Teens Diving

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Mndiv

Contributor
Messages
101
Reaction score
2
Location
Twin Cities, Minnesota
# of dives
50 - 99
Hello, I'm 16 and live in the twin cities. Being in the land of 10,000 lakes (more like 15,000) you'd think one would have plenty of chances to go diving, but for me its about getting there.

On average 15 is a fairly young age to dive (I am OW certified for a few months) or at least thats the impression I get as the closest anyone in my school has gotten to SCUBA diving is doing a discover scuba course during a family vacation in mexico. Point being, as of yet:wink: none of my friends SCUBA dive.

Me and my dad both own almost all of our own equipment (except wetsuit, and tank), and I would dive everyday if I could. However I have 2 brothers, and my dad has his job so we've gotten out to one weekend of four dives since July. For me its not even so much about the place so long as I can dive, so even a close lake with crappy vis would work fine by me. I see that for them its hard, but I have to add that I am the person in our family most obsessed with diving. My dad likes it, but actually getting out to go diving, doesn't seem to be his priority.

I know that your Open Water class is a great place to get connections, but ours was very small, and there was me, my dad, and one girl on our actual training dives. Obviously a tropical vacation is out of the picture for me at this point, and although I have contact with my 2 instructors and would love to dive with them sometime, you can't really push them to go diving with you, because, well their instructors, and they've got their classes to teach.

My question is basically has anyone had this experience before and do you folks have any advice? What are some places I could get connections (I cant drive yet, but hope to have my license by December), is there something for teens? Any advice would help, and I know most of us here on Scubaboard would dive every day if we could, but for me its just about the once in a while, and if others can't finding someone other than my dad to dive with. Just looking for suggestions...:)

Thanks for the help everyone!
 
I had trouble for the first month looking for buddies, but all of a sudden I have a ton of replies. I'd suggest talking to your local dive shops about finding buddies, as they are more knowledgeable about the local divers. Constantly get phone numbers from everyone and make a separate phone book of diving buddies.

My buddies were from:
i) My dive shop (and others close by) has drop-in dives once or twice a week.
ii) One dive shop has a message board with names/numbers and a message board on Facebook, so I used that.
iii) I tried the local section of ScubaBoard (got no one close, but worth a try).
iv) I joined the university scuba club, and I suggest you find if there are any local scuba clubs with weekly/biweekly events. Meetup.com might have a local club.

I didn't get a lot of responses at first, but with more dives and a bit of time, now I have more than enough buddies.

Edit: It helps if you have your own vehicle or live close to a lot of local dive areas (easier for pick-up).
 
Just talk it up, join a dive club if there is one.
Use this website to your advantage.

Take note of my sig



Give people your number. I moved down to Florida from NY and had 0 dive connections. Joined a local dive group and now have many MANY connections. I even gave my number out in the dive shop a time or two.


Unfortunately, people will probably not be as willing to dive with you because of your age.
However, if you do get people to dive with you, you will learn a few things rather quickly.
1) there are people that you would rather NOT dive with again
2) there are people that you would rather dive with again
3) people have different dive ''personalities'' which you will need to adapt to. For me, I tell people that I like to swim slowly, and please don't leave me behind. That will usually make the speed demons more aware. Luckily, most divers are not in peak physique, so there arent many you'll have to worry about :D


For me, I dive with a few people more often than the randoms now because I know them as a diver, and know their dive personality. Why would I want to risk having to deal going on blind ''dive dates'' and deal with other divers?
I'm happy to have met those I have met.
 
I took a 17 year old with me diving one weekend and it turned out ok. He was taking a class and that is the only reason I was willing as the dive shop took on that legal responsibility. I'm not sure if I would do it again as his dad (a cop) was kind of a nightmare. WHY?

When your responsible for a minor things can easily go wrong. I have no problem being responsible for my kid, and his friends, but it is difficult being responsible for a minor if you don't know the parents. This is doubly true if they are there by themselves.

Maybe find someone in HS that you can buddy up with. Maybe there is a youth dive club you can join? Ask the dive shop if there is a dive club that accepts minors? Maybe your school has a dive club?

The honest truth is that most adults will not want to assume the responsibility of diving with a minor unless they already have a relationship established with your parents. Maybe talk to you parents and see what they have to say about this. If something went wrong it can get ugly quick. Sorry, sad but true.
 
