Kiddo working on her PADI OW cert a few questions because of her young age

[DivemasterDennis]

Dear jal102, your daughters physical, mental and emotional maturity will determine if she is "ready" for scuba instruction and certification. There is a huge difference in those things among 11 year olds. She may well be ready. We have certified some 10 and 11 year olds in out local reservoir, which is NOT full of trash, but is cold (60-68 F depending on season). You also need to to step away and let the instructor do his or her job. Also, if available, see if there is a "kids only" class. We have great success with those. Finally, I commend to you my blog post "to the parents of junior open water divers, right here on scubaboard. It remains on the list of "most popular blogs." As for Jamaica, there are many good scuba operations- I suggest each reputable one will appropriately limit and young diver to safe depth and conditions, and will have a private DM happy to join you for a fee. Heck, I'll go if you pay my way!
DivemasterDennis

 

[Jax]

Okay, guys, don't take our joking so much to heart.

Lake Pleasant is not that bad. It is mountain fed, though, and does have interesting clouds of no vis.

Sent from my PC31600 using awfulcorrect.

 

[tracydr]

Does the LDS have a BC small enough for her? You might see if you can rent it for your trip as I doubt you'll find one small enough in Jamaica - most rental gear there is probably standard rental jackets like the ScubaPro Pilot - one size fits no one well...

Or get one of these: Ranger Junior - Recreational BCs - BCs - Zeagle Dive Systems

Might check if they have 50's also - I see 63's at Caribbean destinations but I don't think I've ever seen a 50.

Viz is up a little as it gets colder - 15-20' at around 64^o
Diving Tomorrow and Sunday at Vista Point

Do a referral and let the kid do her first dives in warm water...

Yes, if they fill the lake vis is usually pretty nice in the winter time. A lot of swim team kids are incredibly strong in the upper body so I think she may be better than most 11 year olds in that regard, and also used to swimming in cold, outdoor swimming pools, since swim teams swim outdoors year round here in AZ, which is cold in a swim suit, even with a heated pool.
I do like the idea of a private instructor and I know of a few instructors who teach privately in the area.
Also, a short BP/wing might fit better than anything els, because its so adjustable, depending on how small she is. I have always had trouble finding BCs that fit, due to my height and when I was smaller, while I was in the military, it was impossible.

 

[diversteve]

Was looking for something else when I stumbled on three other options also: Kids BC, Kids BCD, Buoyancy Compensators & Everything Else

+1 for Chris and Mindy Przeor also. I supplied some gear for their kids program a few years ago. And they teach at Pleasant if you're determined to put your child thru that... - j/k...

 

[Frosty]

Good onya Jal
A couple of bits of advice for ya just based on MY kids responses etc. 1) the Atlantis icon comes in a tiny size. XXXS -perfect for kiddo
Its also one of the cheaper BCD's Its the one piece of gear I'd suggest buying
2) Buy some "kiddo" sized regulator mouthpieces to use on her training gear.They take about a minute to swap out a standard mouthpiece and it makes a world of difference-an adult can still use it if its on the octo.
3)keep her warm.With my now 12 year old I put a shorty rental over her steamer.

 

[jsisemore]

Hi Jacky,

Congrats on having a future dive buddy in the making! I think it definitely depends on the child; and it sounds like you've really put a lot of thought into your decision. My daughter started begging me to get certified at that age but I didn't feel she was ready until she was thirteen.

My concerns were about her ability to lug all the heavy gear back onto a boat in rough seas, and also her maturity to work through something like a lost mask without heading for the surface first. To be honest, she was probably ready a year before I let her start classes...but I wasn't - ha!

Ours started out in a muddy quarry and thoroughly enjoyed it until she did her first ocean dives. Now she haaaaates going back to low viz and mud. I think it's great that your daughter will be building up her skills in the lake. It's going to make her a well-prepared diver, which will make the Jamaica trip that much more enjoyable for all of you.

I'm all for the "tough love" option and truly making her earn her certification. Sure most of her dives will probably be ideal conditions, but you want her prepared for whatever comes up, and you want her to have that mindset. I'm just going to go ahead and say congrats on her certification now. It sounds like she's going to do great!
June

 

[CurtSchu]

Keeping in mind that she will be a junior ow diver and restricted to 40 ft unless with an instructor. My JOW IS 11 too and I am her buddy I also did a swim along when she did her class. I was able to make a judgement of her skill. Remember if you are her buddy you are diving solo there is little an 11 yo is going to be able to help you with except air. But you are going to be completely concentrating on her safety so your diving is going to be very limited. I have accepted these two thing and have made sure I am equipped.

