How do other parents handle this?

[MikeFerrara]

My problem, I feel unsure with myself to dive with him alone. I realize I will be essentially diving solo and watching out for him. Maybe it is the "mother" or "newbie" in me (take your pick), but I am afraid something will happen and I will be unable to sufficiently handle the situation.

Why do you say that you would be diving solo? He's as certified as you are right? If you have doubts about either of you being able to asist a buddy something isn't right. Maybe he's on the young side but maybe that isn't all of it.

I haven't bought him much dive gear as he is still growing. He started out the class at about 5"8" and he is now 6"3" and still growing. So we have to rent his gear. You know what that involves - time and $.

There are bc's on the market that has plenty of adjustability. You can get a wet suit cheap enough that just a few rentals would have paid for it, he won't outgrow a reg and the other stuff is pretty cheap.

Locally, the diving consists of (see Midwest Muck Divers) - 2' vis if you are lucky.

This is not true. Haigh quarry can have great vis and there's tons of fish to watch. Even when the place is thick with students crawling in the bottom you can still usually find pretty good vis some place.

The youth group I am involved with recently went through OW cert. They are all 15 yrs and older. I had my son go through the class with the other cadets as a refresher, even though he is certified. He had relatively no problem with that and understood completely why I had him do it.

Am I expecting too much? Should I go ahead and take the rescue class anyway? I wanted more than 40 dives before I took the class. Since it is getting colder, should I not even worry about it until next year? He is only now 14.

Rescue training can only help.

In hindsight, maybe I should have gone with my dream and gotten certified years ago. Then when he was old enough to cert, I would have had more experience and been more comfortable. Too late for that now.

A child diver being certified by a novice scares the daylights out of me.

EDIT: oops the sentance above should have read...A child diver being supervised by a novice scares the daylights out of me.

 

[billtodive]

I think the other replies brought out some good points. As far as the $, I dive a sherwood outback. It has adjustable straps over the shoulders (in addition to the usual ones. It also has bolt in cumberbund extensions. Size fits from 34 -44inch waist and from 5"9 to 6"5. One female and two males if my family can use the same bc. Used about $150. There other back inflates similar that offer a very wide range of adjustment, and I don't think he will ever outgrow them.
Entry level used reg set with old computer or guages about $200 ( freshly serviced) at LDS I bought tanks from. When they know you can't spend a lot of money, some will be very helpful. Happy dad with 2 built in dive buddies.

 

[Sue-ba]

I have 4 children that dive. I have two 21 yr olds, an 18 yr old and a 14 yr old. The younger is a boy. (We have a 9 yr old that plans to cert. one day.) Even though the older ones are of age, I still feel like a mother hen when we dive. Hubby and I dive alot more together than we dive as a family and I like it that way. It is more relaxing for me without the kids along because of the mother hen thing. But, diving is a great family activity and they all love it.

We did send the boy to Seacamp this summer and he dived there without us. I think it did wonders for him. On our next family vacation afterwards, everyone said they preferred him as their buddy for several reasons. He had become a much better diver after having to take all the precautions they enforced at Seacamp.

It is my opinion that most people think they are good or safe divers because they have had ???many dives with no problems. It is only when faced with a problem and seeing how you handle it that you really know what kind of a diver you are.

 

[Dapher]

My husband and I OW certified in May and our 15 yo daughter certified at the end of July. I was so excited when we all finally got to jump in the water together, and then it hit me, that she was in the ocean and something might happen. You should see the difference in my air consumption when she is in the water with me compared to when it is just me and my husband. During our 3rd dive together she tried out some new gear and had some serious boyancy problems. I ended up towing her in. Scared, you bet I was, but what surprised me most was how my OW training and the mother instinct kicked in and I knew what to do.

Since then we have taken a few steps to make things better. 1) My friend and instructor had to remind me that my daughter is a Certified Open Water Diver, with the same training as I had. Just like me she had to complete her training. If she could not do it she would not be certified. 2) I took my advanced classes and she is signed up for hers next month. - Education is the key to both of us being more comfortable and safer in the water. We plan on taking our rescue classes in the spring. 3) I got her a pony bottle. Even though I am right there, it really helps to know that she has an alternate air supply close at hand. 4) Group dives - A great way to meet more buddies and get experience, and you feel safer with others around who can assist in an emergency.

I also have a 12 yo son who will certify this winter and I am very excited, I am also somewhat nervous even though I know he is like a fish in water (He wants to be the first kid to go to 300 feet - can you say future technical diver?) and has done wonderfully during Seal Team classs. I plan on taking the same steps with him.. education, a pony bottle, and lots of group dives.

As for gear. DiveRite has a BC program for kids. You purchase their transpak II and they will swap out parts until the child is 16. They figure they have done the majority of their growing by 16. Also periodically some dive shops swap out their rental gear and you can pick it up at a good price. Talk to your LDS and see what they can do for you. If they are like mine they just love you because you are taking classes, buying gear and getting the family involved which means more classes and more gear.

