Family of four divers

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Ohana

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Virginia
New here. We are a family of four in Virginia. Our youngest (10) is completing his Open Water certification tomorrow. We are always interested in hearing about good east coast family dive locations. Since both boys (13 and 10) are "juniors" we must stick to 40 feet or less... Any ideas welcome :D We are willing to travel along the east coast (preferably Florida or somewhere warmer).
 
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Just modified my intro. Virginia. Prefer warmer areas such as Florida... initially, somewhere closer because we just sank all our $$ into SCUBA camps for the boys - LOL! Will save up for a bigger trip in about a year...
 
Thanks for the replies. Just found Epcot DiveQuest and this might be right up our alley :D Anyone have experience? I may start a new thread on that one or search for it to see if anyone else has already posted about it...
 
You didn't specify if you're interested in anything other than warm water diving. My guess is probably not because only a small percentage of divers do that sort of thing, and most younger divers aren't going to want to deal with heavy wetsuits or drysuits, thick gloves and the additional gear that is required to dive in dark, low visibility water oftentimes with current. So if that's the case, your only real open water diving is going to be in Florida, and as the other poster said, in order to stay within the depths of the younger diver's certification, it's going to mainly be the Florida Keys.

There are several springs and rivers that are available to dive in Central Florida but you're going to need heavier exposure protection.

As far as Epcot Dive Quest goes, I did it once, and sure just like any other aquarium dive it can be fun as a "do it once" sort of thing but don't get your expectations up too high, it's probably not as great as you're thinking it's going to be.
 
Thanks for the replies. Just found Epcot DiveQuest and this might be right up our alley :D Anyone have experience? I may start a new thread on that one or search for it to see if anyone else has already posted about it...

Welcome! Search SB for threads about EPCOT because it has been discussed in the past multiple times.

I agree that Key Largo is your best bet for near, shallow dives - just be aware that Florida waters are quite cold in the winter and spring IMO. If you want to dive warm water during the colder months you will have to leave the US and look further south - perhaps Mexico. Bahamian waters are also cold during the winter and spring.
 
While it's not warm water ocean diving, Lake Phoenix is good for gaining more experience. It would be good for the kids as there are a lot of sunken artifacts in shallow water (basketball hoops with a bowling ball for dunking, carousel horses, a school bus among many other things).

My fiance and I use it when we haven't been in the water in a while and are preparing for a dive trip. Below 25 feet can get pretty cold, but above that it's usually pretty warm during the summer.
 
You didn't specify if you're interested in anything other than warm water diving. My guess is probably not because only a small percentage of divers do that sort of thing, and most younger divers aren't going to want to deal with heavy wetsuits or drysuits, thick gloves and the additional gear that is required to dive in dark, low visibility water oftentimes with current. So if that's the case, your only real open water diving is going to be in Florida, and as the other poster said, in order to stay within the depths of the younger diver's certification, it's going to mainly be the Florida Keys.

There are several springs and rivers that are available to dive in Central Florida but you're going to need heavier exposure protection.

As far as Epcot Dive Quest goes, I did it once, and sure just like any other aquarium dive it can be fun as a "do it once" sort of thing but don't get your expectations up too high, it's probably not as great as you're thinking it's going to be.
At least initially, we need to stick to warmer climates. Boys just got certified -- I've wanted a family of divers since long before kids arrived. I want to keep them interested and enthusiastic, so I want them REALLY comfortable in cozy waters for at least the first couple of dives as a family. Yes, I am expecting the Epcot Dive experience to be very very very restrictive (that's Disney's style imo)... but it's SOMETHING until next summer rolls around and we can take them to Maui or some fun place like that :D
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

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