Hydro Catalina Alum S53

[JamesBon92007]

He is 11. He is responsible. I understand the potential, and before I just threw him in there naturally we would have to go over a few things. (We have talked about not holding his breath if we could do it in the pool, and I've explained why) I don't think he'll go all the way with Scuba (although I wouldn't mind), I just think he wants to see what its like. In no way do I think I have what it takes to take him somewhere myself to dive, or to teach him. If he likes it, I would put him through the class. He's stated he wants nothing to do with the ocean...maybe by next year I can get him in a quarry (after his cert of course).

I'm all in favor of teaching kids to dive. I do, however, believe that some are less likely to be ready at a particular age than others. For example, I have a 10 year-old grandson who is a competent swimmer and very reliable in the water. But he is going into the fifth grade and doesn't know his multiplication tables. The way I see it is if he can't grasp that then how could he comprehend Boyle's Law and Henry's Law and the dive tables? Another kid the same age might be ready but I don't think he is. He will have to prove to me that he is more responsible before I take him in the pool with a scuba tank.

As for the little AL tank, personally I would not bother with it unless you intend to use it for a child. I had one the same size and gave it to my LDS so he could use it for his younger students. I have, however, dove with a lady in Cozumel who used an AL50 with Nitrox and it lasted her two dives! She's been diving since before there were any certification courses. But personally I found it did not last me long enough so I use a steel 72 or
AL80.