10 year old: Best dive location for Junior Open Water Certificate?

[maj2]

My daughter got certified at age 10 and is now 19. We have done a number of father/daughter dive trips and have also squeezed in diving on family trips.
Dedicated dive trips: Bonaire (x2), Cozumel, Belize, Florida, AquaCat liveaboard
Diving while on family vacation: Grenada, San Jose del Cabo, Grand Bahama, Disney World Epcot Aquarium.

Can't say that we have been disappointed with any of these destinations in terms of diving with a Jr Diver.

One thing to keep in mind... for most of our trips, she wasn't too interested in doing more than a couple of dives per day. As she has gotten older, she is more willing to do more dives and she was a trooper on the AquaCat. And that willingness to do more dives per day is limited to warm water only. She does cold with me, but the bulkier gear tires her out quickly. Just be aware that a Jr Diver may not want to dive as much/often as you might want to dive.

 

[FezUSA]

My wife and I have 5 kids, all certified. We love to dive warm water and we like to dive in Roatan. This, for us, is a perfect place for anyone to learn to dive. The temps are warm enough that you can dive in just a swimsuit/rash guard whether you're at 15' or 100'. The reef is close enough that you don't need long boat rides, and shallow enough that there's plenty to see at 35-45', while even more to see at 60-80+. There are enough dive shops that you don't need to settle for crowded boats, and enough good DM's that you can find one suitable for your learning style and 'needs'.

For us, our youngest started diving when she was 10. We already knew her (she was a mermaid/fish in water whether pool or open), we knew the dive ops and the DM's, as well as the dive sites and the learning to dive process with that op. They had certified all of us over time. The DM for my youngest knew her topside and knew how to engage her on a level that would best help her understand the theory material, the principles required, the physical, the mental, AND to make it fun and enjoyable for her, which is how she learns best. My wife is special ed certified, has written children's curriculum and always been involved with childhood and early childhood education. We know that each of our 5 kids have different learning styles and what works well for one may not work as well, if at all, for another. We were confident on her learning in this location, with this DM, and with this op. She loved it, and was much more comfortable with learning the skills than some of the adults we've seen!! So can a 10 year old safely learn to dive? Yes, but the ability of each individual is just that, it's down to the individual.

That all being said, I do think that there is a physical aspect that I wasn't fully aware of back then, and that is the development of the ear structure. I do not know enough about this to form an opinion from a medical standpoint on what the impact of diving has on a physically developing child. But I also counter that with knowing that there are cultures where kids being underwater from an early age is just part of their lives. Do they adapt? I'm sure they do. But I would recommend anyone considering their child learning to dive that they also take this into consideration, along with whether their child is mentally ready to learn as well as physically able to go through the dive process.

Here she is on one of her first dives after getting her cert. I have videos and pictures of her doing somersaults, smiling without her reg, and lots of other great memories of diving with the family and learning all about the reef system!

 

[BoltSnap]

All of you good folks with beautiful wonderful children, do you know and/or understand the effects of diving on your young children's bodies?? Do you know anything about the potential permanent issues for them when they dive at that very young age? Most likely no. I won't risk it with my own children.

Yeah, it sounds impressive when you talk about your teaching your kids to dive when they were breastfeading or before they learned to walk/talk or whatever, but the danger is real. As a matter of act, no one really knows for sure except they can speculate that it probably isn't good for them.

 

[Angelo Farina]

All of you good folks with beautiful wonderful children, do you know and/or understand the effects of diving on your young children's bodies?? Do you know anything about the potential permanent issues for them when they dive at that very young age? Most likely no. I won't risk it with my own children.

Yeah, it sounds impressive when you talk about your teaching your kids to dive when they were breastfeading or before they learned to walk/talk or whatever, but the danger is real. As a matter of act, no one really knows for sure except they can speculate that it probably isn't good for them.

