SCUBA & my 11 year old

[mmmeenehan]

Trimix2dive,

How were the Key's? I'd like to take my son and not sure where to go. Are there some shallow ship wrecks or nice coral for pix's? Any suggetsions on specific dive sites and dive operators? When is the best time of the year to travel?

The Upper Keys is a great place for beginner divers. Most of the wrecks are too deep for beginners but there are a lot of outstanding shallow reefs.

The Florida Keys Dive Center is a great operation. They used to run a lot of dive charters for BSA's Florida Sea Base just down the road. So they are used to working with youth. Just call Jason, the shop manager, he'll certainly work with you to ensure that you get to appropriate dive sites.

Don't plan on travelling in late Aug/Early Sept. Our scout group got booted out last weekend due to Tropical Storm Fay :mad1:

 

[goodluck99]

I'm 13 and did my o/w when I was 12. I did much better in the exams than ALL the adults on my course, completed my dives, no problem. Children/teenagers should be given as much responsibility as adults in diving; after all, we complete the same test as adults...

#depth limit?
#dive with an adult/pro

... we passed the same course!

 

[jimmyennis7]

Our SCUBA Crew participated in the OW certification last Oct & Nov. My son was 10 at the time and took the class too (as a non-scout of course) and did better on the written test than I did. On Nov 17th & 18th Up here in Illinois we went for our 4 open water check out dives. Water was 47 degrees at its warmest and 45 at its coldest. Way to cold for my skinny 10 year old son with a wetsuit that was too big. OK, so the other 5 of us went on to complete our dives.

Fast forward to July of this year, myself and a few others from the Crew complete our dives for our AOW certification. My son, now 11 makes his 1st open water check out dives. I was along for the ride and support. Myself and the dive instructor were shocked at how well he was able to complete all the required tasks. I could not believe it. I figured he would have some trouble. WOW.

This Friday, he finishes up his last check out dive. Hopefully, if all goes well, he will have earned his Jr. Open Water Certification.

Joe

awesome...my whole family OW certified SSI this summer (2008)...11-year old son, 14-year old daughter, 17-year old daughter, myself - 51-year (old man) and my wife re-cert (she is advanced with NASDS from BC (b4 children)...lotsa $$$ - but worth it...we have already surpassed Specialty diver (got our Night/LimitedVis & Nitrox cert), and by the time we go on our Thanksgiving dive vacation in Key Largo, we will all be SSI Advanced (including Boat-Wreck-Deep)...guess u could say we got bit by the SCUBA bug big time...my only concern/question is I heard if you were younger than 15, you shouldn't go deeper than 70'...can anyone comment on this please? Thanx, a proud SCUBA papa...

 

[goodluck99]

awesome...my whole family OW certified SSI this summer (2008)...11-year old son, 14-year old daughter, 17-year old daughter, myself - 51-year (old man) and my wife re-cert (she is advanced with NASDS from BC (b4 children)...lotsa $$$ - but worth it...we have already surpassed Specialty diver (got our Night/LimitedVis & Nitrox cert), and by the time we go on our Thanksgiving dive vacation in Key Largo, we will all be SSI Advanced (including Boat-Wreck-Deep)...guess u could say we got bit by the SCUBA bug big time...my only concern/question is I heard if you were younger than 15, you shouldn't go deeper than 70'...can anyone comment on this please? Thanx, a proud SCUBA papa...

There is NO scientific evidence to say that if your under 15 you shouldn't dive deeper than 70'. What this theory is based on is the fact that some children may not be mentally mature enough to dive deeper. So if you deem that your children could handle an emergency at 70' or deeper; by all means take them there. The only thing I would say is that nitrogen narcosis hits in on children at a shallower depth, so be careful of that.

 

[Sue J]

Actually, it has been posited that deep diving may affect growth in children. The evidence is inconclusive, but something you may want to consider. Search scuba board for "growth plates" or read this thread:

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/basic-scuba-discussions/251512-children-pressure.html

 

[DeputyDan]

There is plenty to see above 70 feet.

They have all their lives to go deeper.

 

[scubastaci]

There is plenty to see above 70 feet.

They have all their lives to go deeper.

I agree with Dan! I am anxiously awaiting the day when my daughter can get certified(she is only 6 and snorkels every time we are in the water). My husband and I just got back from a week in the keys and never went below 35 feet. There are a lot of places to explore that are above 70 feet. If we were to go to all of them, our kids would be well into adulthood before they ran out of "shallow" diving sites!

 

[wapati8]

Mission Accomplished---------he is Jr. Open Water Certified.

Crogratulations. My 11 year old found my old open water manual when we unpacked into our new house... and now wants to get certified. Perhaps we will go to Hawaii and get her certified there. It's to expensive here and the water is kind of cold in Japan.

Now I am looking for gear for an eleven year old...

 

[MichiganScott]

Crogratulations!!!!!!!!
And welcome to a whole nuther world.

 

[Road Guy]

I have some questions…

I have a 9 year old, 7 year old, and a 5 year old (Boy, Girl, Boy) The 9 & 7 year old will turn 10 & 8 this spring, they are all three very jealous of mom and dad being able to scuba and they have to stay with grandma

Part of me would like to go ahead and let the 10 year old do a bubble maker class or the Junior OW Class whichever its called this summer , or maybe I should wait and let them do the class together when the older two or both 10?

We will keep them in springs and quarry's until they are a little older, maybe 13 or so, we just got back from the keys and even the shallow reefs the current was pretty strong, or maybe it was just this time of year?

My main concern with them is that we keep a boat on the lake, they have all been swimming since they were 3 and have no fear of the water, it’s a good thing and a bad thing….