Scuba Diving for Children

At Master Divers we have a lot of families coming to dive with us and it’s great fun – we love kids…! Parents are always surprised by the range of activities children can do and there really is a lot for their little water babies to enjoy.

Swimming and Snorkeling

If your little mermaids are still mastering the art of swimming then we can assist you in securing some fun swim lessons and snorkeling lessons in the swimming pool with a registered and certified teacher. Nicola teaches from 4 months upwards and gives private as well as group classes.

Once children can swim and are comfortable in the water then they are welcome on the boat for some snorkeling too. We believe that everyone on our boat should be supervised so we provide and guided snorkeling experience no matter what your age. Snorkelers are accompanied by a guide, not just for safety but for fun as well as they can show you the bests spots and point out the cool critters too. Guides will also teach any participant skills and techniques to aid them in being more comfortable in their water exploration. Life jackets are a requirement we insist on for children.

Diving – 8 and 9 yr olds.

Once children are 8 years old they can do something that is called a Bubble Maker. Simply put this is a mini dive for mini divers ! We are allowed to take children to a maximum depth of 2m so they can explore the shallows of a calm bay or have fun in the pool. We have smaller equipment to make this manageable and fun. Kids who see their parents diving love this and it’s great fun.

At 8yrs and 9 yrs old they can also take part in Seal Teams series of Aquamissions. Participants will learn buoyancy control, mask, regulator and equipment skills and techniques within the confines of a swimming pool. They can then progress to specialized underwater activities; learning about fish, the environment, navigation, using a torch and/or camera underwater – all still within the confines of a swimming pool.

Diving – 10 yrs and older.

At 10yrs old, children are more or less treated as adults and can take the Discover Scuba Diver Course, Scuba Diver Course or Open Water Course. There are some dives on the Advanced Course that 10 yr olds can do but one of the one of the mandatory dives is the deep dive which they cannot participate in until they are 12yrs old.

Discover Scuba

The Discover Scuba is a great way to get children in the water and see if they like it. It’s fun, safe but not a certification so it doesn’t come along with a lot of theory or classroom time. If your family are not already divers then its a great thing to do together before deciding if this is a holiday activity that you want to pursue in the future.

Scuba Diver

The Scuba Diver Course is essentially half of the Open Water Course and certifies any participant, no matter their age, to dive to a maximum depth of 12m when accompanied by a dive professional. This can be topped up to the full Open Water certification at any time in the future. The reason that this is such a great idea for kids is because as its half the Open Water course – it doesn’t cover the more complicated theory but gets them in the water and safely diving without over burdening them on what is their holiday from school too! They can complete their Open Water later when they are older on another holiday. At age 10 and 11yrs their maximum depth even if they were to take the full Open Water Course is 12m so in depth terms there is no advantage in going further until they are older.

Open Water

The Open Water Course can be taken from age 10 yrs but they are not allowed to go to the maximum depth of 18m until they are 12yrs. If they choose to take this course before 12yrs old then their depth limit automatically increases on their 12th birthday – there is nothing you need to do to certify this. Before choosing this course, please do read what we have counseled above regarding the Scuba Diver Course.

Advanced Open Water

The Advanced Course has restrictions based on each individual dive that participants choose. Mandatory dives are the Deep Dive and the Navigation Dive. A diver must be 12yrs to make the deep dive and the depth is restricted to 21m until they are 15yrs. Again once they turn 15yrs this depth limit automatically increases. 10 yr olds can complete the Fish Identification Dive, Photography Dive, Peak Performance Buoyancy Dive, Naturalist and Navigation.

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At the end of the day, you know your children best but we think diving should be fun and safe for everyone. There really is no harm in letting children just enjoy being in the water and seeing the fish and marine life. Leaving some of the more advanced skills and complicated theory until they are old enough to really grasp it is not a problem. There are many calm shallow bays for them to explore here. When they progress, they learn a lot not just about diving (remember there’s science in there too and they don’t even realize they are learning it!) but about self reliance, safety, precision, accuracy and the environment too.

If you want any more information please mail us !