SCUBA & my 11 year old

[riftvalley84]

I think your best bet is to talk in generalities to your kids & let them know that you will let them get certified when you feel they are ready. Waiting until your 2 oldest (or all 3) are 10 would be convenient but they may not be ready. We were all certified at the same time (our kids were 10, 12 & 14) 3 1/2 years ago. We have now all done over 100 dives & have gone deeper than 70'. We just got Nitrox certified & are going to get our AOW in February on our trip to Nassau. Our kids love scuba diving and it is a great experience to share with them!

 

[Speargirl]

I have two sons one is already a Scuba Ranger and is diving depths of only 15' to 20'. The other one is still a freediver and loving it. One day he will come to me and tell me when he is ready oe maybe not.

For the Keys yes there is current and in the summer it seems to be less than the winter months plus the waters are much warmer. There are also better places to take youngsters diving than the larger reefs that have less current.

I would never tell my children yeap I think you are ready for diving. That should be left up to them to come to you and say they are ready. They need to be confident in themselves first and foremost. When they go into a class and the instructor talks with them he/she will know if they are ready or need more time. Let the instructor tell them what he/ she thinks.

My Scuba Ranger will be taking a Private Lesson with the one and only NetDoc here on SB. So I know he is in the best of hands when he gets Cert.
He will be Cert here in the Keys.
My son is a new member here on SB he is {Cool Keys Kid} When he starts taking his class he will be posting his experence here on the Scuba Teens forum.
I think this forum will be good for all young people to get together and start talking about what they have learned and what they want to learn in the future about scubadiving.

 

[ZenDiver.3D]

My daughter cert.ed at 10 with SDI. I am a dive boat operator and instructor, so she is Always in the shop or on the boat. She is 11 now, and has 87 dives. She is jr advanced. Haley is amazing.
She can do a back roll negative drop into a hard current. She trained harder than any of the adults I have taught. My 13 year old son spent a year away at school, so is behind on his numbers, but he is almost as good as Haley. She can run a rescue scenario. I would never let her in reality, but to know she understands and can do it by the numbers already, means her continued courses are going to be a snap.

It is the greatest thing to dive with your kids. We love it. As long as they love it too, you are very fortunate.

Now you have to spend tons more money to outfit them too..... downside...

 

[DRomano]

I have been diving since I was 15, now 42. I never dreamed I would have a son that did not want to dive. I have been trying to get him into diving since he was 10, now 13. He has no intentions of diving. When I do dive at local lakes he goes along and swims in the water but takes no interest in diving.

 

[jorgie]

MY kids are 5, 7 and 9. They all snorkel and are basically as close to fish as you can be living in WI. We have a house on the lake and they spend almost every day in the water during the non solid water months . They all snorkel and love it and have been snorkeling with me in Jamiaca. My 9 year old eats, sleeps, breaths, everything in the water. He pours through book after book about sharks. In fact you can show him a picture or drawing (as long as its a factual rendering) and he can tell you what kind of shark it is and where they live.

He is just dying to get his JR open water. He has a SASSY unit now and sucks down tanks on a very regular basis just to be like dad. The diving on our lake is very decent for a Midwest lake with Vis to 40 50 ft. If you stay between 15 and 20 ft the temp is very comfortable as well.

Anyways this was a long winded congrats! To all the kids here and there passion for diving. As was mentioned by another, we need more kids taking up the sport.

 

[COPyroDiver]

My oldest son turns 10 in March and the two of us have a father-son trip planned to Grand Bahama Island the first week in April to get his Jr. OW cert. Since my wife doesn't dive (yet), I have been looking forward to this since he was born. Thankfully, he loves the water. He has been in swimming lessons since he was three and is an avid swimmer. He has also been snorkeling with me in Mexico and was diving down to 12' to get a closer look when he was 6. He is big for his age and very mature.

My youngest son is 8, but he may not be ready until he is 11 or so. He is really looking forward to his turn.

 

[BrennanHB]

I am a 16 year old who got certified at age 11. I live in Houston and instead of the lovely blue lagoon my dad took me to Cozumel to get certified. I was certified by blue Angel, which isnt the fanciest dive shop but the dive masters are very patient and know their stuff. Also the first shore dive in my checkout i saw squid immediatley which was very cool. Anyway the whole thing was very well done and i am hooked.

 

[legaleagle]

Last year I got my 11 yr. old granddaughter Kelsey certified. I hired a private instructor and it was well worth it. Kelsey was a natural in the water and did far better on her check out dives than I did. She went through her skills effortlessly. The only issue she has is she gets terribly sea sick onboard the boat. Once she is in the water she is fine....but getting her off the boat is another issue.

As for when a child is "ready" to be certified...I had taken my granddaughter snorkeling since she was 5 yrs. old an she was like a fish. We would spend hours in the water exploring shallow reefs and checking out all the macro underwater life in nooks and crannies. She couldn't wait to be certified and finally last year I agreed. I believe that it is best to let the child make the decision on when they are ready and not force the issue.

I live in So. Florida and dive all year round. She is coming down from Central Florida to spend the whole summer with me this year and we plan on doing alot of diving. Since my daughter doesn't dive, I am the only one that my granddaughter Kelsey dives with. And yes, it was a bit expensive to get her geared up, but she loves having her own equipment and since she is tall for her age, it will last her awhile since it isn't "kid size".

Andrea

 

[knight diver]

Congratulations to both you and your son Joe. while I was very happy to read about your sons recent accomplishment, I was also a little concerned by some of the replies you received. As a SSI open water instructor I have had the opportunity to teach many young students and as such I also have been able to get a unique perspective on young divers that most people never see. While I remain stead fastly committed to our dive industry and bringing the joys of under water experiences to all divers, I also feel compelled to temper that enthusiasm. children who dive are restricted to a certain criteria which I am sure your scuba diving instructor has informed you of during your open water course, according to junior open water training standards A student once certified must dive with a certified parent or guardian or active dive leader to a maximum depth of 40 feet (12 meters). These restriction are put in place not only for the safety of the child but also for the well being of the child's dive buddy. Lets not forget that as recreational divers we are to adhere to the rules of safe diving,remember, it would be devastating to any diver if some sort of accident should occur but especially so if it happened to a child. Dive Buddy's are together for reason and as such must be able to handle a situation if heaven forbid one should crop up. I have on occasion had young students who were not physically capable of handling their own equipment let alone someone else's! Young Divers bring so much to our under water world. and as such we must take every precaution to see that they are mentally and physically prepared Joe, go dive with your son, dive often, enjoy this new, vast world that you have opened up to him...
My warmest regards,
Chris
SSI instructor
Padi dive master
TDI Advanced

 

[dumpsterDiver]

YouTube - whatandwhen2's Channel

Here is 2.5 minutes of my 10 yr old and me doing some diving