Northwest Dive Club

Hello all,

I am a Non Diver that can use some advise and/or recommendations. I would like to expose my 14 year old son to the world of scuba. Although non divers, we spend a considerable amount of time on the water and he absolutely loves it. As a father, I believe it is one of my jobs to expose him to as much as possible and then let him decide what he wants to pursue. I would appreciate any recommendations and advice on what I should be looking at in regards to youth classes/schools. Of coarse, safety is my primary concern. We are located in West Seattle.

Any shop should be able to train your son. My advice would be to visit the ones closest to you and start talking to staff. Ask them about their classes, and see if you like them. If you'd like to have him pop in the pool ask about Discover Scuba, where he can try out scuba gear with an instructor for a lower cost before signing up for the full class.

At least with PADI classes, after certification he will have to dive with a certified adult (is there someone you guys know that already dives?) or a divemaster/instructor (at 14 he's still considered a Junior Open Water Diver). When he turns 15 he can get an updated card and dive as a regular Open Water Diver.

I'm sure you'll get many shop recommendations from members, but in my experience all the shops in the area are very high quality, and the dive community is phenomenal as well! Best of luck to the two of you!

There are a lot of good instructors out there. I am biased, but the instructor I used is a high school teacher (chemistry, marine biology). He is very used to training teenagers (trained both my daughters who are now college age), and he regularly trains groups of his high school students. He is a Master PADI instructor; he teaches privately and through Underwater Sports Seattle. I recommend watching the UWS store and buying a class when they are on sale - they might have a sale soon due to the holiday season. You can then schedule the class when you want and you can also request the guy I know (I can put you in touch with him and he can make it work). Training requires class work and pool work - both can be done at UWS Seattle, on Aurora, near Northgate. This is probably the closest full service shop to West Seattle.

As for diving after certification, I think you need to have some certainty that people diving with your son are responsible and safe divers, and they need to be willing to dive with a new diver who is so young. You can find good dive buddies on the NWDC forum.

My group (which includes the master instructor, an assistant instructor, and 2 AI trainees besides me and my wife) usually dives weekly after work, alternating between Seacrest Park (Cove 2) and Mukilteo T Dock. He sometimes invites his former students along. Send me a PM if you want me to put you in touch with this instructor.

brst wrote:Hello all,

I am a Non Diver that can use some advise and/or recommendations. I would like to expose my 14 year old son to the world of scuba. Although non divers, we spend a considerable amount of time on the water and he absolutely loves it. As a father, I believe it is one of my jobs to expose him to as much as possible and then let him decide what he wants to pursue. I would appreciate any recommendations and advice on what I should be looking at in regards to youth classes/schools. Of coarse, safety is my primary concern. We are located in West Seattle.

Hi, I am the youngest scuba diver I know being 15 years old and have made a lot of friends in this community and hopefully alot of them will vouch for me being a good diver :P.

1) "I am a Non Diver that can use some advise and/or recommendations."
First thing that I think is you should take it with him! It would have been a great way for me to have done it because you can get the studying done with him at home, you guys can work through it together and be more open on the things you don't understand.

2) "I would like to expose my 14 year old son to the world of scuba."
If you just want to look around alot of us dive, *VERY* often. Maybe to much :P. If you want to just see divers and talk with them, were all very friendly. If you go to the dive planning section sometimes people post there on when dives are and you can go at the same time they say their going and just watch, I would like to say for most of us, we like talking to Non-Divers/Divers alike. Although we have a nice dive planning section alot of the dive planning goes on behind the scene via buddy through buddy , people hooking up with there specific group so if you have a date that your free go to the dive planning section and post asking if theres anyone going to be there and I think you would get alot of response.

3) "...we spend a considerable amount of time on the water and he absolutely loves it."
That is very, very, good. Alot of people are scared of the water. When I took my class there were some people who just werent comfortable in the water and it was obvious that they werent fully aware of themselves. I grew up swimming in the lake and in sea weed and knowing that the water isnt a scary place is probably the most helpful thing that I would suggest to people.

