freewillie
Contributor
Just got back from a day trip to Catalina with my 13 year old daughter. We hired a DM since this is her first dive since certification in the tropics. She put on a wetsuit for the first time. I confirmed several times that they had gear for her and was reassured that they routinely outfit kids and had scuba gear in smaller sizes. The wetsuit was not a problem, we found one that fit really well. Unfortunately the hood was too big, she kept having problems with her mask flooding, there wasn't a pair of gloves small enough for her, and the fins they provided were full foot fins and didn't have pair booties for her.
We then suited up at Casino Point, had our dive briefing, and got in the water. I was really glad to have the DM since once in the water she took a little to adjust to the weights and the weight belt. I also had never dived there and this site was new to me as well. My daughter looked cold underwater. I tried holding her hands to try and keep warm but didn't really work. I also noticed that she kept clearing her mask, and she complained later that it kept leaking. That didn't help her air consumption either.
After the dive she did complain that it was cold. My computer put the bottom temp at 58 degrees. I remember once I had to take off my gloves in similar temp water to fix my mask and OMG were my hands cold. I can only imagine how my poor daughter felt. After our surface interval she looked very nervous about gearing up again. I asked her if whe wanted to dive one more time or if she would prefer to thumb the dive. She said she was cold and didn't want to try it again. Despite my disappointment I decided to cancel the dive and opted not to dive myself either. This is afterall, supposed to be fun!! The last thing I wanted was to turn this into a bad experience. Up to that point she was enjoying herself, she just didn't want to get in again and be cold.
Lessons learned. 1) hire a DM for new dive sites when diving with new divers. takes all the stress and makes diving with new divers in new locations safer. 2) kids need proper gear for themselves!!! 3) diving should be fun.
As to point #2. My daughter is 4' 10" and a whopping 85 lbs soaking wet. If any of you have any advise on finding extra small gear I would appreciate it. With Christmas coming up and a trip already booked to Hawaii next year she is going to get mask, fins, gloves, and booties that fit !!
Thanks.
PS. I met Dr. Bill at Casino point. It was great to meet him and chat with him.
We then suited up at Casino Point, had our dive briefing, and got in the water. I was really glad to have the DM since once in the water she took a little to adjust to the weights and the weight belt. I also had never dived there and this site was new to me as well. My daughter looked cold underwater. I tried holding her hands to try and keep warm but didn't really work. I also noticed that she kept clearing her mask, and she complained later that it kept leaking. That didn't help her air consumption either.
After the dive she did complain that it was cold. My computer put the bottom temp at 58 degrees. I remember once I had to take off my gloves in similar temp water to fix my mask and OMG were my hands cold. I can only imagine how my poor daughter felt. After our surface interval she looked very nervous about gearing up again. I asked her if whe wanted to dive one more time or if she would prefer to thumb the dive. She said she was cold and didn't want to try it again. Despite my disappointment I decided to cancel the dive and opted not to dive myself either. This is afterall, supposed to be fun!! The last thing I wanted was to turn this into a bad experience. Up to that point she was enjoying herself, she just didn't want to get in again and be cold.
Lessons learned. 1) hire a DM for new dive sites when diving with new divers. takes all the stress and makes diving with new divers in new locations safer. 2) kids need proper gear for themselves!!! 3) diving should be fun.
As to point #2. My daughter is 4' 10" and a whopping 85 lbs soaking wet. If any of you have any advise on finding extra small gear I would appreciate it. With Christmas coming up and a trip already booked to Hawaii next year she is going to get mask, fins, gloves, and booties that fit !!
Thanks.
PS. I met Dr. Bill at Casino point. It was great to meet him and chat with him.