My son will be turning 10 soon. For his birthday he requested dive lessons so he can venture out diving with his Dad. I've been looking at various dive certification training centers in the area and believe we may sign him up with the Carolina Dive Center in Raleigh. Does anyone have any recommendations? Also, if any of your kids have been certified ... did they get certified with a group including adults or did they get private lessons. Thank You
I looked at their site. Are you sure they participate in PADI? The site only said NAUI and SDI, in which case his age would be a problem. Gypsy's does SSI, which certifies at 10.
I can always count on 4042ers to help out I had already decided on Down Under Surf & Scuba http://www.downunderscuba.com/ until I did a quick search on "Junior Open Water Diver Raleigh NC" this morning and ran across the Carolina Dive Center. I didn't even notice that "PADI" wasn't listed on their site. After your posting, I went back to the PADI site & I don't find Carolina listed there either. I talked to someone with Down Under a few weeks ago. They didn't really have a "class" scheduled for Junior Open Water Diver Certification ... but they said they could offer private lessons. I'll have to check out Gypsi also. RCSKIP - THANK YOU for pointing out that Carolina Dive Center's site didn't mention PADI. That was a very stupid oversite on my part. It's much better that I know that now, rather than finding out after I'd already dished out the bucks & signed my son up for the class. Thanks Again!!
What is "SSI". I checked Gypsy's website & it mentions a Scuba Ranger's Club - but it also says somethinge about "When a current ranger turns 12, earning the Junior Open Water scuba certification will be easy." I was hoping he could earn his Junior Open Water Scuba Certification at the age of 10 so he could start diving with his Dad sometimes. I see that Gypsy has a scuba ranger class starting March 27th that I would be interested in because he'd probably have more fun in a group of kids rather than taking private lessons. However, I don't know if this course of training will help him earn his Junior Open Water Scuba Certification this year?
Dave Farrar is the owner at Gypsy's. I'm sure if you talk to him he can tell you exactly what you need to know. He might have different ideas about age for certification than the governing body of SSI. I though when I certified the min age was 13, so when I read your post I googled it. The ages I came back with were just what the internet said. Dave's a nice guy and probably can help you more than anyone else there. My 4 yr old has swim lessons there tomorrow. I'll talk to him if you'd like and report back with my answers or you can call me at 919-625-4213. I'm Rachael BTW.
Rachael - thanks for all the info. I called Gypsy today and they were VERY nice. Although I was interested in their program, Hubby says he'd really like my son to be PADI certified & it doesn't look like they can do that at Gypsy. The person I spoke with at Gypsy said my son could go through the Ranger program to get a feel for everything. If all went well, he could then register in the adult SSI certification class with a discount. I'm not as up on scuba lingo as my husband is. It appears that SSI is a certification much like PADI & NAUI. I don't really know what the difference is. However, hubby says he'd rather us enroll my son in a PADI class. Even if we don't get my son certified at Gypsy, their summer camp sounds like something my son would really be interested in. Gypsy seems to be a really kid/family friendly place. My husband has had his tanks refilled & equipment serviced by Gypsy a few times and has been impressed with the folks there. As far as PADI age requirements: http://www.padi.com "Prerequisites" To enroll in the PADI Open Diver course or Junior Open Water Diver course, you must Be 10 years or older (PADI eLearning requires a minimum age of 13 years due to international internet laws) Young people can take the full PADI Open Water Diver scuba certification course and upon completion will become Junior Open Water Divers with certain age limitations for scuba diving: Junior Open Water Divers ages 10-11 years old must dive with a PADI Professional or certified parent/guardian. Dives must not exceed 12 metres /40 feet. Junior Open Water Divers ages 12-14 years old must dive with a certified adult. (13+ years old can take the Open Water Diver course online. "