Life is full of dangers. Going on bicycles and small motorbikes, skiing, mountain and tree climbing, water sports such as surf, windsurf, kayak, sea swimming, snorkeling... All these activities, practiced by some children, are potentially dangerous and can cause permanent damage.
When I was young, we were free diving.
Most childrens here on Mediterranean coasts were doing that, starting around 6 years old.
Free diving at 10-15 meters depth is definitely more dangerous than scuba diving at 5-6 meters, which is what I was doing with my sons.

Some parents now prefer a "zero risk" approach, and I see some youngsters (my students at the university) who at 20 never rode a motorbike or an horse, never climbed a tree or a rock wall, never swimmed away from the coast...
Many cannot swim at all!
I and my wife were instead of the idea that is better to prepare our sons to the risks, introducing them very early and very slowly to all these dangerous sports.
The result is now two young mens quite prudent and not taking unreasonable risks.
For getting this result, parents must weights risks and benefits of each activity and never take shortcuts, always considering objectively the readiness of children to perform each task.
I think that this approach of anticipating as much as possible the exposition of our children to various types of risks is the best way of protecting them.
Avoiding any risk exposure until they are grown up, means that they spend the first part of their life in the false certainty that life is safe.
For later discovering the great risks suddenly, at a very bad age for facing them properly.

 

[Altamira]

Since you are in Denmark, a relatively close location for a Jr. OW dive course would be at Ft. Arabesque, Hurghada, Red Sea. I do not know what I Dive's (on-site dive op) or Egypt's policy is concerning 10 year olds doing the course, but if authorized, I Dive is an excellent dive op, has a very nice house reef, excellent snorkeling and shallow/deeper water diving, boat diving, and is in a very sheltered bay. If that location is not an option, or does not appeal to you, Curacao would be my next best, with Bonaire third. Curacao has more topside activity than Bonaire IMO. We got our grandson certified at 11, and he turned out to be a better new diver than most older OW divers I have seen on dive boats. You are likely the best judge as to whether your child is mentally and emotionally ready to be your buddy after certification.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

I prefer to be data driven as opposed to hysteria driven in my decision. There is this post from Duke Dive Medicine: Proud dad of my new dive buddy! which he states:

there's really no data on how diving affects children. Theoretically, their developing bones (and brains, and nervous systems) could be more vulnerable to bubbles that would not affect adults, so depths should be very limited. Note that this falls short of an endorsement of teaching children to dive; their developing prefrontal cortices would make them more prone to panic in emergency situations (Dr. Mrs. DDM, who's a child psychologist, concurs with this).

Now while anecdotal evidence is not scientific, Fabien seems okay after learning at the age of 4 from his grandfather. I wouldn't go to such an extreme. But I also won't be a parent that does this:

 

[caz777]

Thank you all the recommendations and the discussion on the suitability for scuba at a young age.

And I agree with the sentiment that it is very individual when a kid (or adult) are ready to learn to scuba. Our impression is that she is ready to be introduced to scuba at this age. But we will also be monitoring the situation closely, and should it turn out she is not, then we have no problem stopping it, and waiting for another time. The most important thing is that she gets a safe and fun introduction to scuba.

I have definitely noted down some of the caribbean recommendations. Around that topic, any recommendations on how Barbados is for junior/easy/shallow diving? I have an (unhealthy) interest in Barbados rum, so I guess that would qualify as topside/cultural activities for me .

@maj2
Good points on the physical limitations. Any vacation activity we do is always on her terms, so I would not expect more than 2 dives per day anyway.

@FezUSA
Great picture!

@Altamira
Good suggestion with Fort Arabesque. We were actually just around the corner (a couple of hotels away) in Makadi Bay 3 years ago, where she was snorkeling. And as europeans, going to Egypt is always the easy/cheap option, so that is always the option.

 

[arew+4]

Does PADI require instructor supervision for 10 & 11 year olds on every dive? I thought I read this somewhere back before our kids got certified.

 

[mccula01]

I am looking for a good dive shop for junior certification for my 11-year-old granddaughter in Key Largo. She will have her course work and pool dives locally. Both her parents are certified.
Any Suggestions?
In case you were wondering that's a picture of my Ridgeback puppy, Albie.