Child in class?

[Stacy]

9 years ago, I was that "teenager in the adult class." It was great. Two newlywed couples in there, there were only 5 of us total. Ended up getting the highest score on the written test, all of a sudden everyone wanted to be my buddy for the OW stuff!

 

[Ron Brandt]

Finnatic once bubbled...
I noticed a recent post to this thread so I thought I'd give you'll an update. We are through with the academic part of the course and have moved on to the pool. The little guy did well and I think the instructor did a great job of explaining things on a level he could understand...especially the dive tables and dive planning. In the water he is like a fish - totally comfortable and easily completed the first set of skills taught (mask clearing, etc.), whereas there were a couple of adults who had problems with the mask clearing and survival floating. It's easy to see that he and his dad are already the best of "buddies". In all, it's been a very positive experience so far. No worries

Told ya!
Just wait until the checkouts and the kid looks after dad !

Ron

 

[IzzyTahil]

whats the min age now for padi ow 10 or 12? my son will be 6 and itchin' to get certified

 

[Finnatic]

Izzy,

As I understand it (at least with SSI) the minimum age is 12 and the cert. is Junior Open Water Diver. However, there is also a program called Scuba Rangers which is open to "children with reading skills" where they are introduced to Scuba in the pool only - kinda like a day camp program. Dive Training magazine had an interesting article on diving and children in their August 2003 issue (vol 13 no.8) "Diving's Future: Teaching Scuba to Kids". In that article .."The Recreational Scuba Training Council (RSTC) changed its guidelines, allowing each individual member organization to set its own minimum age for certification.." , so I suppose it now depends on the particular certifying agency. Hope this helps.

~C

 

[learn-scuba]

I can't speak for PADI, but SSI has three certification levels. There's a special Junior Cert for children age 10 and 11 which allows them to dive in open water providing they are diving WITH their parent/guardian (as in buddied with). Then there's the Junior Cert for children 12 - 14 that allows them to dive open water providing they are diving WITH a certified adult (again... as in buddied with) and then 15 and up is standard open water. And, as Finnatic mentioned, SSI also has SCUBA Rangers for children 8 and up.

 

[IzzyTahil]

Thanks for the info!

 

[writer]

Like you, I was in a class of six, but I was the only male. Talk about peer pressure! At at 49 years old, I figured I'd better start learning if I ever wanted to dive.There was a young lady there who appeared to be about 14 or 15. She was very mature and handled herself better than many 20-year-olds I've met. I was shocked to learn she was only 11! She was comfortable in the water and had no problems with any of the procedures. This kid is a natural. She was a fast learner who not only kept up with us older folks but left us behind a couple of times. I'm still in shock! Of course, at her age, she got the junior certification, but I'm certain she'll have many good years of diving ahead of her.

Ken

 

[WileEDiver]

IzzyTahil once bubbled...
whats the min age now for padi ow 10 or 12? my son will be 6 and itchin' to get certified

At 8 your son could try the PADI Seal Team. It's pool only (so max depth will be about 9-10 feet). They complete 5 dives, typically over a 2 day period (one weekend) which teach them some basic skills (use of the BC, buoyancy, mask clearing, snorkle-regulator exchange, etc.). After they complete those, there are 10 additional Specialty Aqua Missions (like night [lights out], wreck, skin diving, Search & Recovery, snapshot, and creature ID) they can do to become Master Seal Team members.

My daughter did all 15, had a great time with great instructors (AI's or above can teach Seal Team), and when she turned 10 and did her Junior Open Water Certification, she was already so comfortable in the water that she breezed through the practical skills. Adult students and instructors were very impressed. I definitely credit the time with the Seal Teal for that.

During the Seal Team time (before OW classes) I started her out reading dive tables. When you turn learning into a game, it's amazing how hard kids will "work".

My only caution is to find an LDS that specializes in "family diving". Not all shops have gear (BCs, wetsuits, and reg mouthpieces) that will fit a child. When you're swimming along and the BC is so big on you that the tank keeps shifting from side to side, it's hard to concentrate on the skills.

 

[reubencahn]

Izzy, my son was certified at age ten. There are some issues you might want to consider before doing so. Some of them are discussed in this thread http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=24199&perpage=15&display=&pagenumber=1 though much of the thread is off topic. There is also a rather alarmist article at http://www-personal.umich.edu/~lpt/kids.htm that is worth reading just to get all the negatives. Finally, if you want info on mine and my son's experience, which has been largely positive, pm me and I'll tell you about it.

 

[HockeyPuck]

My little sister (now 13) got her PADI Jr. OW 2 summers ago, at summer camp. I wasn't with her, but I assume that since she was at a camp for kids, there were other kids in her classes.

I haven't had a chance to dive with her yet, so I don't know anything about her skills. (I'm working on my own OW right now)