Are you looking for a family holiday adventure with a difference? Does your family love the water? Been snorkelling and want more? I’ve got just the thing.
Not so long ago kids had to be 14 years of age to complete their dive certificate. Then more recently the age dropped to 12 years and now it’s 10 years old.
You could book your kids into a local dive centre and there’s definitely nothing wrong with that. I’ve got a better idea!
Book a holiday to Fiji and become a certified scuba divers all in the same week. There’s no boring pool dive exercises in our courses. Family holiday fun, diving certification, occupied and engaged kids, followed by tired kids, happy parents. All in a tropical paradise.
Let’s dive right in with all the facts you’ll need to know in our ultimate guide to kids scuba diving.
What age can kids start to scuba dive?
Kids can dive before they become a certified diver. Woot!
What’s the minimum age for kids scuba diving?
SSI offers introductory dive courses for children. Under the direct supervised care of a professional dive instructor children as young as 8 years can learn to blow bubbles through a diving regular, by doing an introductory dive.
These fun learning experiences are designed to teach children about dive equipment.
Performed in less than 2m of water, beginner dive courses also teach kids what it feels like to breath underwater.
Introductory dives sparks interest in the kids. We often have kids getting their dive certificate for their birthday present as soon as they become eligible. Counting down the days until they can become certified open water divers.
What is the minimum age to become a Certified Open Water Scuba Diver?
The minimum age for kids scuba diving has recently changed. It’s now 10 years old.
Kids scuba diving age restriction is now 10 years old!
Scuba Diving Courses for Kids
The SSI Junior Open Water Dive Course for kids is the same as the Adult Open Water Dive Course with one exception. Kids can dive to 12m, Adults can dive to 18m.
When you book your holiday, book your dive certifications at the same time. Ask for a login details for the course pre-work. There will be some homework to do while on holiday in Fiji. But keep this to a minimum by completing the course work for travelling to Fiji. By doing the course prep before your trip, everybody will look forward to their holiday and scuba diving even more.
3 Days, 4 Dives & Skills Sessions
The open water dive course takes approx three days to complete. Each student will complete 4 open water dives and do a shallow water skills session. They’ll start in shallow water and increasing in depth with each dive.
Dives will be off the beach or short boat road from the island. Mantaray Island has incredible coral and marine life right in front of the resort and it’s only 10m deep. This makes the perfect location to get new divers feeling comfortable. There’s no boring pool dives here people!
As students become more competent and comfortable, the dive depths will increase. The maximum depth for a Junior Open Water Diver is 12 metres.
Each dive will include an exercise where the student will perform safety activities. The final dive combines new skills and will be purely for pleasure. Oh and seeing how many turtles you can count.
Learning to dive is one of life’s true adventures!
At Mantaray Island Resort, dives are in the morning with theory in the afternoon or visa versa. Don’t be surprised if you see kids swinging in hammocks reading inch thick text books! I’ve never seen kids so motivated to complete their homework.
Kids Scuba Diving In Fiji
There’s nothing better than being warm and comfy in properly fitting gear. If your kids are anything like me, they may get cool while diving, especially towards to the end of the dive. Agreed, this all depends on where you’re from. It’s warm in Fiji, even in winter. The surface water temperature is a warm 26 degrees or warmer but the water below is slightly cooler. Learning to dive will involve being in the water for between 30mins and 2 hours at a time. So I recommend a bringing your own kids scuba diving wetsuit. In the end, if it’s not worn it’s better to have it than wish you’d bought one with you.
Don’t run out and buy a special diving wetsuit. They can wear any wetsuit they might already have as long as it fits. Inexpensive wetsuits can be bought from a variety of stores so be on the lookout prior to your trip. Ops shops are also worth checking out.
Be sure, if you’re buying a wetsuit not to buy it big. This is not at item you want your kids to grow into. It shouldn’t be crazy tight either. It needs to fit them now, without being tight.
I’d recommend 3mm steamer, which is long arms and long legs or a spring suit/ shortie which short arms and short legs.
The added bonus of a wetsuit apart from warmth is protection from abrasions. One of the first things all divers are taught is not to touch anything. But, in the event a leg or an arm brushes up against a rock or some coral your kids will be protected.
Other Equipment To Bring
Kids come and in all shapes and sizes, so bring mask and snorkel that fits your child.
Likewise, if your luggage limit permits also pop a pair of fins. Don’t buy dive fins that need a seperate bootie, they are heavy, hard and not as comfortable. We recommend standard rubber fins.
If you have an under camera don’t forget to pack it. Know that unless you have housing for your camera it’s unlikely capable of diving with you. You’ll have fun with it while snorkelling and before and after each dive.
Dive cameras aren’t allowed to be used by students during course dives, there’s already enough to concentrate on without being concerned about taking a selfie. Cameras can be used in any open water dives following their course completion.
Contact your resort and ask them exactly what equipment they have.
Important Tip!
All flights need to be a minimum of 24 hours after the last dive. DO NOT plan a last day morning dive, followed by an afternoon or evening flight out of Fiji and this includes exiting from the island via seaplane.
Kids learning to dive means more family scuba diving holidays for everyone. If you have any further questions get in touch with our Manta Dive Team, who will happy to help.