Diving depths - with kids

[creekland]

I've been reading the various threads - one deals with recommended depth levels... My family is new to diving and we have a youngster who's just 10 yet. I know Padi recommends he not go lower than 40'. However, in my search for another worldwide diving location (for Feb 2007), face it, most sites - even shallow ones - are down to 60' or so. Anyone know for sure why Padi recommends no deeper than 40' for 10 and 11 year olds? He will be 11 by Feb...

This summer we will be doing quarry dives most every weekend as well as a dive trip to the St Lawrence River (where the boys will just be shore diving due to depth and current). I'm thinking of "working" him up to depth over the summer - to say 60' - as he gets experience - so in Feb 07 we have more options. Any thoughts from those of you with far more experience than we have? I have no intention of taking him down to deep depths (>60') till he's older as there does seem to be a bit to explore in that 0 - 60' range to keep us busy - just not a whole lot in the 0 - 40' (unless I'm missing it somewhere).

As for him - he has no fear... and is super comfortable in the water - snorkeling or diving. I could definitely see not going deeper if he were scared, but in HI on our post certification dives we did have to "pull" him back up a couple of times from exploring further down on his own. He loves looking at critters - esp big ones. I am fully aware of having to keep reminding him of the dangers associated with depth. But my question remains... are there known health concerns with youngsters diving at 60' or so - or is the recommendation mainly due to their inexperience and age - maybe comfort range in the water?

 

[Ber Rabbit]

Here are some links that discuss children and diving.
http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=24199&highlight=kids+children

http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=96094&highlight=kids+children

http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=9152&highlight=kids+children

http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=40895&highlight=kids+children

Happy reading!
Ber :lilbunny:

 

[chairmanTARAC]

You always have to remember if your buddy is 10 and you get in trouble ,Is your buddy trained sufficently to handle the situation?

 

[TSandM]

Leaving aside the question of whether a 10 year old should dive, and if so, how deep -- There are a lot of very enjoyable dives shallower than 40 feet. I spent five days on Maui in February doing a bunch of dives shallower than that which were wonderful for sea life. We spent a week on a sailboat in the BVI in April, and although we did quite a few deeper dives, some of the most enjoyable were about 35 feet on coral reefs, and from the books, there are a lot more sites like that than we saw. It would be my guess that a lot of boat charters go to deeper sites, in part because those are the places you can't easily access from shore, and in part because there are people who aren't satisfied with a dive if it's that shallow. Me -- I love dives where my air lasts forever, the NDLs are irrelevant, and there's so much to see that I can't decide what to look at next!

 

[creekland]

Thanks for the links! They told me what I wanted to find out (once I sorted through the "fluff"). I guess I just hadn't figured out how to use the search engine yet (sorry) and was looking for such threads in all the wrong places.

I do agree with those that were saying to judge each individual for whether they are ready to dive or not. We also do NOT use our younger two kids (10 and 12) as buddies - more or less (the "more" would be because they think they are buddies to keep them "on guard" if that's understandable to folks) - we always dive as a family having at least 2 adults in our "group" (and no other kids besides ours). While my younguns know what to do in an emergency, they don't HAVE to make those decisions yet - which I do think is important.

Having read the medical aspects of it all, I honestly don't think 60' occasionally really would be a problem - and probably far less dangerous than what we let them do here at home on our farm! That said, to be on the safe side, I'd love hearing of great places to take them to with a 40' (or less depth) for next Feb's vacation. We were in HI this past Feb, and want to go back in a couple of years, but not this Feb. Otherwise, we've snorkeled the Dry Tortugas... but don't have much underwater experience in great Vis areas so would love to hear suggestions...

One person suggested Bonaire to me (not on this board). It looked neat except for all the reported hurricane damage to the reef. Other thoughts - on Bonaire or elsewhere? (I'll be researching the BVI's and other suggestions too. We require warm in Feb - tropical - and safe - but otherwise, the whole world is a possibility. From land or boat.)

 

[hopeitsapar]

The only thing I would say, coming from a father who has a 10 yr old daughter who is getting certified this summer is they will be your buddy, and you will have to rely on them as they you.

There are so many places that you can dive that are less than 40' and see just about everything, except maybe the wrecks, that there really is no need to go deeper than that, as you will not miss much by not going deeper

 

[Cacia]

My little two cents is that confidence building, esteem enhancing risk, contribute to an overall safer childhood and adolescence. Remember the character development component and the value of successfully doing something "dangerous". I really attribute much of my daughter's confidence to jumping her pony at 7..... Facilitating an experience like Scuba so they can be proud and amazed about themselves and the world is priceless.

 

[herman]

Bonaire hurricane damage???..that was in Oct of 99. Cozumel got trashed last year, that may be what where they were thinking about. While the reefs were damaged they are far from distroyed and have been coming back nicely. No a lot of large fish but tons of med to small fish.
While I am quite capable of doing deeper divers and they do exist on Bonaire, we rarely go over 35 to 40 ft. 95% of the best stuff is in 40 ft or less. You can shore dive or boat dive am much as you like. Since most all the dives can be done from shore, you can set you own profile and schedule.
There are also plenty of 40ft or less dives in the Keys.

 

[shark.byte.usa]

My son (13) is SSI JOW and I believe their (recommended) limit is 60', he did his OW checkout dives in Maui and we did 15 or so dives <40', only on our last hoorah did he do dives to 60' & 65' at the Lanai Cathedrals. That being said you shouldn't have a problem finding vacation sites where the diving is <40'.

 

[DeputyDan]

I think you're nuts diving in the St. Lawrence River with a 10 year old.