Megaladon Tooth Dive for 14 yr old

[SparticleBrane]

I'm not necesarily sure that any amount of qualifications will be any good in such a low vis environment. If the usable visibility is only 1-2 feet, just because someone is an instructor won't do someone any good unless they are right there if something happens.
Personally I would feel more comfortable if your son had a little more experience.

With all that being said, he might have a good trip.

 

[Steve50]

I don't know exactly but if I remember correctly about 2 kids to one adult as far as the qualifications just certified divers(parents) and possibly one instructor. This is something I will definitely look into before deciding.

Sounds to me like it would be prudent to pass on this one.

 

[realdiver7]

Adults have gotten into trouble diving the Cooper, and the diving can be very challenging to say the least. I would hesitate to take a 14 year-old with limited experience, and I definitely would not allow it if it were my child and I couldn't be there.

Hopefully, when you discuss the positives and negatives, he will make the right decision so you won't have to make it for him. He may not want to take the risk, but peer pressure may push him to doing something he isn't comfortable with.

 

[SparticleBrane]

A good rule of thumb:
If you question whether or not the dive should happen, especially with younger, inexperienced divers...don't do the dive.

No dive today is worth all the dives tomorrow.

 

[KsDiver]

"Not all red flags have a white stripe"..........I see red flags.

 

[Prostar]

My own instructor has dived there several times so my info is hearsay. It sounds like there is no gradual descent there. You drop like a rock and if you can't equalize quickly, then this is a bad thing.

They would tie a pair of large screwdrivers to their BCs and plant them in the bottom to keep from being swept away. All searching was done by patting the bottom in a semicircle within the diver's reach. Then they would up anchors, drift back a bit and re-plant the screwdrivers. After a while, they got good at telling the difference between teeth and other stuff. One thing he did mention was that if you reached around and your hand rested on something long and hard that stays still, it is a log. If the hand comes to rest on something long and hard that moves, it's an alligator.

I was going to go on the next trip down there from North Carolina, but a job offer came up and I find myself on the West coast in much colder water.

 

[Lead_carrier]

Just off top off the top of my head I'd say not to let your son go without you. I wasn't one of those overprotective parents but there are limits to learning experiences. I've know VERY experienced carribean divers that got in and was back on deck getting suntans in under 5 minutes. Simply because it wasn't for them. Even with a 2-1 ratio it can be a very difficult dive. What if one gets away from the leader. The only way to safely connect divers together , IMO, is with a breakaway bungee system. Too many log jams in the river to take a chance of nonreleasable connector. Oh, and don't forget that gators and idiot boaters will be out at that time of the year.

One HUGE factor would also be which operator they would be diving with. There are a couple that I won't dive with and I love diving the Cooper.

Give it a lot of consideration before saying yea or nay. Would I take a 14 year old? Maybe. Would I SEND my 14 year old? I'd be hard pressed to be convinced of that one.

 

[TStrick]

Someone beat me to it....Watch out for those big gators!!! I have done this dive several times and love it but took the wife one time and after watching a 10 foot gator slide into the water about 30 feet from the gravel bed she elected to sit the dive out. Go with your instincts but I agree with some on this thread. The Cooper River is and should be considered an advanced dive....Happy Diving

 

[LI Diver]

Thanks! everyone has been a great help. We are going to pass on this one and set our sights on Venice Beach. When I can contact the troop leader (I believe he's off diving in the phillipines) I will get more info,it just seems strange that they've done this dive with the boy's on their way down to sea base several times if it is as you guy's described. I'm thinking that I'm missing something like maybe they dive a different spot or only at slack water or something. The part with the alligators is particularly unnerving however. I'm sure no ones ever recorded an actual attack but still!

 

[james croft]

I had to laugh when the other posters described the gators. I did not mention them previously as I did not want to be dramatic, but...it is unnerving to look back behind the boat and see 2 ten footers swimming across the river 50 feet behind the boat and the boat captain is hollering for divers to roll overboard. I was thinking that since the current was heading towards the gators I better make sure I had all the air out of my bc, my air was on, and I had not forgotten my weight belt as I did not want to get up on top of them. I sank like a rock and kept my stabbing gear handy. High adventure on the Cooper.