Best way to introduce my son to diving?

[Micah Elkins]

My son has wanted to get Certified for the last few years but he doesn't turn 10 until this November. He's so ready to get Certified that when he blew the candles out this last bday, when he turned 9, he looked dead at me with a big smile and said, "1 more year!!" It's brought up a few times a week at minimum.
Anyway, I say all that to ask the question; What is the best way to get him comfortable with everything before we go for the real deal? My thoughts at this time were to get a reg and a tank along with a good mask he'll use to get certified and let him practice in our pool this summer under my supervision. Its not but 8' deep so nothing crazy and I'd have him clear his mask a few times, get used to staying underwater, breathing through a reg, reading gauges, hand signals, etc. I just want him to be comfortable with it all so that he's not jumping into the ocean and trying to figure out a bunch of new stuff at once. No overwhelming panic attacks at 60' in the ole' deep blue!! He's mature for his age otherwise I wouldn't even be considering it but I want to do everything in my power to make sure I'm educating him properly to keep him safe.
So should I go about this in a different manner or does this sound like a decent direction to star?

I thank you in advance for any input!

 

[Akimbo]

I started at 11, see: Your First Time

I was a good swimmer before the breath-holding adventure described in this post but the whole process had a huge impact on the rest of my diving career. Have you taken a freediving course? If not, consider taking one together. The PFI course was the ONLY one I have taken since getting out of the Navy that was worth spit.

 

[Altamira]

After getting them comfortable with snorkeling, I faced the same dilemma as you with my 10 year old grandson and 12 year old granddaughter, except for the issue of trying the gear in the pool. I am not an instructor, and did not feel that it was appropriate or prudent for me to try to teach them scuba, even in the pool. Instead of plunking down the money for a cert course, I elected to enroll them in an excellent Discover Scuba course at Barefoot Divers in Roatan with a 1:1 student/instructor ratio during a family cruise to the Caribbean. Money well spent. My grandson took to diving like a porpoise, but my granddaughter decided it was not her cup of tea, and I was very happy not to have wasted the cert fee on her. Good luck.

 

[AZNetEng]

I gave the gift of Discover Scuba to a buddy and his 11 year old daughter this spring. They had a blast. I would start there and take the pressure off of both of you. He can learn what he needs to learn and then you can fart around in the pool.

8' is deep enough for bad things to happen though. Be safe!

 

[homerdoc]

I went a different path, I wanted a certified person to train my daughter from the get go, so paid for private lessons (she was 11). I got in the pool with them. I was just there for support. I do recommend getting his cert dives done at Ginnie springs (don't know the ops there, our guy traveled down), it is so clear and is not scary at all. They did crystal river after that and devils den. All were so clear and not imposing like an ocean dive. I only mention this since I see you are from North Florida.

It has been a really slow process getting her comfortable in other situations. We have turned many a dive in many a location, but those times she was good diving in Bonaire on buddy's reef I wouldn't trade for the world.

Now the wife wants to get certified, so my dive turn percent is probably going to double.

 

[TMHeimer]

I'm gunna be guilty of doing something I usually criticize--offering opinion rather than answering the OP's question. Well, I will answer the question first--9-10 years old IMO is a great age to start snorkeling (think I did, but too long ago to be exact....). Lots and lots of snorkeling. Address all the mask/airway problems--the source of agony for many adults in OW course. Take swim lessons to learn proper strokes. As you mentioned he is quite mature, perhaps he has done some of that already?
My unpopular opinion is that I'm leery of anyone on scuba before maybe age 15. Plenty of time. I know of all the success stories from past threads. Also know 11-12 year olds as I probably taught a thousand as a band teacher. I would not want to see my MOST mature students that age on scuba. At that age I personally didn't know which end was up (of that I CAN be exact). Good luck.

 

[Micah Elkins]

Hey guys I appreciate all the advice, there's some things I'm already looking into. I guess I should have added earlier that I've tried to find a cert instructor for him and called about every place in PCB to get him in a Discover Scuba class but because he's 9 no one will do it. He's been swimming since he was 2 and snorkeling since he was 5 since we have the pool and the condo in PCB. He's very comfortable in the pool and the ocean and that's the only reason I'm even contemplating the aforementioned stuff.

 

[tilikum]

I learned at age 14, my daughter showed interest at 11 but life happened and she never took classes. Hopefully next year he will be just as enthused.

 

[TMHeimer]

Aside from my off topic opinions above, I didn't know you had a condo at PCB. Maybe a good idea is to spend some time at the Kiddie Pool at St. Andrews (maybe you have). I've spent a couple of dives there when the channel had awful viz and had a good time shell collecting. There's quite a bit to see rather than a pool, whether just snorkeling or doing some basics on scuba. This past Feb. I saw some fairly big fish. Heard that years ago a Hammerhead Shark got in there. Glad I wasn't there then.
It's good to hear he's been doing water stuff at such a young age, as was I. It's the "others"--mostly adults--that I saw in OW courses that caused me to pause and think.....why did they go right into scuba without a decent "water" backround?

 

[Landau]

My LDS runs a scuba camp for kids. It is pool only with the ocean cert dives optional and needing instructor approval that the child is ready for them. Nothing like a peer group of similar aged kids to make things easier.

A bit o a commute for you since I am on the opposite coast but perhaps there is something similar near you. Another kid or two will make it more fun for your son. Adults (even scuba divers) are boring