Where to dive with junior diver

Hi: New to this group.

My wife and I are wondering where is a good first open water dive vacation. We are both just certified and my son (12) has his junior open water card so of course he is restricted on depth. So easy dive will be first. Now we are looking for a vacation spot. Bonaire maybe or Cozumel ? Any suggestions? Thanks

How about the BVI? Shallow diving, great vis, good beaches. You can rent a villa in the summer at really reasonable rates.

I can't think of a better place. There are lots of very easy shore dives there with easy entry. You can see tons of fish and coral between 15 and 40 ft. There reef slopes very gently out for about 75 to 100 yds to a depth of 35ft or so, then drops sharply to 90-100 ft. The island is safe and slow paced. The food and water are safe to drink. If you choose, you can do boat diving after he gets some experience.

We love the place, our 5th trip is coming up in July. Drop me a PM if you like, I have pictures and resort suggestions that I will be happy to share.

Here are a couple of web sites to check out. www.infobonaire.com www.bonairetalk.com

Bonaire Talk is a board similar to this one, dedicated to Bonaire. Lots of very helpful people on it.

I just noticed this was your first post to SS, welcome to the board.

We chose Key Largo for the first trip.

This decision was made due to price and the window of time available. Also, I did not want to spend alot on a trip to a dive only kind of place when I did not know if she would like diving or not.

If the experience is positive (going in a couple of weeks) then we plan to do Bonaire in the next year or so.

It you read other posts Cozumel is a great value for the dollar but it appears that you need some experience for that type of diving. - Better safe than sorry I say.

There is some nice easy diving in the Keys as well. The biggest "problem" that I see is that it involves boat diving. If you catch a nice flat day, it's great. The last time I was in KL , May 2002, the seas were 4-5 ft, not bad for a NC diver but about 1/2 of the boat was hanging over the rail, including my buddy on his first ocean dive. Unless you and your kids are experienced boat people, lakes/rivers DO NOT COUNT, then at least be prepared and use seasick med. I suspect that getting very seasick on ones first dive would tend to turn a new diver off real quick. I also have some reservations about taking a new diver who is seasick into the water. How will they handle getting sick UW? Then there is getting back on the boat. On a slick day, no problem but in 4-5 ft seas it can be scary to say the least and down right dangerous if you are not careful.
If the seas are rough and you have new divers along, it may be better to abort the dives and hope for a better day tomorrow.

And it worked out perfectly. Great place for easy diving.

Hallmac