Your thoughts wanted on getting a ten year old certified.

[Kevrumbo]

For here in coastal Los Angeles, IMHO, I would rather have a ten-year-old who is already a good swimmer and comfortable in open beach waters be trained first in our top notch County Junior Life Guard Program, before undertaking any junior Scuba certification course (better opportunities too for a great first time summer job as a LA County Lifeguard and/or Baywatch Paramedic Intern with further training when they turn 18).

http://www.fire.lacounty.gov/lifeguard/lifeguard-youth-programs/

 

[JamesBon92007]

Personally I have not met very many 10-year-olds that I think are mature enough. They might be fine as long as everything is going to plan, but I would have doubts about how most could or would handle an emergency. The way I see it is that they have the rest of their lives to dive so why take the risk now when in a few years they will have developed further mentally and physically. In the meantime they can increase their snorkeling/freediving skills which should make the transition even easier.

OTOH, if you'd asked me if MY daughters were ready at age 10 the answer would have been "hell yes."

 

[grf88]

I think 10 years old is a great age for snorkelling.

 

[Rred]

Considering the number of adults divers (potentially half f all dive deaths) that are simply found with no air in their tanks...and presumably they just get distracted and forget to check their air...and then, consider that when things go wrong (regulator diaphragm ruptures, you breath water, etc.) and adult divers simply panic...

I would say not to get a 10 year old certified, but only a 10 year old who was exceptionally responsible and mature. And even then, yes, only to dive with an older more experienced diver, and to dive in relatively good conditions.

It depends on the ten year old. Setting up some roadblocks or drawing the process out while you make sure they CAN handle problems, wouldn't be unreasonable either. Heck, I've known some 15 year olds who couldn't figure out why it was a bad idea to make a campfire in the middle of the garage, so, you know. It all depends.

 

[hammet]

For what it's worth, PADI junior diver does not permit a 10 or 11 year old diver to dive deeper than 40 feet.
At 12-14 years it becomes 60'. After that, the junior diver cert automatically becomes an OW cert.

 

[gypsyjim]

When my son was 10 and my daughter 14 they both did their OW certification. A year later they followed up with AOW.

Both were fish, long before then, and both took to diving with no issues at all. My son even began to point out anything I did that he felt was not as he was taught.

 

[boulderjohn]

It depends upon the individual. I have certified 10-year olds who appeared to me to be very much ready to go. I have seen others I would not let near scuba equipment.

 

[boulderjohn]

My son was like your daughter. SASY, Seal Team, and snorkeling in the Caribbean. We tried to certify him around 14yr old and had lots of trouble clearing his mask. Delayed until 16yr - same thing, but got it done. Open water dives at Blue Heron Bridge.

Then, a year later we went on vacation in Honduras. Before the trip we practiced many times in the pool and he did great. First shore dive in Honduras and he was extremely anxious, and thumbed the dive. We tried several more times, and by the end of the week he made one short dive out around the Prince Albert and back. He probably won't dive again.

Children at that age can be hard to understand, and it is difficult to predict what will happen or know what to do.

I once had a father and daughter come in for a private session together. They had gone on vacations to tropical resorts all her life, and they had been avid snorkelers on every trip. The girl had begged her scuba certification for years before the father finally agreed to do it with her when she was 15. In the classroom, she could barely contain her excitement. She had practically memorized the manual and had no trouble with the coursework. When we did the first pool dive in the shallow end, she was wonderful--nailed every skill with no problem.

Then we went to the deep end of the pool, and she became a different person. Her eyes grew wide with terror before we descended. I was eventually able to get her calm--at least she seemed so, but she was never able to equalize to get down. I know it was mostly psychological, because she couldn't get more than a couple feet without supposed pain, and she had been deeper than that with no trouble during the shallow water skills. Her father had no trouble, but she could never get down to the bottom of the deep end. Eventually they decided that she would try again in another year or so. I don't know if they ever did.

 

[hammet]

Great answers from some really good people here.
I think we'll download the E-learning when she gets home from summer camp.
If she is motivated enough to complete it on her own without me prodding her, I'll arrange for her to do the confined pool work at my LDS's pool. If not, then maybe next year.
If that turns out to be a positive experience, we'll give the OW dives a shot... if that's what she wants.
I'd be on the boat, but I would make myself invisible and let the instructor do his job. And we'll see where it goes from there.

 

[IncreaseMyT]

My daughter is 12 and just got her certification and my son is about to be 15 and just got his. Both always comfortable in the water.

We have a friend and both the older siblings are certified and the youngest, girl, is going to be 10 next week and they are certifying her right away. They have been playing in the pool for some time now.

I would have let my kids do it at 10 but I would have probably have only been comfortable taking them on shallow reef dives under 40 ft. My daughter is 12 and I want her to get a whole lot of dives in before going deeper, to make sure she doesn't panic. I want the safety stop to be automatic first. Even then 60 feet sounds reasonable.

So my advice, go for it, but keep the dives shallow for a while, which you probably would do anyway. My instructor says its easier to teach kids than adults, they don't have the same level of fear.