Good places to go for easy, shallow diving with newbie Junior Open Water divers?

[scubadada]

...diving Blue Heron Bridge was an amazingly easy shore dive with gentle and easy entry. As long as you time the tides correctly, not much is easier. I know that Cobalt Coast house reef would be great for kids, as my son dove there at Kids Sea Camp.

Blue Heron Bridge is an excellent, beginner dive, no deeper than about 20 ft. As stated, it is limited by the high tide schedule. Especially, on weekends and when conditions are poor for boat diving, it can be quite crowded. Much of the rest of SE FL, above Key Largo, is not ideal for young beginners. Boynton Beach reefs are among the shallowest but the bottom of the inside reefs is about 60 feet.

I love Grand Cayman, I would probably save it for when the kids are more experienced and less depth limited. I have almost 200 dives off Grand Cayman and only 2 were to a depth in the 40s of feet. This include many shore dives at Turtle Reef, Lighthouse Point, and Cobalt Coast. The ability to dive at Cobalt Coast my be most influenced by higher seas.

I only have about 40 dives off Bonaire, all but two were deeper than the goal here. It would certainly be possible to keep depths to a minimum, but I think you would be missing out on a lot. Some of the shore entries are of moderate of greater difficulty, though plenty are pretty easy. Personally, this might also be a better destination a few years from now.

The Red Sea is an interesting idea, it might work and is certainly inexpensive at the current time. I spent two weeks on a liveaboard last April/May out of Port Ghalib/Marsa Alam, it was fantastic. I spent a day going out on a day boat and it was quite good and just a little over the depth restriction. I have a brief review in the Red Sea travel section. Not sure what UK travel is like to Egypt these days, last I knew Sharm flights not reopened, unsure I would go there. Hurghada and Marsa Alam seemed fine on my visit.

 

[themilnes]

I'm surprised that the Med or Spain isn't on your destination list. Wouldn't that be easier? Just curious why the US/Caribbean?

Hi Tep
We're open to suggestions for anywhere! If you know of places that would be good for us in the Med or Spain then please shout up. Obviously those destinations are cheaper for us to get to...
Thanks

 

[themilnes]

Just about any destination could be pricey from the UK I sometimes forget, and take it for granted, how lucky I am to have many fine diving destinations relatively close by and at a reasonable cost.

Indeed scubadada! As a couple we used to do some diving around the UK but have decided not to introduce the kids to diving around here just yet as, although there are some great dive sites and things to see, we don't want the cold to put them off. So, warmer waters it is for now... (have to admit I'm a sucker for warm water anyway!)

We're planning to go in the summer holidays - end of July through August - so should be able to get reasonably priced flights as long as we're flexible.

 

[diversteve]

Here''s another off-beat option I just stumbled on - Antigua and Barbuda. Apparently there's several large AI resorts there so it drives a non-stop flight on Virgin.

I know nothing about the diving except that the Andes Wreck is 25-30' deep in a bay there - and I guess was a good sized ship. Looks mostly open so might be good to explore. Not too deep either.
https://photos.smugmug.com/Archives...ter/i-jnSHgcM/0/S/Antigua-Underwater009-S.jpg

I did find this - ANTIGUA PADI SCUBA DIVING - Caribbean West Indies Some of their dive site photos look pretty shallow.

 

[Ontwreckdiver]

Have a look at Bayahibe, Dominican Republic. It is on the south side of the island facing the Caribbean Sea. Bayahibe a small paradise in Caribbean, on the south coast of Dominican republic
They have reefs, walls, wrecks and even cave dives if you are so certified. I dove with John from SCUBAFUN PADI Dive Center - Bayahibe, Dominican Republic and can highly recommend his shop. Another good shop is Diving Dominican Republic - The best Scuba Diving in Dominican Republic but they are private diving, so they are more expensive because of that.

 

[themilnes]

Thanks so much guys, your suggestions have given me loads to go away and read up about! Really appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts...

 

[SquidSpotter]

We have done Anthony's Key (our first trip after our kids, 11 and 14) were qualified. It was hands down the best vacation we've ever had, and had so many opportunities for other activities such as ziplining, horsebackriding, dolphin encounter, paddle boarding and snorkeling. We went for 10 days, which was good because we had issues with stuffy noses at the beginning, and needed a few days to square that away. My son had ended up having a sinus infection, which, in most cases would have killed the trip, but they have a clinic (which was very inexpensive) right there at the resort who fixed him up with antibiotics and decongestants and he was in the water after two days and logged 18 dives. Meanwhile we did the zip lines, etc. The divemaster was great with my kids, very patient with new divers, and all the dives worked out well for them. Some were out of depth, but not many. We just kept the kids in their zones. They didn't miss out. 9 out of 10 because bugs are a problem there and you have to be very vigilant with the repellent. 10 out 10 diving.

