Mndiv
Contributor
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 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!
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 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!