 

[C P]

Both of our girls learned at 10, the oldest made me a deal that if she made straight A's she could get certified. She made the grade and got certified, in a class with 2 adults if I remember right. She is now in grad school for U/W Archeology and got her cave certification this past spring. The younger one was taught to dive to save her life, she refused to be left behind when she turned 10. They both were and still are very competent divers. Now on the other hand I have taught younger divers who weren't prepared and had to deal with that. I have found mostly thru my experiences with younger divers, and in speaking with other instructors it depends not only on the student and their desire to learn to dive, but their parents attitude about it. Its not a baby sitting service. Breaking it down if the student has a good role model and is able to handle the equipment and understand the material and have the desire they make great students.
Diving with my girls is still one of my favorite activities. Congratulations and have fun

 

[vincent54]

If she's a swimmer go for it. You'll be surprised how good they are at hoisting their gear around. My daughter still uses a smaller tank and has air to spare at dive's end. On dive boats with younger people, I have yet to see problem. They tend to listen and follow direction better than the adults.

One possible complication is the possible scenario of her rescuing a larger adult buddy. If you are going to be her buddy, learn solo skills that will lessen the chance of requiring a buddy assist. Let her learn and practice the skills for absolute emergency, but as a parent you always want to be the person giving assistance.

Personally, I would get a referral letter and have the check out dive in nice clear, warm water. For summer camp, send her to CIMI . She'll learn all sorts of dive skills and have the time of her life. My daughter had so much fun she's never left California. She learned photography and had a whole summer of diving with kids around Catalina Island.

Stay safe,

 

[jal102]

I cannot thank you all enough for the posts! I have all kinds of things to think about as well as an awesome contact here locally in Chandler who I will seek out over the weekend. I'm so seriously confident that she will love it and am hoping that she is ready and physically strong enough. I am already thinking of getting in a quick weekend to Catalina before going away because Casino Point is the best spot to enter the water with her and see how the heck she does.

I just did a quick timeline to see what she has done and there was her first triathlon at 5 years old, dolphin swim at 6 and 1st snorkeling trip, then a few SNUBA trips in Roatan, Belize, DR, and Cozumel……ughhh I wish I could post a pic or two. I swear this kid has been on more water events in her short life than most adults I know. I will go figure out how to do that right now

---------- Post added November 18th, 2013 at 10:48 PM ----------

June…..your quarry views parallels my thoughts on our lovely lake, that to be fair as Jax put it isn't totally crappy LOL Thank you!

---------- Post added November 18th, 2013 at 10:49 PM ----------

Yes, if they fill the lake vis is usually pretty nice in the winter time. A lot of swim team kids are incredibly strong in the upper body so I think she may be better than most 11 year olds in that regard, and also used to swimming in cold, outdoor swimming pools, since swim teams swim outdoors year round here in AZ, which is cold in a swim suit, even with a heated pool.
I do like the idea of a private instructor and I know of a few instructors who teach privately in the area.
Also, a short BP/wing might fit better than anything els, because its so adjustable, depending on how small she is. I have always had trouble finding BCs that fit, due to my height and when I was smaller, while I was in the military, it was impossible.

Oh Tracy, I turn blue when I happen to watch them swim for 2 hours 6 days a week 12 months out of the year….nuts and I could never do it! Thank you for the idea on how to get her gear!

---------- Post added November 18th, 2013 at 10:55 PM ----------

I've trained 10 and 11 year olds. I've trained 30 somethings. Some of the 30 somethings were more difficult to deal with in the water than the 10 and 11 year olds.

I would be hesitant to put her in a class with 2 others. Some agencies won't even allow that. One of the agencies I teach through limits student ratios to 2 when a 10 or 11 year old is in the class. Dividing the instructor's attention among 3 students with one of them being so young is not a great idea. That being said, contact Kris and Mindy Przeor - Salva Vida Scuba. They are great instructors and have lots of experience with kids. Mindy is a grade school physical education teacher. My wife and I taught them as students and Divemasters and we volunteered for a program Mindy started at her school. We went in and put all her students through Project AWARE and then certified several of the kids and their families. Then we moved to Florida so Kris and Mindy became instructors to keep on with the program. That was 7 years ago. They've been teaching kids to scuba dive since then. You can't go wrong with them.

As for Jamaica, which part of Jamaica are you visiting? Jamaica is a huge island and there are several areas to dive.

I just looked at their website and they seem wonderful! I have already paid my LDS for a future class and will pop in tomorrow and see how they feel about me switching that money towards gear instead or doing a private class for her. I am AOK paying more to get the best for her so if the consensus is private is best, then I will go that route! I thought it would be best to see if she can do what is needed in a traditional class that it would be better, but based on the posts I am apparently 100% wrong LOL

---------- Post added November 18th, 2013 at 11:18 PM ----------

I just posted a few pictures of my munchkin in a photo album I named "jal102" Thank you again everyone for taking the time to post to me.

Dive-aholic: In Jamaica we are splitting our time in Montego Bay and Negril.