My Son is getting SCUBA certified!

[Vanguard]

I was certified when I was 15 and that was the earliest you could do it back in the day.   PADI has created a new Junior Open Water Certification for 10 year olds and older.  It limits them to diving with a certified parent or PADI divemaster up to 40ft deep.

Anyone here have kids who have gone through this program?

I'm curious how the kids do with all the equipment.   The equipment has really come a long way since I got certified but my son is younger and smaller than I was when I got certified.   In my day, you basically had to wear adult sized gear and deal with your gear sliding all over the place during the dive.   We were gear shopping and found a BCD vest that fit my son perfectly.   The only equipment we're having trouble finding with his size are the fins.   We've found ones that fit but they are snorkel fins and not dive fins.   I'm afraid that with 40lbs of gear, the little snorkel fins won't have the surface area to propel him.

I'm jealous of the new regulators too.  I've got a couple Dacor Vipers that were pretty nice 10 years ago.   The one my son is looking at has these awesome super flex hoses and the whole regulator is made of composite material.   It feels weightless in your hand.

[Vanguard]

The tank doesn't weigh 40lbs.   I think the Aluminum 50's run around 20-25lbs.  The other 20 lbs comes from regulator, gauges, BCD and whatever weights you need to carry.  I think 40lbs may be a little high.   My equipment probably weighs 40lbs.   I don't think my sons will.   He probably won't need any weight other than his integrated drop weights.

Tanks have actually gotten heavier because Steel tanks have made a comeback.   When I was getting certified, aluminum was the new best thing.  Now, people are gravitating toward steel again because you can get more air into a smaller tank.   The walls of the tank are much thicker and the steel is much heavier.  However, the overall volume of air is larger for the same size aluminum tank.   A steel 80 tank is about the size of an aluminum 50.

There are carbon fiber tanks now but they are super expensive.  I don't know how much real world use they've seen either.   I'd be hesitant to jump on the technology just yet.

[Vanguard]

What the hell are you going to do with a 50 cf tank?  Float in a swimming pool?  

Uh, my son weights 55lbs.   He can make 50cf last longer thank I can make 80cf last.

You've also got it bass ackwards on steel vs aluminum.  With equivalent capacity, steel tanks weigh less.

That's equivalent capacity.   I'm talking equivalent size.   If I can lug an 80cf aluminum tank, then I can get the same size in steel which weights a couple pounds more but has 100cf of air.

A Luxifer Aluminum 80 weighs 30lbs.  A steel 100 in the same size weighs 33lbs.

[Vanguard]

A 10 year old has to pass the same course as an adult.   That means doing and understanding the dive tables.  

As far as confidence, panicing, etc... That's what the adult is there for.   Sure there is some risk involved but he's probably at more risk riding his bike around the neighborhood.   If I thought he couldn't handle the situations that could come up, I wouldn't allow him to get certified.

He's already a very proficient snorkeler.   We go to the Keys every summer and he routinely snorkels in 30-50ft of water.  He's also done SNUBA as well.

The certification has a 40ft depth limit for kids.   We won't be doing anything requiring decomp or anything.  

I've been diving since I was a kid and still haven't gotten tired of it.   I guess if I always dove the same place it might get old but we dive all over.   I've also gotten into underwater photography which added a lot of fun to the hobby.

[pmowry]

She says you're nuts.

Well, that made me laugh =) but my daughter is 14, and because of this post I'll see if I can get her interested. But just what I need is 1 more expensive hobby =)

[Vanguard]

Well, my wife was 14 and ~80lbs when she did the coursework and graduated at 15.  She couldn't even pick up the tank to set it on the bench.

She says you're nuts.

FWIW

Well, not knowing her, it doesn't mean much.   I've seen adult divers who were grossly overweight and couldn't even lift their weight belt let alone their tank.  They are completely winded just trying to get their wetsuit on.  I've seen adults who would drown if they weren't wearing a BCD.  They literally couldn't swim good enough to keep themselves afloat.  If my son was as inept as many of the adult divers I see, he wouldn't be getting certified.  He's grown up around boats, diving, snorkeling, etc.. so he's pretty competent in the water. 

Also, We dive mostly from our boat.  It's not like he needs to walk a mile to the ocean with the tank.   Once you're in the water, you're weightless so who cares?   Main issue with the gear is that it fits snug.  We have a swim platform on the back of the boat and usually slip into our tanks sitting on the dive platform.  We don't even have to stand up with the tanks to get in the water.  My wife is certified too and she's pretty petite.   She has a hard time standing with her gear on and again it really doesn't matter much.  She also has rheumatoid arthritis so she is weaker than a normal person her size yet she still has no problems.

The biggest issue with kids getting certified is how they handle the unexpected and how they can keep their head straight if something goes wrong.   The weight of the equipment on land is of little contribution to the danger aspect of diving.

At one of the dive shops last weekend, we suited him up with a BCD and a 50cf tank and he was able to stand and walk around.   He couldn't lift the tank with this arms high enough to put it in the BCD but he really doesn't need to either.   

I was curious to see what other people's experience was with kids this age getting certified and handling the equipment.   I'm think that is the biggest delta between doing it at 10 and 15 but in the end for the type of diving we do, it really doesn't matter.

[Vanguard]

She says you're nuts.

Well, that made me laugh =) but my daughter is 14, and because of this post I'll see if I can get her interested. But just what I need is 1 more expensive hobby =)

Yeah it does get a little pricey.  I was surprised when I was pricing kids gear.  The price is exactly the same for kids and adult stuff.   You'd think they would cut you a break considering you're going to need to replace the kids equipment much more often due to growth.

