SCUBA with kids question

I got certified with my dad at age 12. As long as you know that she is level headed and will respect any rules that are set down by the dive master, I would definitely go for it. It is an excellent bonding experience, and something you two can do together at any time.

 

Real question is: Whose idea is it to get certified? Yours or your daughter's?

It is fairly common for a pair of people to sign up for lessons, typically it is the dominate partner who convinces a subordinate partner to "give it a try." Once underwater, the person "influenced" to take lessons discovers a lack of confidence underwater and this leads to newbs shooting to the surface with potentially disasterous consequences.

Be real sure that both you and your daughter are EXTREMELY confident in and under the water. If she is in good physical condition and feels 100% confident then she is not too young to start the adventure.

And if you have a choice of certifications, skip PADI (Put Another Dollar In) and find yourself a NAUI shop.

Scott (30+ years of diving)

 

I got my PADI certification at 14 and I think it was something like Junior Open Water. Not sure how the certs have changed over the years. At 14, I was fine... the biggest challenge at 12 would be the strength/endurance to swim against currents, depending on where you dive. I was in the West Indies and Grenadines, and had no problem.

 

I still use my PADI c-card from when I was 9.

 

Back in the 90s I was an instructor in Key Largo.I worked in the Scuba industry for almost 15 years.Ive taught almost everyday If I was'nt driving the boats.Ive allways felt children that young should wait until there 15.Ive seen too many parents push there kids way to hard.Parents forget diving is supposed to be relaxing and fun,they soon forget.The reason certificating agencies such as PADI,NAUI,CMAS,and if there still around YMCA,all they want is to make abuck.If you decide to certifty your child remember to dive to there ability not yours.Too many times I had to rescue parents and children because the parent thought the child could handle the dive.We had a saying about what PADI stood foray and dive immediatly.Choose your instructor wisely.

 

See if you can do a pool dive to make sure she is comfortable. I would then try to transition to a shore dive, rather that a boat dive. This allows for much more of a transition into the water.

 

Just a thought,in Key Largo theres a place called Jules Undersea Lodge Its an enclosed lagoon.There are platforms built at specific depths in a controlled area.They used to when I was teaching down there they had an intro to scuba progam.Your with an instructor who teaches a few basics,mask clearing,bouyancy control ,fin kick etc.Its less expensive to try this first,just incase your child decides this isnt for her.If she likes it then its better to sign her up for a class.As for private classes I'm for it usually if the parent has'nt dived in some time it would be a perfect time to refresh your skills at the same time.