FD1 class- 16 year old limit?

[Basking Ridge Diver]

So I scuba and thought maybe it would be fun to take a Freediving class with my son. He is 15 yo and wont be 16 until next year.

So I am wondering is 16 yo the normal age or is this an anomaly? And if you can scuba at 10 yo is Freediving that dangerous that 16 is really the right age?

Just curious - not mad and certainly I can wait but I was surprised...

 

[dumpsterDiver]

I started my kids snorkeling at 4 yrs old.. I doubt too many 4 yr olds have seen a wreck in 90 feet of water..LOL..

I think freediving is a great sport for young kids- even 6 or 8 yrs old. By the time mine were 11 they could freedive and shoot fish etc.

At 16, my son is now easily pulling dives that I never could do (even 15 or 20 yrs ago).

I'm not so sure why the minimum age is set at 16.. We took a basic freedive safety course when he was 13 or 14 maybe? but this is an unusual course.

I think freediving (and especially freedive spearing) is definitely more dangerous than scuba diving, so taking a course is very smart. I bought my son a new regulator for Christmas and he used it once in 5 months! Seems we always choose to snorkel rather than scuba dive lately.


My oldest at 11 yrs old.

[video=youtube;IyLYmEMoKE4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyLYmEMoKE4[/video]

My younger one at 15

[video=youtube;DfbdBcF_scY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfbdBcF_scY[/video]