LOB for family?

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We have been doing as a diving family 2-3 annual liveaboards in Egypt with wife and kids since each of them got their OW cert at 12.

Experiencewise, both had about 20 dives before their first LOB and I was concerned how they will deal with currents, climbing back ro RIB or ladder to boat in waves etc. I was overprotective in the first dives, then realized they are doing ok and can have some slack.

They are now almost 14 and 15, so until they complete their AOW, I approach the dive guide and notify him that we will dive in the same group (i.e. forget about splitting us) and that we will limit ourselves to max depth of 20m. Other than that, we go to each and every dive including sites that are considered "deep" dives such as the Thistlegorn where we restrict ourselves to the upper decks and actually we enjoy longer dives, quite often other divers ask to join us for that reason.

No problem with Ras Mohamad, Tiran reefs, currents etc. kids do just fine. First time in RasMo my son had problem equalizing and descent was slow struggling with current so it became my shortest RasMo dive ever, 38 minutes.

They share a room, and usually they skip some of the dives because they prefer to teenager stuff like, I don't know, video games, reading and oversleeping 12 hours. I am okay with them skipping some dives at their age there is no hurry to do 4 dives per day.

Each safari is a huge improvement on any novice diving skills, regardless of age.
 
Many thanks for your helpful reply. I guess it may be better to get the youngest (10 and an enthusiastic bubblemaker) certified first, plus a dozen dives, before embarking on a liveaboard...

Currently looking at Wadi Lahami (Fury Shoals area) in the hope of finding something adequate for all...
Thanks again,

RA
 

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