OW training for children?

[BeachySherry]

Hello!

My family is going to stay at Cozumel Palace for a week on October. My 16 year old will be diving and getting his advanced OW certification. While there, I would like to get my OW certification along with my 14 yr old daughter and 10 yr old son. We have never been diving before, only snorkeled. I’ve seen all the great recommendations by this site - many for advanced divers - are there any that are especially good with the younger crowd? Will this be too much for a dive operator, and should we request/ pay for an extra guide?

 

[SwampTiger90]

AquaSafari on site at Cozumel Palace has a couple of very good instructors. Andrea is great, she was our son's OW instructor. He was older but I've seen her work with younger students. You won't need an extra guide for the certification, but if you are going to continue diving after the class it might be good to have a private divemaster rather than part of the larger group. You might even be able to keep your instructor depending on how busy they are.

 

[ggunn]

Hello!

My family is going to stay at Cozumel Palace for a week on October. My 16 year old will be diving and getting his advanced OW certification. While there, I would like to get my OW certification along with my 14 yr old daughter and 10 yr old son. We have never been diving before, only snorkeled. I’ve seen all the great recommendations by this site - many for advanced divers - are there any that are especially good with the younger crowd? Will this be too much for a dive operator, and should we request/ pay for an extra guide?

I believe you will be hard pressed to complete an OW certification in a week starting from scratch.

 

[JFS]

AquaSafari on site at Cozumel Palace has a couple of very good instructors. Andrea is great, she was our son's OW instructor. He was older but I've seen her work with younger students. You won't need an extra guide for the certification, but if you are going to continue diving after the class it might be good to have a private divemaster rather than part of the larger group. You might even be able to keep your instructor depending on how busy they are.

Do all your theory from home before you arrive then it's all water work here. You can do the PADI e learning option.

 

[BeachySherry]

Yes, we will be doing all our theory from home first before we arrive.

Thanks SwampTiger90. We’ll check out AquaSafari.

 

[DandyDon]

My 16 year old will be diving and getting his advanced OW certification.

I guess that he is already a DAN member with DAN dive insurance? You'll want the whole family on a family plan and insured. It'd probably be best if you were the primary. It'd be a good idea to call DAN and discuss this.

While there, I would like to get my OW certification along with my 14 yr old daughter and 10 yr old son.

I would certainly hire a private DM for your post-certification dives, all of them.

 

[cicopo]

I recommend checking with Blue Project on this. About Us | Blue Project Cozumel Diving

 

[DandyDon]

I recommend checking with Blue Project on this. About Us | Blue Project Cozumel Diving

There are dozens of great operators on the islands, and many of us have our favorites. I can't think of any reasons to pick one over others.

 

[cicopo]

Blanca at Blue Project has an excellent reputation when it comes to working with young potential divers.

 

[waterone]

I believe you will be hard pressed to complete an OW certification in a week starting from scratch.

I don't see an issue with being there an entire week.

There are dozens of great operators on the islands, and many of us have our favorites. I can't think of any reasons to pick one over others.

Personal experience with the OPs instruction would be what I go with. Simply diving and liking an OP I do not believe to be enough for me to make a recommendation.