Advice on training for my 13 year old son

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robandliza

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Messages
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Location
London
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Hi

I'm looking for some advice on getting my son qualified

First some background on me. I'm AOW PADI certified with nitrox thrown in too. I am based in the UK but have no interest in diving in the cold so I do all my diving in Florida wheer we have a house(Kissimmee) and visit there every summer, but I "only" get the last 3 weeks of August due to work committments

My 13 year old son and his friend, who is coming with me when I fly out, have expressed an interest in learning to dive which I am obviously happy about but am a little undecided on how to go about it

I have 3 local scuba clubs which I can take them to, 2 of which are PADI whilst the 3rd is BSAC (British Sub Aqua Club). The timings of the 2 PADI clubs are not ideal in being a little too late in midweek during school time which pretty much counts them out but I'm worried that the BSAC qualification might not be recognised in the US. Anyone have an opinion on that please

My original thinking was do class and enclosed water dives in UK then do the open water dives via referral in the summer but I am very taken by the teaching of the BSAC club in that they include rescue diver and nitrox in the same course but again, will it be recognised when we look to dive in the summer

The other option is to do the whole thing in Florida

Any advice welcome

Thanks
 
While not BSAC myself I know they recognise each other. see Dive Agency Crossovers BSAC, CMAS, SSI, NAUI & SAA to PADI
I don't know if you could do a referal with open water dives at a padi resort and BSAC training, probably not which would make PADI training a better option.
Maybe if you contacted the dive shops in Florida directly they could give you some better info.
PADI have an E Learning for the theory so that should be no hassles. So pool sessions and open water dives in Florida.
I would hope the instructor would want to spend some time in the pool with kids as young as 13 before they ventured out into the sea otherwise I would be looking for another instructor.
 
Do the BSAC training and get a univeral referral. That way you don't even need a PADI instructor. You can use a number of other agencies for OW dives if that is what you wish to do. There are also some BSAC instructors in the florida keys. You might be able to find one near your summer place as well.

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If you let the boys do the open water dives locally you might be removing a mental barrier to their diving local, low-vis, cold UK waters in the future. That might be a doing them a big favor. A cold-water divers needs a fraction of a second and 0.019% of his brain power to realize that warm water pretty nice, but a diver who learns warm as the norm... well you can guess how that goes.
Doing the open water dives locally might also intoduce them to other local divers, maybe even some their age. Maybe even some their age & female!

I've read UK diving magazines for years & there seems to be a lot of open-water level places to dive with a lot of interesting sea life etc. to see. I love Fla too but don't sell the UK short.
 
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ish, cold water diving. might get a call from the local welfare office for child abuse. do the course work locally and take them somewhere warm to do the practicals, under 60' easy dives, get em hooked.

peer pressure is a funny thing. monkey see monkey do, kids are much braver in pairs.

stick to padi. it'll make it easier in the international travel realm for them later in life. you might find someone willing to do a 2 on 1 class after hours or a time slot more convenient (take this advice with a grain of salt, im not an instructor, shop owner, just a simple diver who likes to roll into different oceans, when i have a chance).
good luck and good job getting them interested early in life.
 
Why not both? Do the BSAC class now and PADI next year for their refresher?


-- Posted from a mobile device. Please excuse errors and brevity.
 
robandliza,

I don't know why you don't want to dive the UK, you have some excellent places to dive. I had the good fortune of diving in Brighton last summer and loved it. The visibility is not what it is in Florida, but it is still exhilarating. If you are going to restrict yourself to warm water diving, you are missing out.

I would have your son certified locally, so he becomes familiar with what is in his own back yard, and he may be a better diver for it.
 
I agree with the fellow divers that recommend training in your local waters (UK). I speak from experience as I planned to get certified in Hawaii although I leave a block away from the Pacific Ocean in Santa Monica. I figured tropical reefs, warm water, great visibility, just picture perfect as the PADI ads. But things did not work out well when I got there due to a sinus infection. I never got certified in Maui but figured I should give a local diving shop a chance so I can get straight to diving next time I am at the tropics, and I did. What a surprise that was! Yes the water is cold here but the life abundant and the diving opportunities endless particularly since I discovered a passion for diving. Not only I completed the training, I now dive locally at least once a week cold or warm!

Conclusion: It is better to train in the area you live particularly if it is more challenging. Then it will make the tropics feel like a pool dive. Give your son the gift to dive anywhere not just warm water...if he likes diving he will thank you for introducing him to what is next to him. You live in a short of a big island so I am sure there are diving spots worth exploring. Some people go to quarries to dive, your local ocean should be better than that.

Side note based on my experience in diving with my 11 year old son: I think that it will be a great idea for you to also train at Rescue level particularly if you are going to dive together without a professional present. It is nice to have that extra knowledge and confidence for when things do not work as planned. Also a solo dive class may also come in handy since if you are diving alone with him, you are practically solo...
 
Hey robandliza good for you bringing your child into the wonderful world of diving. As a northern dive shop I see many of my clients going to warmer climates to dive. If you have the a place in FL and a dive shop you have a relationship with you are way ahead of teh game. Here is my recommendation. Call the dive shop you use in FL. tell them you will do the online course. When you go on holiday it will take several days to review the academics and do your pool work. 2 days to do your certification dives and the rest of your holiday to have fun. You can do a variety of shore and boat diving. Then if you do a yearly holiday why not do a refresher, maybe do a class and more diving each year. You will build up slowly but steadily. I have one client who has almost 200 dives in 2 years and not a single cold water dive, diving should be fun first and foremost.
 
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