Looking for advice for upcoming dive trip with junior

[jbrotsky]

Wow - thanks so much for your input everyone!

Seems you all have taken me from curious to itinerary in 24 hours - thanks again everyone for being so accommodating to a new poster, and I'll keep everyone posted as we plan our dive schedule.

Cheers!

 

[tekkydiver]

Our family will be coming to Orlando in November, and my 11 year old daughter and I would like to escape the Disney tractor beam for a few days and go diving. I am Rescue Diver certified and my daughter earned her Junior Open Water Certification this summer. Ideally, we would like to find a charter within 1.5-2 hours drive of the Orlando area, and would appreciate a suggestion or two regarding dive charters in the respective area(s).

This will be her first time diving in the ocean, so having a charter understanding of her depth limitations and showing her as much marine life as possible is important to me.

Thanks all!

Even though it's going to seem so, I don't mean to be disrepectful. But you can ignore the advice given above. While Jupiter has excellent diving, most is well outside 60 ft. and can see extreme currents. Starting in West Palm, the "1st reef" is 50', but for a 1st time 11 year old, it might be too extreme and like Jupiter a substantial north current is not unusual. Beach dives can be difficult for an 11 year old, especially if the surf is up even a bit. In November that is likely. Yes you could do the bridge, see a few rocks, bridge pilings and shopping carts, but If you want to take an 11 year old ocean diving for the 1st time, and really experience diving in S. Florida, there is only 1 option. You want to dive the Pompano Drop Off. Tack on an extra hour to your drive from Orlando, but trust me, it is worth it. It is as pretty a reef as any in S. Florida, and you will never go deeper than 30ft. Live coral, loads of fish, and there is a wreck on the site as well (SS Copehagen). You won't be disappointed.

 

[sheeper]

Even though it's going to seem so, I don't mean to be disrepectful. But you can ignore the advice given above. While Jupiter has excellent diving, most is well outside 60 ft. and can see extreme currents.

this is not correct. We have many, many dive sites in the 60 foot range that are spectacular and known for large sealife such as sharks and turtles. Even wrecks in 60'. Jupiter has it all. Current is not extreme by any means. Sure, like any ocean dive you can have currents but during the summer the norm is for a gentle north current making for a pleasant drift dive.
Feel free to PM me and i'll be happy to show you the awesomeness of Jupiter diving.

 

[C P]

Keep in mind here we are discussing opportunities for an 11 year old with a 40 foot depth limit

 

[sportxlh]

If an 11 year old child's limit is 40 feet, then Pompano/LBTS is the only true ocean dive outside of the Keys that works.

Blue Heron Bridge is also a nice option and is more than just overturned shopping carts and debris (although plenty of that exists at the site): my sister was very impressed with BHB after doing most of her diving as shore dives in Southern Ca. Hiring a guide like ScubaJenny or from Force-E or Pura Vida will enhance the experience.

For an 11 year, Epcot's dive is still a good bet too

 

[sheeper]

if the 11 year old is certified as a Junior Open Water Diver the requirement is to dive under the direct supervision of an adult parent, guardian or instructor. The depth limit is 60 feet at least with SDI's Standards and Procedures.
I've had several 11-12 year old students this summer. It was really fun and awesome diving with them!

 

[C P]

PADI and SSI both limit 10 and 11 year olds to 40 feet, and 12, 13, and 14 year olds to 60 feet. A hired dive guide, DM, or Instructor should be limited by both the student/diver's limits and their training agency's. That's one of the reasons I like Devil's Den for Jr. Divers. They can dive it with a parent since you can't get lost unless you really try, the conditions are pretty stable, and no time schedule to worry about based on tides and such. If you go up, it may be a little angled but going up brings you to the air. Plus there is the bragging rights when they show their friends pictures.

There are some great dives in the keys also for Jr. Divers, but those are a little further than the OP wanted to drive and you again can be affected by weather.

 

[geogator]

Another couple of suggestions for non-salt water that are fairly close, shallow/easy, cheap and fun with loads of fish & critters are Alexander Springs and Rainbow River. Neither of them are deeper than 27 feet or so, offer 90-100 feet of visibility and are not weather-dependent (ie: wind/waves) like an ocean dive would be. Like was said earlier, November weather in Florida can be very fickle and it would be a shame to plan on driving all the way to S. Florida from Orlando only to get blown out by the weather. Both of those sites are also used by lots of shops and instructors for OW classes so they would match her recently gained certification well. Just make sure you have at least a 3mil full wetsuit as the H2O temps are 70-72 degrees year around. Alexander Springs is in the Ocala National Forest a little more than an hour away and Rainbow River is west of Ocala near Dunnellon, a little under 2 hours from Orlando. Alexander is $7.00 to get in and at Rainbow the water taxi is usually $10 and entrance to KP Hole Park where you catch the taxi up river is around 4 or 5 bucks per person.

 

[packrat12]

PADI and SSI both limit 10 and 11 year olds to 40 feet, and 12, 13, and 14 year olds to 60 feet...

Close at least. I do not want to start an argument here but PADI is 10-11 - 40ft w/Parent or Pro. After that, there is no depth limit specified for non-training dives other than normal recommendations for OW divers. 12+ w/Adult as printed on their card. There are training limitations and possible insurance limitations that are different but even PADI states that 12+ is normal OW recommendations. I sent and received information from them to verify this when my daughter started diving. She is the girl next to me and she started at 11 and is now going SCR!

Personally, I like a lot of the suggestions. The springs are great, Devil's Den would be unique for most divers at 11. I took my daughter to Epcot at 11 and she loved it, expensive but a fun 45 minutes. In the ocean, I would recommend the Keys but being far away, find operations like Stuart Scuba who likes diving with youth divers and will make sure the dive is good for a Jr 11 year old diver.

 

[C P]

From the 2016 PADI Instuctor Manual

Diver Age Restrictions Key Standards
Age — 12 to 14 Year Olds
Depth – Maximum 18 metres/60 feet for Junior Open Water Divers. Maximum 21 metres/70 feet for continuing education.

After certification – Must dive with an adult certified diver Responsibility and Risk – Parent/guardian and child sign administrative forms


From the Open Water Diver Course Standards
Depth

Open Water Dives 1 and 2 – 12 metres/40 feet

Open Water Dives 3 and 4 – 18 metres/60 feet

So the normal recommendation for an Open Water diver who just got her certification and doesn't have any training or experience past that is 60 feet unless the 10 and 11 YOA restriction kicks in.

The 10 and 11 year old is pretty easy, since in this conversation we are talking about a charter or hiring a dive guide in the first place. If you came to me and wanted me to do anything in a professional capacity with a 12 to 14 YOA this is the answer. Packrat is right about the portion he quoted from PADI, it also in the manual, but if you continue reading it goes into more detail later. The answer I got during instructor school was at 12 the Jr. Diver could dive with others than just a Pro or Parent, not do away with depth limits. I would hate for a young diver to get their hopes up, be disappointed and cause a bad experience. This is just intended to prompt you to ask question and get verification when you book a charter. Some of the best dives I have been on were with my daughters, both of them got certified when they turned 10. Have fun and enjoy the adventures together.