[Vanguard]

My son could do the frog march if he needed to.   He couldn't put the tank on the BCD or stand on a pitching boat either but again, I know adults that can't either.   

If all my son has ever done was swim in a pool, I wouldn't be considering letting him get certified.   He's logged quite a bit of time in the ocean and has had shark swim right next to him.   He's kept his cool (probably too cool) and thought it was the most awesome thing.   I don't intend on exceeding the 40ft limit or pushing him at all.   I'll let him find his comfort zone.   If we end up exploring Carysfort reef in 15 feet of water with tanks on, that's cool with me.   I just want to see him explore his limits and learn at his pace.   

I want my son to get the class and the certification for several reasons:

1) It has an impartial person doing the evaluation.   I don't want to find out the hard way that I over evaluated his abilities.
2) If he wants to dive when he is older (without dad), he'll need a certification anyway.
3) I took my classes almost 30 years ago.  I don't know what has changed.  I know the dive tables have but I'm looking at this as a refresher for me too.
4) It's a confidence booster / sense of accomplishment thing for him to take and pass the class.
5) There will be occasions we aren't just diving off the back of our boat. 

The expensive part is the equipment anyway.  It's not like I'd be saving myself a load of dough by skipping the class.   I can't really think of any good reason not to take the class. 

I'm also going ultra-safe with him on the air supply.   I carry an octo but am also going to get a pony (SpareAir) as a backup.   If anything did go wrong, he'll have a redundant backup on top of the octo.  I've never had any failures that even required an octo but I'm not taking any chances with my son.  I've also considered looking into full face setups with communications so we can talk underwater.   I'm not sure we could find one that would fit his face though.  If anything did happen, I could talk him through it.

[protokatie]

The only dangerous sport I ever wanted to do as a kid was hang glide, but diving sounds fun and I know a few people who have been certified since 15.

As per the communicating underwater, have you considered taking American sign language with your kid? I know this won't work in water that is highly turbid, but could be useful in many other situations (imagine being able to tell you kid how to hold the camera underwater while underwater, etc)

Just a thought.

[Vanguard]

SCUBA has it's own rudimentary sign language and we also carry tablets that we can write on.  The tables are like a high tech etch-a-sketch that is waterproof and has a stylus.  Normal communication isn't really problem.   The only reason I'd consider the full face electronic communication systems is so that I can communicate with my son if we lose each other or so we can talk when we don't have visual contact.   It's hard to sign or scribble "SHARK!!!!!" and get someones attention.

Plus, it would be fun to hear the excitement in his voice when he sees new things.   Now we just geek out on the boat afterwards talking about all the stuff we saw and reviewing photos I took.

I also wanted to hang glide when I was a kid.   Unfortunately Florida isn't too conducive to it.  My brother did too and he ended up going into the aviation industry.   He met these 2 guys who were opening a glider park   They struck a deal for my brother to do the FAA inspections on their tow aircraft.   He became good friends with them and was helping them launch the business when one of them was killed when he crashed his hang glider.   It looks like a ton of fun but at my age, with a family, I think I'll stick to the safer sports (like SCUBA).

[Vanguard]

The etch-a-sketch thing is nice.  You just pull a lever and it's erased.   You don't have to dork around with the grease pencil and trying to clean off the slate.

I think the pony is something that you will likely never use but if you need one, it could be the difference between living and dying.   For $250.00 it seems like a small price to pay for the added safety.

I've dove St. Kitts, Nevis and St. Barts before.   Never the Virgin Islands.   I liked the West Indies.  We had planned on going to Montserrat but the stupid volcano on the island buried the port our Windjammer was supposed to head into.

I guess things could have been worse though.   A couple years later we had booked a Windjammer to Belize but changed last minute due to schedule conflicts.  The boat we were suppose to be on was the Fantome.   The cruise we would have been on sunk in a hurricane and killed the entire crew.   The passengers had been let off in Belize city so no passengers died but what an awful vacation that would have been.

[Vanguard]

Why did you live in the Virgin Islands?  What did your parents do?  The wall looks awesome.   The Bahamas (around Treasure Cay) has some nice ledges and interesting formations like the wall (without the depth though).

I can sympathise with you.  I grew up in South Florida on the water.   We lived on the Intercoastal Waterway and had a boat parked in the backyard.   Now I live inland and would give anything to live on the ocean or Intercoastal.   Unfortunately, with my career choice, there aren't too many high-tech companies on the coast.   You need to be in a field that caters to the retirement community to live on the coast (or a drug dealer).

I work from home now and contemplated moving to the coast but the company I work for wants to grow where I am.   That means I'll eventually be stuck in an office again.   Oh well...makes it all the more enjoyable when we take a vacation.

[ark_ader]

He can now scuba in my think tank.

[solidteezme]

Scuba, scuba?

Along came polly, what a crappy movie, apart from scuba steve ofcourse!

[Vanguard]

Well, he passed the test with flying colors and passed his certification dives this weekend.   We dove the last certification together.  

[Vanguard]

Fine I'm a pansy then.   The springs are 69-72 degrees.   I'm use to diving in water that is in the mid 80's.   That's the only time I won't wear a full wetsuit.   Even then I wear a 2mm shorty (Mainly to keep equipment from digging into me).

My son was wearing 2 westsuits (3mm shorty and a 4-5-6 full).  He's got like zero body fat and gets cold easily.

[Vanguard]

Well, we've mastered basic bladder control so it's not really a problem.