Two teen sons want to try scuba diving?

[Illuminati_721]

On our next trip, to Nassau, my two teens, ages 12 and 14, really want to scuba dive. Anybody have experience with this and their kids? Is it a good teen activity? Any suggestions?

 

[Dan Murphy]

On our next trip, to Nassau, my two teens, ages 12 and 14, really want to scuba dive. Anybody have experience with this and their kids? Is it a good teen activity? Any suggestions?

Sounds good to me, though no experience here. And welcome to the dis, 721.

 

[Disneychick13]

I thought you had to be certified to scuba dive? But I have no experience with it. It’s actually on my “unbucket“ list so…

 

[Lumpy1106]

It's been a minute since I got my PADI certification, but there was a younger kid in my class with his Dad. It was a great experience, but be forewarned that teens are subject to limitations that adults are not. I think the deepest they can go is 25 feet? Still, highly recommend.

EDIT TO ADD:
I would absolutely recommend getting everyone certified BEFORE the trip. The class is lengthy and besides, if you take the class and decide it's not for you, better to find out there than on vacation.

 

[JaxDad]

It’s a great activity! My teen, tween, and I did a one-day dive trip out of Key West a few years ago. I was already certified, so my kids did the PADI Discover SCUBA Diving course.

 

[sam_gordon]

WAY back (2012), I took an "introductory" course at an AI we were staying it. Included classroom instruction, some pool time, and an ocean dive (to about 40 feet). I found out I breathe very heavily apparently (I was the one who ran low on air and had to stop the dive for everyone).

If they are serious about trying it out as a possible hobby, google in your area and there's probably somewhere for you to take classes and do the pool work. Then arrange for your open water dives on the trip.

While it costs more at a resort, I'm kind of glad I did it, under the same circumstances, would it it again, but it didn't really "thrill" me to pursue certification after we returned.

 

[firefly_ris]

@loves to dive any thoughts?

I have zero experience but thought of her.

 

[robinb]

My daughter got PADI certified on a trip to Hawaii when she was 10. Your kids can probably find an introductory PADI Discover SCUBA Diving course in Nassau. Or, they can take a class at home and become certified before vacation.

 

[sheilafri]

DH and I became certified on vacation in St. Martin. It cost us some classroom time and one more dive than we had planned. SIL was with us and didn’t do it. She later certified at home in Texas and said the water wasn’t nearly as pleasant to be in.

Years later we went on dives while on a cruise with our children who were probably in high school and middle school. It was great and we all loved it. Kiddies didn’t need to be certified, but check requirements where you’re going. I’m sure things have changed in the intervening years. BTW, 2/3 kids are now certified. The other one wishes he was but hasn’t had the opportunity.

 

[loves to dive]

@loves to dive any thoughts?

I have zero experience but thought of her.

My 2 cents since you asked. Any legit certification agency will have some sort of certification for younger people. We (hubby, son and I) are SSI certified and I know they will certify as young as 12. I'm pretty sure PADI does as well and there is a NAUI certification. Personally, I would not do a resort certification, I would have them go ahead and find a full course and get that. I say this because the resort certifications and down and dirty, with just a few hours of class time and pool time. While it is a safe sport if you know what you are doing and do it properly, it can also be a not so safe sport. Just for open water certification, which is the basic one, we had to do 4 weekends of class time about 5 hours a day and 3 pool sessions before we could go and do our open water. We are completely land locked in Athens, GA so our open water cert. is done at some fresh water springs in Florida. That was 2 dives a day for 2 days. I'm not sure but I think the PADI cert. isn't that much class, pool or open water time. Hubby and I are master divers, which means we are certified in a number of specialties and had to have a certain amount of dives. We are also stress and rescue divers and cavern certified. My son is open water certified but got his degree in Anthropology with an emphasis on underwater archeology so has a good number of dives under his belt as well.

We have been on many dives with poorly trained divers and have had to help a lot of them with things as simple as they forgot to put enough weights on before the jumped off the boat and we spent the entire dive not only loaning them some of ours but holding their hands to keep them from corking. Or they panic when their mask fills up with water, which happens a lot.

 

[Darcy03231]

If you don't want to have them get the certification, look into SNUBA. My kids and I did it in Roatan and had a great time. You don't go down too far, about 30 feet, but it was a lot of fun and we didn't have to waste vacation time in a classroom or pool. It was also a lot less expensive.