Shortly after that we went to Bonaire with our dive shop and stayed at Sand Dollar condominiums. Also a great experience, but was glad that they had already logged some dives and were comfortable in the water because it was all DIY shore diving. For our 11 year old, this got a little exhausting. The diving was fan-stinking-tastic and we all agreed that we would like to go back, but the heavy equipment wrangling becomes quite a lot of work for kids and parents who are vigilant about everybody not missing a step, taking care of their own gear, etc. As a parent, I was confident in my kids' abilities, but was obviously going to make sure they were on top of things. Not as relaxing as AKR where we had divemasters and boat captains to back us up. Let's just say that we had a little more bickering going on between parents and kids in Bonaire for the usual, "come on, you have to carry your own stuff," and "hold your gauges down when you turn on that valve." and "Did you sign your tank out properly?" 8 out of 10 because it is all DIY. 9 out of 10 on diving because we saw wild dolphins in Roatan and that's hard to top. ;-)

We are currently looking at Cobalt Coast resort in GC, but look forward to a return one of these places in 2018, just don't know which yet.

 

[SquidSpotter]

Wow... all the fans of Key Largo! I love it! Thanks to @scubadada for the nice words. Your commission check will be in the mail today!

The best part about the Keys for new and young divers is the plethora of shallow dive sites. Kids don't need deep, but they do want fun. We have wrecks that are at 40 ft and they're screamers (not fake)! The Benwood wrecked during WWII, Pickles shortly after the Civil war, and so forth. Lots of history in our waters so you get to teach your kids while they're having fun. Lots of fun on land as well, and we're a little over an hour from Everglades National Park where they get to pet wild alligators and crocodiles!. Just kidding about petting them, but Florida has a lot to see throughout the state both natural and man made.

Another option would be to join one of our invasions. We travel all over the place (next one at Anthony's Key) and you'll have a boat load of safe divers that will help keep an eye out on the kids.

Wow... all the fans of Key Largo! I love it! Thanks to @scubadada for the nice words. Your commission check will be in the mail today!

The best part about the Keys for new and young divers is the plethora of shallow dive sites. Kids don't need deep, but they do want fun. We have wrecks that are at 40 ft and they're screamers (not fake)! The Benwood wrecked during WWII, Pickles shortly after the Civil war, and so forth. Lots of history in our waters so you get to teach your kids while they're having fun. Lots of fun on land as well, and we're a little over an hour from Everglades National Park where they get to pet wild alligators and crocodiles!. Just kidding about petting them, but Florida has a lot to see throughout the state both natural and man made.

Another option would be to join one of our invasions. We travel all over the place (next one at Anthony's Key) and you'll have a boat load of safe divers that will help keep an eye out on the kids.

NetDoc, are there any spaces left for this trip?

 

[The Chairman]

NetDoc, are there any spaces left for this trip?

I believe so... follow the link and give them a call. ScubaBoard Invasion 2017 Roatan Package Deal I'm not running it, so I have no idea how much room is left.

 

[KenGordon]

Indeed scubadada! As a couple we used to do some diving around the UK but have decided not to introduce the kids to diving around here just yet as, although there are some great dive sites and things to see, we don't want the cold to put them off. So, warmer waters it is for now... (have to admit I'm a sucker for warm water anyway!)

We're planning to go in the summer holidays - end of July through August - so should be able to get reasonably priced flights as long as we're flexible.

I am also considering this. My son has snorkelled in the UK (seals are a big hit) and I am trying to figure out where to take him to do the open water stuff in the warm. I have been slightly considering Florida (there is a BSAC centred in Key Largo) but probably Malta is going to be the place. Marsa Alam would be idea but the political situation gets in the way.

Malta is easy to get to, the diving is pretty good, there are plenty of shallow sites, the dive ops are often British, tides don't matter and they drive on the proper side of the road.

Although they have eaten most of the fish there are enough for children to get excited about. So as an introduction it isn't so overwhelming. I think there is a risk of trying too hard.

On Gozo I can recommend Mody Divers and on Malta Deep Blue.