I took a 17 year old with me diving one weekend and it turned out ok. He was taking a class and that is the only reason I was willing as the dive shop took on that legal responsibility. I'm not sure if I would do it again as his dad (a cop) was kind of a nightmare. WHY?

When your responsible for a minor things can easily go wrong. I have no problem being responsible for my kid, and his friends, but it is difficult being responsible for a minor if you don't know the parents. This is doubly true if they are there by themselves.

Maybe find someone in HS that you can buddy up with. Maybe there is a youth dive club you can join? Ask the dive shop if there is a dive club that accepts minors? Maybe your school has a dive club?

The honest truth is that most adults will not want to assume the responsibility of diving with a minor unless they already have a relationship established with your parents. If something went wrong it can get ugly quick. Sorry, sad but true.

On the one hand, I have found diving with my 16 year old son tremendously rewarding, and him very responsible and a great dive buddy.

My initial reaction to the OP was the thought that I would have no issue diving with him as a consequence of my experience with my son.

On the other hand, your assessment of the liability associated with him being a minor is something I did not initially consider, and would be a show stopper. A sad but unfortunately true comment on our society and legal system.

It used to be they were considered men at 13 or 14. What happened?
 
I took a 17 year old with me diving one weekend and it turned out ok. He was taking a class and that is the only reason I was willing as the dive shop took on that legal responsibility. I'm not sure if I would do it again as his dad (a cop) was kind of a nightmare. WHY?

When your responsible for a minor things can easily go wrong. I have no problem being responsible for my kid, and his friends, but it is difficult being responsible for a minor if you don't know the parents. This is doubly true if they are there by themselves.

Maybe find someone in HS that you can buddy up with. Maybe there is a youth dive club you can join? Ask the dive shop if there is a dive club that accepts minors? Maybe your school has a dive club?

The honest truth is that most adults will not want to assume the responsibility of diving with a minor unless they already have a relationship established with your parents. Maybe talk to you parents and see what they have to say about this. If something went wrong it can get ugly quick. Sorry, sad but true.

I will look into that further. At what age would one legally not be a minor anymore? I have checked and know that my high school does not have a dive club of any kind, neither do any of the surrounding schools, and as I mentioned before I also know that no one at my high school dives. I don't know why, maybe its because when people think of SCUBA diving, Minnesota is not the first thing that comes to mind, but rather some exotic destination, so some will try it, but never actually get certified...

Another local resource is mnscuba.com of which I am a part, and they do post diving get togethers, the problem then is more getting there as my parents feel reluctant to let some stranger pick me up:depressed: Thanks for the advice so far, its a great help
 
My 16 year old nephew here in the Denver area got certified last December, and I make a point to call him whenever I am headed out to teach or just on a fun dive outing locally. Like the original poster, here in Colorado that means water in the 50's or 60's and viz on a good day of maybe 12 to 15 feet, and on a bad day 3 or 4 feet.
As far as being a minor, it is universally the case you are a minor until age 18, but for some purposes a younger person is treated as an "adult." However, for diving, most professionals who take underage people diving will want either a) a parent along, or b) written permission from the parent. New young divers hungry to dive should let that fact be known at their local shop and as noted, post here on scubaboard. It might even be worthwhile to start a teen diver club in the area. I am sure one of the local shops would sponsor it ( and sell gear to all members), maybe even organizing an outing or several outings per year. I hope every new diver, young or old has a desire to be an active diver. Make it happen!
DivemasterDennis
 
I know folks dive at Square Lake near Stillwater, and I remember reading on the DivertoDiver board about several really neat-sounding lakes & quarries in Wisconsin. Ask at General Chat - (Active)
I know there a couple of folks hanging out there that are from your part of the world.

You might also go online or get on the phone and see what private high schools might have dive clubs, also the many small colleges in Mpls & St.Paul and esp. the U of MN are very likely to have dive clubs. The public high schools are quite unlikelöy to have dive clubs.
 
Yes thanks for all the advice. I will check with local schools, further than my current research has gone. I will also email some colleges like the U of M to see if they have a club. I don't know about building a club, for a 16 year old to start a dive club in the area without any dive connections other than his previous instructors, and his dad seems a little far fetched, but thanks again I will also look into this:) If anyone has more advice, I am always happy for different suggestions!
 
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