 

[TLSnell1981]

It's been a minute since I got my PADI certification, but there was a younger kid in my class with his Dad. It was a great experience, but be forewarned that teens are subject to limitations that adults are not. I think the deepest they can go is 25 feet? Still, highly recommend.

EDIT TO ADD:
I would absolutely recommend getting everyone certified BEFORE the trip. The class is lengthy and besides, if you take the class and decide it's not for you, better to find out there than on vacation.

Both my boys learned to dive when they were teens. I definitely agree with getting certified before the trip.

 

[Cogswel_Cogs]

Certified diver.
Haven't dove in many years. I think there are some places that will give you days training before taking you. But I would sooner get certified first. There is a lot to diving. I don't think I would be able to use a regulator that was not my own with covid. But that's probabbly just me.
I really loved diving but I had a hernia operation and never found out if I can dive again.
Another reason to get certified before is to make sure you can equalize, and get better at it.
I was never very good at it and borderline was another reason I stopped.
Equalizing is getting preasure in you nasal canal to align with the preasure from the waters weight from the depth you are at. Its uncomfortable if you can't do it well but Im not sure how much worse it could be. For me it didn't stop me from diving but believe me I dont miss it.

 

[NotUrsula]

My DD got her basic PADI certification in a week at summer day camp at a local municipal pool complex. She was I think 10 at the time, and already a strong swimmer, so we knew she had no fear of water.

She got through the week OK and managed to do all the tasks that she needed to do to pass the course, but found that wearing SCUBA equipment for extended periods made her feel very claustrophobic, so she decided that real diving excursions would not be something she would enjoy doing for fun. Now in her mid-teens, she's glad she got that lesson learned at home rather than wasting vacation time learning how to do something that it turned out she really didn't much enjoy.

I have several recreational and professional divers in my family, and I'm the odd fish (if you'll pardon the pun); I simply cannot get comfortable breathing in water with a mask on; it's pretty much the only experience that makes me feel crazy claustrophobic. That isn't going to change at my age, so I've accepted that snorkeling in about 6 feet of water is my upper limit.

 

[RUDisney]

My DBr and DSIL were certified at home... took their certification dive in an old quarry, in March, in Pennsylvania. When their kids were about the same age as yours, they were certified by the same group. Their opinion was, "why take time from your vacation to become certified when you can spend the same time actually diving and having fun?"

Have a great time!

 

[BrianL]

I thought you had to be certified to scuba dive? But I have no experience with it. It’s actually on my “unbucket“ list so…

Often resorts will have a program where you can take a quick class and be temproarily "certified" to only dive in their waters or proscribed location. It is not a full certification and the experience is pretty basic. It's a good way to see if it's something one would want to pursue as a more serious hobby though.

 

[loves to dive]

I have several recreational and professional divers in my family, and I'm the odd fish (if you'll pardon the pun); I simply cannot get comfortable breathing in water with a mask on; it's pretty much the only experience that makes me feel crazy claustrophobic. That isn't going to change at my age, so I've accepted that snorkeling in about 6 feet of water is my upper limit.

This was something I was afraid was going to bother me so I practiced in our hot tub. Just putting the mask and snorkel on and sticking my head under the water over and over. It worked. I have a freakishly small head so it took me about 2 years to find a mask I could wear that I could seal tight enough to not flood all the time. To this day, I'm not a fan of having to use my snorkel while wearing my gear, surface swimming with gear on isn't a load of fun, if I can drop at least far enough under to be totally covered and use my reg. I'm good. You don't really have to be a strong swimmer and I swear sometimes it hinders instead of helps some divers since it's better if you just use your legs and keep your arms tucked. To get our stress and rescue cert. we had to do a certain number of laps in the pool while holding weights. Now that sucked.

 

[AgentMama]

My kids were 10 or 11 when we had them certified to dive. Its been a great family activity and we've had awesome dives in a lot of countries.

I think Stuarts Cove is the only game in town for diving in Nassau? While most dive shops offer open water certification, I agree with previous posters who suggested getting certified before you go. That way you know ahead of time if they need more skills time, etc.

I'm not sure if this is something you plan on doing with them, but I wouldn't send new kid divers out diving without a competent adult for supervision. Its takes awhile for them to remember all the things they should be doing and how to fix issues.

 

[sheilafri]

We were certified at a resort. We would never go out on our own anyway since we live in the middle of the US. We really liked our instructor and found him very professional. My SIL was certified at home. She was left behind in the water at the quarry where they took their open water test. My take: You can find good and bad instructors in any given setting.