Sarah.Merry
Registered
Hi!
I'm pretty new to scuba. I won't even be certifying till spring '17.... But what has brought me to scuba is a very determined 9yr old. My son saw his first diver at the Seattle aquarium when he was 3yrs old and decided right then he was going to do that. Preferably, as soon, and as much as possible... Lol. So, we looked into how old a kid had to be to start getting involved, and signed him up for swim lessons. This kid had, up till then categorically refused to put his face in the water.... Once we told him he had to be able to swim under water without gear before being able to scuba, he did a 180 and worked hard to conquer that fear. Now he swims pretty well for a skinny 9yr old, and he continues to work on his swimming. What blew me away was that a 3 yrs old, he made the decision to learn to swim so he could scuba at 8, and he hasn't required any further motivation from us at all. He is very technically inclined and safety conscious.
So, now he's 9, he started the PADI Seals program last fall, and he's working on his pool and swimming skills while he waits to turn 10 next January and get his JOW. I will probably get my OW about then, but not at the same time, and we won't be buddies for quite awhile. It will be a some time before I can be a good buddy and not a parent I think.
This kid will give up ANY activity for a chance to have anything to do with scuba. Right now he is training with a dive shop in Vancouver WA, with Seven Seas Scuba and we love them. We live about 30 min from Olympia.... I signed up here with the hope that I might gain more insight from others experiences with scuba, kids and scuba, and finding cold water equipment for small people.... Joshua is 4'3" .... And the water here is COLD....
Thanks all!
I'm pretty new to scuba. I won't even be certifying till spring '17.... But what has brought me to scuba is a very determined 9yr old. My son saw his first diver at the Seattle aquarium when he was 3yrs old and decided right then he was going to do that. Preferably, as soon, and as much as possible... Lol. So, we looked into how old a kid had to be to start getting involved, and signed him up for swim lessons. This kid had, up till then categorically refused to put his face in the water.... Once we told him he had to be able to swim under water without gear before being able to scuba, he did a 180 and worked hard to conquer that fear. Now he swims pretty well for a skinny 9yr old, and he continues to work on his swimming. What blew me away was that a 3 yrs old, he made the decision to learn to swim so he could scuba at 8, and he hasn't required any further motivation from us at all. He is very technically inclined and safety conscious.
So, now he's 9, he started the PADI Seals program last fall, and he's working on his pool and swimming skills while he waits to turn 10 next January and get his JOW. I will probably get my OW about then, but not at the same time, and we won't be buddies for quite awhile. It will be a some time before I can be a good buddy and not a parent I think.
This kid will give up ANY activity for a chance to have anything to do with scuba. Right now he is training with a dive shop in Vancouver WA, with Seven Seas Scuba and we love them. We live about 30 min from Olympia.... I signed up here with the hope that I might gain more insight from others experiences with scuba, kids and scuba, and finding cold water equipment for small people.... Joshua is 4'3" .... And the water here is COLD....
Thanks all!