How do I know if my son is ready for OW?

[Capnhook]

I'm still a newbie with ~15 dives. My son, now 10, has completed SSI's Scuba Rangers program. We are heading to Akumal again this winter and he REALLY wants to dive with me. My thoughts so far are that we have the chance for about 6 hrs of pool time before we go and I would spend that with him, gauging his comfort and skill level. The DMs I dive with in Akumal are really great and have a lot of experience with kids and I have a high level of trust and respect for them from my dives with them last year. My son seems to be a real natural and took to diving in the Rangers program like he was born to do it, so if he does well in the rest of the pool time we have, am I right in thinking we should give it a go? Thoughts?

 

[herman]

My first 2 thoughts are "How well does he respect scuba" and what are the dive profiles in Akumal.
I often dive with very young divers and really enjoy doing so. I think the one key is to let them know up front and clearly that THEY ARE DIVERS and you fully expect them to act like one. By that I mean that I am going to treat them just like I would any other diver (drop the dad/adult mode) and from the time we start to gear up until the gear is off I expect them to act accordingly. They have the power to call dives and make decisions just like the rest of the divers in the group, there are no children or adults, there are just divers. It is amazing how many of the take on the role very well......and to be fair, once the gear is off it's not unusual that I go into kid mode. I am a big kid to start with and it reenforces that there is a time and place for both. I would also suggest you back off for the first few dives and find a DM you trust and have them dive with your son in the manner above. It will reenforce that he is a real diver and needs to act like one and remove some of the dad factor.

The next issue is are the dives approperate for his diving skills. I have no clue what the dives on Akumal are like so I can't directly answer that but if they are deep (40+) or involve rough seas I would consider working out some dive schedule that is more suited to a young novice diver even if it prevents you from doing some dives that you want to do, there is always next year for the dive but you get one shot at his first dives. Your issue may be finding an op that will accomidate those needs.

 

[RJP]

One question: is he mature/intelligent enough to take care of YOU if YOU have a problem while diving? (And no, you can't play the "we'll always dive with a DM" card in answer to this question.)

 

[kwinter]

My experience is that virtually no kid that age has respect for dangerous activity and his own mortality. But that is just normal and not a reason to avoid diving. He would learn to respect it over time. The keys that I have seen are how comfortable a kid is in the water and how well he can equalize. Some kids are water rats who are just as comfortable in the ocean as on land. As long as they can equalize, I think it's a great time for them to learn. Any reluctance at all to get in the water must be respected. The time might come later.

 

[DivemasterDennis]

Lots of good comments. I dive Akumal a lot, and the profiles vary from 50 to 80 feet unless you stay in the bay. I think he could do a certification class in Akumal, the conditions are very benign, but only if he limits his diving to being in the bay, where unfortunately there is a limited amount of things to see ( but there are turtles!) The biggest point is to dive with a DM unless your son can rescue you if the need arises.
DivemasterDennis

 

[Capnhook]

Thanks for comments, I really want an outside perspective as its hard to remove myself from the Dad role. To better explain the plan I had in mind, here is what I was thinking. Firstly, we'll be doing as many pool sessions before we go as I can manage. This should be 5-6 sessions of an hour each. This is on top of the initial training he received in Rangers. If and ONLY if I see him demonstrate the level of comfort and respect of rules/procedures that are needed will we even begin to think of pursuing this further this year. When we get to Akumal, the potential dives would be made up of two instructors I trust a lot, myself and my uncle. I would only entertain very easy, shallower dives in the 30ish foot range. (Assuming this fits with Jr Open Water). I agree that it would be best for me to take a role of observer, buddying with my uncle and being near by but not interfering and likely mandatory until he's got the Jr OW anyway. This would have a side benefit of letting me get some video and pics of his first dive as well. My thought is with this very cautious approach we can introduce him to this marvelous world under the surface, but not push beyond comfort and safety. It's also of note that he is a very safety minded kid and has demonstrated a very mature approach to diving. He takes safety very seriously and has blown me away with his dedication to learning as much as he can. He's a natural in the water and was given the nickname "The Fish" by his Ranger's instructors.

---------- Post added December 8th, 2013 at 09:51 AM ----------

One other thing to note, is there will be 3 instructors in these pool sessions, it's a Sunday evening dive club at the local pool. I will be having them work with us and gauging his readiness before we go in addition to myself. I recognize that I'm not that experienced yet, so I'm not the best judge. I don't want to run into a situation that I feel he's ready but to the trained instructor it's apparent he isn't.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

I taught my boys when they were 8-9 yrs old. It takes a special kid to do it. The safety conscious stuff is really tough to judge in the pool. It has to be an unusual kid and his respect for safety is probably better judged by his behavior when climbing trees, riding bikes in the street and other more common, yet dangerous and potentially fatal activities.

I would be pushing for excellent snorkeling and freediving skills in the pool as a supplement to more bubble blowing in the pool.

 

[adurso]

My children both were diving at early ages, diving with children is entirely different than adults.

The child is the focus of your dive, you must anticipate conditions and not hesitate to call a dive.

It is a judgement call only a parent can make as to the readiness of their child.

Diving with your child, watching their discovery of the new world open to them, is something few experience, but is very rewarding.

The adult is diving solo for all intents and purposes, plan accordingly.

 

[Capnhook]

I agree. He's been snorkeling with me there for a couple years now. Also, we usually go to the local pool every Sunday for an hour or two and play around with the mask, snorkel and fins. He's very comfortable with that aspect.

 

[TSandM]

I think my only concern would be whether you can actually find profiles like that . . . I haven't done much ocean diving there, but the boats generally seem to go out to deeper reefs than that, and there isn't a whole lot of reef near shore (at least that I've found while snorkeling, anyway). You could, of course, go dive the open water portions of some of the cenotes -- we spent 45 minutes noodling around in Casa Cenote, and there were quite a few fish and crabs (including some big tarpon!). And Cenote Eden has a big open water area, too.