I find some of the most fun courses I teach to be those with children. That’s not to say it isn’t fun teaching adults; it is. The difference with kids is that they don’t hide or temper their excitement, they just go for it! And that brings me nicely onto the topic of this post; how young is too young.
Let’s start with the technicalities. Kids who are 8 or 9 years old can experience diving in a pool. There are two PADI programmes for this; Bubblemaker and SEAL Team. Do they truly learn to dive? Not really, because the instructor is in direct control of the vast majority of items. It is very much an introduction to diving in a super controlled environment. If you have an 8 or 9 year old who shows a keen interest in the underwater world, by all means sign them up for a Bubblemaker. It only takes an hour or two, and is usually great fun. Even if they you haven’t committed to too much time or money, and hopefully your instructor has at least managed to give them a fun morning or afternoon at the pool. See the section below on “Do they want to?”
Once a child reaches 10 years old, their parents can enroll them onto the Junior Open Water course. This has all the same performance requirements as the standard Open Water course, therefore the “Junior” limitation disappears as soon as the student reaches 15 years old. There is no separate or additional course to do; the transfer happens automatically.
But just because you can start at 10 years old, should you? Like with a lot of things, the answer is “it depends”. Below, I’ve listed a few things you should think about before determining if your child is ready to enroll in the Junior Open Water course.
Are they big enough? Scuba is a very relaxing sport, but there are some physical aspects to it, especially moving around heavy tanks and weights on the surface. From experience, there are some items that smaller students really struggle with. Things like disconnecting the low pressure inflator valve requires some strength and dexterity (as well as good technique!). Carrying a tank and BCD from the dive deck to the entry point, even though it’s only a few metres, can be tiring, as can getting back onto the boat with a full set of heavy, wet gear. If your 10 year old is particularly small, consider delaying until they have are just a bit bigger. Added to this is the cold. Smaller people tend to get cold quicker, and this seems especially true of children.
Do they have the skills? The best young students I have taught tend to be water babies. They love the water, are great swimmers, and are very confident in and around the water. Fundamentally, they must be able to swim 200m and float for 10 mins, so if they can’t do that comfortably, perhaps it’s a good idea to wait a while. On top of this, make sure your child is happy to swim underwater without any goggles, with their eyes open, and without holding their nose. These things aren’t requirements, but they are my recommendations for children, heck, even adults, who want to learn to dive.
Are they mature enough? We love to have fun when diving, after all, that’s what it’s all about. There are also more serious times when the instructor needs to get across information; fundamental concepts need to be listened to and adhered to, otherwise accidents can happen. Children with short attention spans might find the multiple sessions and hours of training too much to take. You then have the theory to consider. The most important thing is that the student understands theoretical concepts that are essential to safe diving. Whilst it is perfectly fine for you to assist in their eLearning (or Knowledge Development), we need to be sure they understand the underlying reasoning. If they don’t, they cannot be a safe diver, and will, unfortunately, not be certified.
Do they want to? This is probably the most important point. If your child doesn’t want to learn, there is zero point in forcing them to. Kids who don’t want to be there are the worst students. They have a miserable time and, quite often, give up after a couple of hours. However, I have seen kids who struggle with some of the physical items, but because they have an absolute desire and want to get their certification, they find a way. So please, do not force your child to learn to dive; it must be something they want to do.
If you have any questions, please drop me an email or ask in the comments below.y