 

[divebunnie]

I'm with the others on the Rescue course.
It is a fantastic course and you get to learn so much about self rescue as well as vastly improving abilities as a buddie.
Great that you have your son on board as well. I am sure you will always feel that mother's urge to watch over, him, so yes I agree with Alcina and get someone else to come along whilst you build your own confidence.
And in the meantime enjoy!

 

[Desa]

Like the others, I only really offer words of encouragement. My now 17 year old son started the summer he was 12. This is the second summer of diving for my 13 year old daughter. Kids are sometimes more mature divers than we (as parents) give them credit for. I took my son for his first boat dive in the Gulf when he was 14. He has since dove the spiegle grove and has logged more than 100 dives. He completed his rescue course on his 16th birthday.

My daughter completed her advanced this summer, and while she has not nearly as many dives as her brother, she is very competiant and methodical. The other adults that we dive around compliment me on how well my kids do. I have to step back and look arround at some of the adult divers and compare them to get a true understanding of what they mean.

I even had a LDS owner who wa taking a trip to PC Beach last summer offer to take my son along even though I couldn't make it. She (LDS) is not related to us, but she has told me many times that Eric (my son) dives better and scares her less than a lot of adults she has been around.

Point is: Your son may be a much better diver than you are giving him credit for. Do take the Rescue course, it can do nothing but make you a better diver. As a parent you will allways be nervous when diving around your kids.

As far as buying the gear, this is a gear intensive sport. If you don't have deep pockets, I am sure your son understands this and will be willing to be patient on the purchase of the gear. I started by giving my son a new tank on his 13th birthday, and got him the rest of his gear (mostly used) a little at a time. When my daughter learned to dive I happended to be in the right place at the right time and got her somplete setup (in her favorite color of pink) for a couple of hundred dollars. Check out the picture in my gallery. She even has a Pink tank now.

As said by many other posters. Enjoy every second you can with your kids, they grow up really fast..........

 

[billinwilliamston]

As said by many other posters. Enjoy every second you can with your kids, they grow up really fast..........

But it sure don't seem like it at the time.

 

[Nomaster]

Kittyjg,

As usually is the case I'm a little late and, not amazingly, only sit at my computer in awe and nod my agreement with all the sage advice before.
I think I'll leave it at, "What they said!" once again.
Have fun, I envy you your opportunity to dive with your son.

Tom

 

[Foo]

Our 17 yr old daughter was certified last spring, and we've done the local scuba parks together, also Cozumel last summer. She is very comfortable in the water, and even signed up for the advanced class on her own, drove herself to the course and completed it last weekend. We're very proud of her, and love seeing these steps toward being more independent.

However! I don't think that she and I are very good buddies for one another, most of the time. She gets "attitude" when I try to help or correct her, and she thinks I'm being critical. (Yes, I can read all this underwater, lol! I know her that well...)But when she buddies with someone else, she does much better. She's always been a sentitive person, and she will "whiney" with me a lot quicker than with someone else. And, I can relax more if I'm not playing mommy, which is inevitable if you are your child's buddy. She can also relax if she doesn't think her mom's critical eye is peering at her constantly. So, even though we're in the same group of divers, we're both happier if we're not buddies. Just my 2 cents, hope it helps.

Foo

 

[Hoya97]

Hi,
Lots of great advice has already been posted. I'll try to add a bit to reinforce the above opinions...

TAKE THE RESCUE CLASS - great confidence builder and you will get a good understanding of what to do in case something unforseen happens.

Why not let him lead a few dives, see what he does? Just say something like - "You've got it this time. What are we doing and where are we going." Let him pick the locations and activities. Give him room to make the minor mistakes and work his way out of them - but intervene if something starts to get out of hand.

An example would be for the dive plan to include a max depth of 60 feet, but he crosses the 70 foot threshold. Stop and let him know what's happend. If it's early in the dive, no foul, but later, it could be an issue. This will be a growing process for him and a confidence builder in you - you'll come to understand that you may have underestimated him.

Regarding his equipment, some things shouldn't be an issue such as the regulator, mask and at this stage, BC and fins. The only thing I'd steer clear of is the wetsuit. He can still grow enough to make any purchase worthless in a year or so.

Completely understand about the high cost, so you may want to outfit him in previous rental stuff from your LDS. It's not worthless and the LDS buys good, solid equipment for their rental inventory so that it doesn't wear out prematurely. Most shops rotate their stock every year, so you can usually get pretty good deals - especially if you buy a lot of stuff at once. Talk to them and see what you can work out. I'm sure that if they are like most shops, cutting a few bucks here and there through creative financing is worth it in the long run.

That's my take on your problem. Best of luck!