes. You want an instructor who will require you to be safe and knowledgeable before issuing a c-card. An excellent instructor might tell you that he is willing to keep working with a student until the student either qualifies or gives up.

What skin diving skills will I learn? While there is some disagreement on this point, many professionals believe a solid foundation in skin diving will not only make you a better SCUBA diver, it will make learning SCUBA easier.

Will I learn confidence-building skills? There are some skills which have no direct application to a typical dive, but which do build your confidence as well as your abilities. This, combined with an understanding of the panic cycle, will make you much less likely to panic.

Do you teach the panic cycle? Panic is the most dangerous aspect of diving. Many instructors do not understand panic and believe there is no way to combat it. In actuality, panic is understood. It is though learning the panic cycle and by increasing skill levels that panic is avoided.

Do your students swim with their hands? This will let you know if the instructor pays attention to details. Good divers do not use their hands for swimming.

Do you work on trim? Divers should usually be horizontal in the water. Good instructors will see that students are striving towards good trim. Poor instructors often neglect it.

Do you overweight your students? Many instructors overweight students. It is not a good practice.

What method do you use to correctly weight your students? Any answer that does not involve actually getting in the water means you want to avoid that instructor.

How many people will be in my class? Small classes are better. You'll have more individual attention. Unless the instructor is using certified assistants, more than four students are difficult to watch.

How many certified assistants will you be using? Unless the class is relatively large (more than 4 students) this should not be an issue. An instructor should have a certified Divemaster or Assistant Instructor for every two students over four. There are times when divers working on their Divemaster or Assistant Instructor certifications assist with a class. This is normal and not an issue, but they do not count toward the assistants an instructor should have when working with larger classes.

 

[ronbeau]

As I vaguely remember, as a junior OW diver, you are required to dive with either your parents, or a dive master/dive instructor. As long as you are under 18, your parent's consents are needed. Then, they either have to dive with you, or have to hire a dive master to dive with you.

Both PADI and SSI allow junior OW certificate to be granted to divers as young as 10, but as I understand (having a hard time finding a shop to finish my son's 11 year old ow dives), many shop limits it to only kids above the age of 12.

For NAUI the cutoff between junior open-water and open-water is age 15. At 15 a junior open-water certification is converted to an open-water certification at the request of the diver. Prior to age 15 the diver must dive with a parent or guardian or a diving professional (dive-master or instructor I believe).

My daughter is currently 14. Between age 15 and 18 her mother and I will determine whether we feel comfortable with any potential dive buddy. This is our requirement as parents but not a NAUI requirement.

As a side note NAUI unfortunately lowered their standards and is now allowing 10 year old kids to take junior open water training also. I think that is ridiculous.

 

[Bobyjimmie]

You got all the answers you pretty much need here. ONE HUGE THING IS THIS....As people said you should get one of your parents interested in diving as well so you can dive more. Even as an adult I have found the hardest part of diving is getting a buddy to go with you and keep them going with you. I fortunately now have a good partner to dive with but if you can get a parent to get certified with you then you have a buddy for life. Plus its great bonding time with your parental unit!

 

[CamG]

It is so cool to hear you talk of your experience in Mexico. I wish my daughter was along with you. She to is just starting her training. I am envious as you are getting a great start on your diving future. It took me 38 years to get started but I can not get enough now. You have received some good advice from the others now I will try to give a little of my own. Find a instructor that loves to teach others to dive, one who takes time to explain the questions you have and is willing to be patient. My daughter will have my instructor simply because I trust him with my life and he is the greatest teacher I have ever had the opportunity to learn from. Another valuable part is to find a local dive shop that cares about people and will go the extra mile to help you with your goals. If working on a budget start with the basics; mask, snorkel, boots, and fins.
If available find a local dive club and link up with other divers your age and find out how and where they were certified. Padi is a great agency, they have always been very helpful and I feel there instructional material is wonderful. If you decide to go with them I know they would be more than glad to help you find a instructor and shop to help you out. The best advice I could give you is relax and enjoy the journey. Diving can be more than a vacation there are always local diving opportunities also. I wish you the best, keep us posted of your progress! Safe dive training to you! CamG Keep diving....keep training....keep learning!

 

[Stu S.]

Glad to read you are interested in diving. Do you have a family member or a friend of the family that is a diver? I ask that for a reason. At 13, you can't drive yet, so you need somebody to get you to the dive site. It helps when the driver is a diver, too. You may want to check to see if your local YMCA offers SCUBA training. You might get lucky and find one with a teen dive club.