4 minute read
Show Them a Different Life ...Under the Water!
While we are laying low ... Adventure doesn’t have to wait...
PADI online courses are a great way to start your family scuba adventure from home and jump-start your certification. You have an entire year to complete the online portion and can connect with a PADI Dive Centre to complete the in-water training at a later date. When the global situation calms, you will be ready to get in the water and develop dive skills with a PADI Instructor.
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This was the advice given by my very patient instructor on my very first scuba diving lesson. In an attempt to prove that I could put on a weight belt underwater, I found myself slowly rolling over on my side semi-submerged and thrashing around awkwardly like a half-dead fish. Clearly I didn’t stick my butt out enough.
I was recently given the opportunity to obtain my PADI Open Water diving certificate. Having experienced some amazing snorkelling last year in French Polynesia, this sounded like a great adventure and I quickly put my hand up to shout, ‘’Yes, pick me!’’
But afterwards, the doubt crept it. You see, I am dangerously close to 40 and I lost most of my hair to an auto-immune disease last year. On top of that, I haven’t looked good in a bathing suit for eight years. I was very aware that I was going to be a bald, chubby woman in a too-tight wet suit.
I needn’t have worried, I ended up having a great time and my first dive out of the pool and in the ocean was even better. Afterward, I commented to my husband that I wished the kids were old enough to do this with us.
Youth learning to scubadive
PADI
Do you know what I discovered? Kids can learn to Scuba Dive much younger than I thought. Children as young as 8 years old can scuba dive in a pool at their PADI Dive Center or Resort as part of PADI’s Bubblemaker and Seal Team experiences.
Kids 10 and up can enroll in the Junior Open Water Diver course, allowing them to gain their certification at the same time as their parents. How cool is that!
Family dive vacations are becoming increasingly popular. According to a 2018 study by the Family Travel Association, the number one reason parents are likely to travel with their family is to have them discover new places and have new experiences as a family.
There are lots of locations that are ideal for new divers, with plenty of topside family activities!
Even though travel is off the cards for the majority of the world at the moment, it doesn’t mean we can’t plan and save for when the world is safer and we can all begin enjoying it again.
Kids learning to scubadive in the pool
PADI
With that in mind ...
4 Great Kid-Friendly Dive Destinations Recommended by PADI
AUSTRALIA
Australia has one of the most child-friendly scuba diving communities anywhere. Several liveaboards welcome children as young as 4 onboard, and day boats are equally equipped to handle younger travellers.
The Great Barrier Reef is an excellent place to learn with many diver operations in the area offering PADI Bubblemaker and Junior Open Water Diver courses.
Expect to spot cool and unusual wildlife, such as potato cod, reef sharks and even minke whales. This is a great opportunity to teach children about conservation and inspire the budding naturalist inside all of us.
TURKS & CAICOS
Turks & Caicos is a group of islands scattered throughout the beautiful turquoise blue Caribbean. Many of the sites in the Turks & Caicos are shallow reefs with little or no current.
This makes them ideal for children just learning to scuba dive or even those too young for a certification. The marine life found here will blow you away.
The islands are known as a refuge for sea turtles, and you are almost guaranteed to see a few during your stay. Expect to see nurse sharks, eagle rays, dolphins, reef sharks, jacks, grouper, and snapper.
PALAU
Palau has long attracted scuba divers to its water and islands, offering some of the best soft coral reefs, wrecks and shark diving in the world. The country is seemingly designed for expanding minds with a plethora of fish like fusilier and humpback wrasse.
There are plenty of topside activities here and Kids Sea Camp offers family packages to Palau that provide one-in-a-lifetime cultural and diving experiences that every member of your family will enjoy.
CAYMAN ISLANDS
Sea turtles, stingrays and adventures await in the Cayman Islands. It’s unique marine life welcomes loads of scuba divers each year, including families.
Coral reefs and wrecks entice both scuba divers and snorkellers alike and budding photographers might like to try their hand at capturing the Çaptain Keith Tibbettts and the Kittiwake, some of the most photographed wrecks in the world.
Youth learning to scubadive
PADI
Need to Know ...
PADI® (Professional Association of Diving Instructors®) is the world’s largest recreational diver training organization with more than 6,600 dive centers and resorts and 137,000 professional members worldwide.
All PADI programs, from entry-level through professional-level training, fall under strict educational standards monitored for worldwide consistency and quality. Visit padi.com/start-diving to learn more!
