Minimum age for Scuba Diving

[Osric]

I have done some searches but can't find a prior poll.

I am interested in poll responses as well as replies that express your opinions on what age is old enough to be a responsible diver and dive buddy.

There are all kinds of potential issues with young divers, and also potential benefits. Let's hear all points of view.

thanks
Osric

 

[g1138]

Really depends on the maturity level. A good generalization start point in my mind would be age 16. Anything younger than that should get a provisional cert.
ie. cannot rent tanks or equipment or dive without
a) a guardian/diver holding a basic open water cert
or
b) instructor

One potential issue from starting young is arrogance due to one thinking they already know everything about scuba once they start for their actual basic certification.
There was one basic student (around 19-20 yrs old) who had gotten a provisional cert as a young kid.
Basically the gist was he didn't pay attention during the pool sessions and he broke a few rules "experimenting" as he put it.
Examples would be holding his breath to see if it would raise him to the surface
and draining a tank to 0psi on land, on purpose and not telling anyone. (we only found out when the instructor started filling tanks)

None of the instructors, students, or TA's got a good vibe off of him.
But he's only 1 guy out of many who follow his route: getting provisional certs before actual certs, and most do well. It all depends on the maturity level of those who take the class, regardless of age.

 

[herbdb]

I have no problem with restricted supervised certification for young children if they can handle it. My 10 year old grandson has his Jr. Certification. We are very careful in monitoring his diving. We want him to be safe and have fun. He always dives with his Dad and another adult (usually me or an instructor).

This is a great way to grow your own buddy.

Having said that, here is a link to an article that my LDS has on their website on the issue from a medical perspective.

Children & Diving – A Perspective « Dave's Dive (b)Log

It is definitely something that should be considered with great care.

 

[marcosdutra]

padi says 12 years old

 

[Osric]

padi says 12 years old

Open Water Diver - Scuba Courses, Training & Adventures - Professional Association of Diving Instructors says 10 actually.

I am not speaking for or against this standard, just wanted to correct the comment.

Osric

 

[k ellis]

Ok what I have to say is strictly an opinion and nothing more.

16 is a good rounded number for open water certification though i believe 15 is the age acceptible. (may be wrong). I think that any younger then that should be and currently are restricted to certain depths.

10 would be a good supervised introductory range I think but limited strictly to 10 feet or less for obvious reasons.


Now for my age based opinions. at the age of 12 I see so many kids that could make excellent divers of any category and yet I see many more in that age group that I wouldnt trust breathing out of a snorkel on dry land. This is still quiet young and many students simply have not grown out of the I want to play phase.

I have seen students in one class I remember so well who were 18 and 19. The parents had paid to get the family certified for a big trip coming up while I was taking a following position (I was not acting in the dive master role and was not doing anything more then simply enjoying the dive) I noticed these 2 right behind the instructor and behind the remainder of their tour group of their open water check out dives. The 19 year old swam up behind the 18 year old and turned his air off at a depth of 20 feet. Well as you can imagine this resulted in a pretty bad reaction that gave a good shot to the surface. Sadly since the dive instructor was helping others in the group on his right side these 2 on his left side went unnoticed by him for a couple of minutes. As I did see what happend I came to the surface and basicly with a very law enforcement command voice told them to get wait right where they were until the instructor came up. (It was his liability so I did not want to endanger these 2 any more or him) once he surfaced and learned what happend he was not a happy camper and these two were delt with accordingly by him.

The point of my story is we trust people based on an average number. While this is not in some ways fair to VERY mature young men and women it also endangers less then mature older adults. I Really think that in addition to an age standard I think it should be and often is that the instructor does a quick summary chat with potential students and determine which ones should wait a little longer.

 

[*dave*]

It really depends on the child and its parental units. I've always made it a policy to interview the child and the parents before taking on kids <14. The thing about diving with kids is their varying degrees of mental and physical inability to assist an adult buddy in many scenarios. There's tons of issues relating to kids and there's no specific age at which those issues go away. My wife says some never do.

The kids I've taught have been a blast. Right now, I have a 10yo girl for a private JR OWD cert. It all depends....

Ok what I have to say is strictly an opinion and nothing more.
10 would be a good supervised introductory range I think but limited strictly to 10 feet or less for obvious reasons.

What reasons are those?

 

[k ellis]

It really depends on the child and its parental units. I've always made it a policy to interview the child and the parents before taking on kids <14. The thing about diving with kids is their varying degrees of mental and physical inability to assist an adult buddy in many scenarios. There's tons of issues relating to kids and there's no specific age at which those issues go away. My wife says some never do.

The kids I've taught have been a blast. Right now, I have a 10yo girl for a private JR OWD cert. It all depends....

What reasons are those?

it would be on the fact that kids do have a tendancy as a whole to play around and horse around missing valuable information that in the event of scuba could be the diffrence between life and death. I would say it would be for the same reasons we do not trust a kid of that age to drive a car. After rereading your statement though I think you already gave the answer I was considering.
But I also agree with your last wording. It does depends.

 

[Pauly854]

I just dread the day that my 15 year old son finds out that the "restriction" mandating that he can only dive with his father, was invented by me. But, I agree that maturity is the main basis for this discussion. And since maturity levels vary, putting a number on it is not realistic. But if pressed, I would say that 15 is a fair age. Hopefully, those closest to the kid in question can recognize the need to place their own restrictions on the child's diving.

To be honest, I didn't really put a restriction on my son...but that is probably just because it hasn't come up yet.

 

[Trace Malinowski]

Just received my Beneath the Sea brochure. Jean-Michel Cousteau is the 2011 Pioneer of Diving at the show. The brochure says he started diving at age 8 in 1945.

I think that the mistake that all dive industry professionals make is that we look at the training standards of our agencies and interpret those standards as a norm. For example, if a standard says someone can be a divemaster with 40 dives, I don't believe that this should be interpreted as, "Everyone with 40 dives can be a divemaster." I believe the proper interpretation is, "The standard allows for as little as 40 dives for divemaster training for the right person."

Obviously, a 21 year-old L.A. County lifeguard with 40 dives might be a better candidate for a DM class than a 52 year-old diver with minimal comfort in the water, moderate skills and poor physical fitness.

I think it is very important to interpret the standards for admission to class based upon age with the idea that 10 years old isn't the norm, but rather an exception. I think 12 to 14 is the age most kids are able to start diving with professionals and 15 is the age where most kids are able to dive with family members and other buddies. Often the dynamic between a kid and his or her parents is different than that with a divemaster or instructor.