freewillie
Contributor
Just a few thoughts having a daughter who dives as well but she certified at 13 years of age. She is considerably more mature than my son who is now 9 years old. I doubt that I would allow him to certify at 10 even if he begged and pleaded. Having an older sibling go at an older age help too, since I can always say "Your sister didn't do scuba until 13, you have to wait too."
Our friends have two girls and the older one went through with my daughter in the same class also at 13 y.o. but the younger one will certify at 11 as she is chomping at the bit to get certified. In the end it depends on how comfortable the parent is with their child and how they asses the child's capabilities.
For me it's not as much can the child learn to scuba. It's really not that difficult a skill to learn if you are comfortable in the water. Some of the problems are usually with people getting anxious underwater and having a difficult time with skills especially clearing the mask. But, once you have learned to do the minimum it's not that complicated.
The real difficulty is in dealing with problems. Can a 10 y.o. deal with any number of conditions underwater compare to an adult? Can the child remain calm if something goes wrong underwater? What if his mask floods, or gets knocked off, or he accidentally kicks off a fin by mistake? Or worse, what if something happens to you? Can he remain calm, tow you behind him like the tired diver tow we learn in OW class?
To me as a parent it's not about what happens when conditions are good, it's what happens when conditions change. You are the best person to make that assessment but it's up to your judgment. In the meantime there is always diving alternatives like SNUBA, or instead of actual certification there is discover scuba. You can assess his competence in the water for a single dive then determine if it's something you wish to continue for certification or wait until later. Be careful, when my daughter did her discover scuba she was hooked. She begged and pleaded to get certified after that dive. But, I was fortunate enough to have watched her on that dive and I did feel that she was ready.
Good luck and safe diving.
Our friends have two girls and the older one went through with my daughter in the same class also at 13 y.o. but the younger one will certify at 11 as she is chomping at the bit to get certified. In the end it depends on how comfortable the parent is with their child and how they asses the child's capabilities.
For me it's not as much can the child learn to scuba. It's really not that difficult a skill to learn if you are comfortable in the water. Some of the problems are usually with people getting anxious underwater and having a difficult time with skills especially clearing the mask. But, once you have learned to do the minimum it's not that complicated.
The real difficulty is in dealing with problems. Can a 10 y.o. deal with any number of conditions underwater compare to an adult? Can the child remain calm if something goes wrong underwater? What if his mask floods, or gets knocked off, or he accidentally kicks off a fin by mistake? Or worse, what if something happens to you? Can he remain calm, tow you behind him like the tired diver tow we learn in OW class?
To me as a parent it's not about what happens when conditions are good, it's what happens when conditions change. You are the best person to make that assessment but it's up to your judgment. In the meantime there is always diving alternatives like SNUBA, or instead of actual certification there is discover scuba. You can assess his competence in the water for a single dive then determine if it's something you wish to continue for certification or wait until later. Be careful, when my daughter did her discover scuba she was hooked. She begged and pleaded to get certified after that dive. But, I was fortunate enough to have watched her on that dive and I did feel that she was ready.
Good luck and safe diving.