Roatan, Cozumel, or ___ for Junior OW

[NativeWannabe]

I agree with all the other responses. Roatan is easy beautiful diving. Cozumel almost always has currents and they can be strong. I’d take him to Roatan where the dives are pretty, relatively shallow and easy. Enjoy!

 

[rick00001967]

i would not recommend coz. the dive conditions are very unpredictable there as far as currents etc.

i have never been to roatan but our shop goes there annually and it seems to be easy diving.

we were in curacao once. great shore diving there. no hurricanes. bonaire might also be an option with better flight options.

we also like st maarten. have been there many times. it is not known as a dive destination but we have probably seen more critters there than anywhere else. seas can be kinda rough at times but i dont remember ever having issues with current. and you dont have to dive deep to see some cool reefs and wrecks. should be lots of flight options and tons of accommodation choices etc

 

[Aquaphoto]

I took my son on many Caribbean trips to get him started in diving... Beginning at 12 in Bonaire: sadly a great choice if it would work. Turtle Cay in Bahamas is another good choice.

Cozumel would be a bad choice as many have said related to currents and issues with locations: regulations on the island will put you in the same 4 or 5 shallow areas for the entire trip when he dives. Prior to 16yrs he is limited to 40 fsw by the agencies: regulations in Cozumel hold operators strictly to this and it limits choices. This means that the max depth at the BOTTOM of the reef is limited to 40ft on any dive he goes on and this still exposes him to currents on many of the dives ... that 40ft limit at the charted dive site bottom excludes most of the reefs in the marine park a group normally does on the first dive of the day. One cannot just go to say San Francisco wall and say they will stay at the top... the site depths as structured by the marine park limit the locations available with a 40ft max depth.

Best advice: learn to watch like an instructor, leave your camera on the boat if you have one and keep your son at arms length or holding your hand for the first 20 dives... this thrilled me as my boy was holding my hand for the first time since 4 ! Hire a private dive guide if the group is large or you are not comfortable. Finally I loved having a computer that would read multiple hosless transmitters so I could program his transmitter into my computer as a second gas and have a constant read on his pressure when he was close to me... We used shearwater.

 

[lizzzzz]

I took my son on many Caribbean trips to get him started in diving... Beginning at 12 in Bonaire: sadly a great choice if it would work. Turtle Cay in Bahamas is another good choice.

Cozumel would be a bad choice as many have said related to currents and issues with locations: regulations on the island will put you in the same 4 or 5 shallow areas for the entire trip when he dives. Prior to 16yrs he is limited to 40 fsw by the agencies: regulations in Cozumel hold operators strictly to this and it limits choices. This means that the max depth at the BOTTOM of the reef is limited to 40ft on any dive he goes on and this still exposes him to currents on many of the dives ... that 40ft limit at the charted dive site bottom excludes most of the reefs in the marine park a group normally does on the first dive of the day. One cannot just go to say San Francisco wall and say they will stay at the top... the site depths as structured by the marine park limit the locations available with a 40ft max depth.

Best advice: learn to watch like an instructor, leave your camera on the boat if you have one and keep your son at arms length or holding your hand for the first 20 dives... this thrilled me as my boy was holding my hand for the first time since 4 ! Hire a private dive guide if the group is large or you are not comfortable. Finally I loved having a computer that would read multiple hosless transmitters so I could program his transmitter into my computer as a second gas and have a constant read on his pressure when he was close to me... We used shearwater.

Thank you for all of this! Multiple people had casually suggested Coz for this and I had doubts, and am very glad I checked here. Great tips about watching like an instructor (yes!) and staying super close. I love this. And I did not realize a dive computer could do this, but I have a shearwater and will look into it. Really appreciate that suggestion.

 

[WillieJustice]

My experience is extremely limited, so take this for what it is worth. I got certified in Puerto Morelos and have been back several times. My wife and I will be there again this fall. The dives can be fairly shallow - 40 ft or so - there is lots to see, and currents are minimal. There can be some chop at the surface. Below the surface is peaceful. There are deeper dives, too, so there is that, but I don't think there is much below 90 feet anywhere. That isn't your concern, though.

There are probably lots of other places on the Riviera Maya with similar characteristics.

Here I am saying good things about it in public. My wife and I hope it doesn't get more popular and get overrun by more people like us.

Have fun. I didn't take up diving until my son was married and in his 30s. It is a real blessing to share it with your family. I hope the boy and his wife, the girl, take it up someday. Then we can share the fascination of the ocean.

 

[arkstorm]

Key Largo is an excellent destination for families who dive with children. Good shallow dives with plenty to see. Lots of good dive operators. And you don't have to put your faith in the hands of 3rd world safety practices.

Recently took the kiddos who are 15 and 10, PADI JOW, for a long weekend. We dove with Horizon Divers and had an absolute blast.

Flights to Miami or Lauderdale are cheap and plentiful. I would highly recommend it.