4) "...recommendations and advice on what I should be looking at in regards to youth classes/schools"
I went to Underwater Sports in Edmonds and loved it! I think as a school, Underwater sports is a very safe and fun community. I would even suggest its worth the drive just to head to the edmonds dive shop just because I know the people and they are SO great! But other then my biast-ness, all schools are pretty great from what I've heard. I know very little of Naui since I went with Padi, and learning with Padi, I gained alot of respect with them. If I had to recommend a friend, I would say the exact same thing I said here, "Underwater Sports in Edmonds". A very good place.

Feel free to send me a private message asking me any questions.
I'd love to help and dive with your sound.

~ Daniel

Daniel379ba wrote:

brst wrote:Hello all,

I am a Non Diver that can use some advise and/or recommendations. I would like to expose my 14 year old son to the world of scuba. Although non divers, we spend a considerable amount of time on the water and he absolutely loves it. As a father, I believe it is one of my jobs to expose him to as much as possible and then let him decide what he wants to pursue. I would appreciate any recommendations and advice on what I should be looking at in regards to youth classes/schools. Of coarse, safety is my primary concern. We are located in West Seattle.

Hi, I am the youngest scuba diver I know being 15 years old and have made a lot of friends in this community and hopefully alot of them will vouch for me being a good diver :P.

1) "I am a Non Diver that can use some advise and/or recommendations."
First thing that I think is you should take it with him! It would have been a great way for me to have done it because you can get the studying done with him at home, you guys can work through it together and be more open on the things you don't understand.

2) "I would like to expose my 14 year old son to the world of scuba."
If you just want to look around alot of us dive, *VERY* often. Maybe to much :P. If you want to just see divers and talk with them, were all very friendly. If you go to the dive planning section sometimes people post there on when dives are and you can go at the same time they say their going and just watch, I would like to say for most of us, we like talking to Non-Divers/Divers alike. Although we have a nice dive planning section alot of the dive planning goes on behind the scene via buddy through buddy , people hooking up with there specific group so if you have a date that your free go to the dive planning section and post asking if theres anyone going to be there and I think you would get alot of response.

3) "...we spend a considerable amount of time on the water and he absolutely loves it."
That is very, very, good. Alot of people are scared of the water. When I took my class there were some people who just werent comfortable in the water and it was obvious that they werent fully aware of themselves. I grew up swimming in the lake and in sea weed and knowing that the water isnt a scary place is probably the most helpful thing that I would suggest to people.

4) "...recommendations and advice on what I should be looking at in regards to youth classes/schools"
I went to Underwater Sports in Edmonds and loved it! I think as a school, Underwater sports is a very safe and fun community. I would even suggest its worth the drive just to head to the edmonds dive shop just because I know the people and they are SO great! But other then my biast-ness, all schools are pretty great from what I've heard. I know very little of Naui since I went with Padi, and learning with Padi, I gained alot of respect with them. If I had to recommend a friend, I would say the exact same thing I said here, "Underwater Sports in Edmonds". A very good place.

Feel free to send me a private message asking me any questions.
I'd love to help and dive with your sound.

~ Daniel

Awesome post. Thanks, Daniel.

+ 1

Great post! Thank you Daniel!

ljjames wrote:+ 1

Great post! Thank you Daniel!

+2.

Something to consider ... I'm not certain how it works with PADI, but in the NAUI system divers under 15 years of age are required to either dive with a parent or someone designated by the parent. I've trained divers as young as 12, and love teaching young divers, since they tend to be enthusiastic, fun, and quick learners.

For PADI, you might inquire with Peter Rotschild ... who is a member of this board. He's a PADI instructor who seems to train a lot of younger divers. What I like about Peter is he's very thorough and safety-minded ... as well as a skilled diver who teaches by example.

The most significant issue with going directly through a shop is that you may not have any real control over who you get for an instructor ... and there are good ones and bad ones out there. Going directly to the instructor first gives you more control over who will teach your son, although probably fewer options on scheduling.

I envy your son ... I didn't start diving till I was almost 50 years old. Starting young will ... if he remains active ... make it a lifestyle choice ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

I agree with Grateful Diver, even though someone goes through a shop doesn't mean they get a good instructor. The PNW has some great ones, some listed here. Pick the instructor not the shop.