Need Advice: Certified 11 yo diver and rusty parents

[Cruising4]

I'm in need of advise; my 11 year old son will be taking the PADI Open Water program this fall and will still be 11 when we cruise on Carnival to Cozumel, Belize, Roatan and Grand Cayman this winter. My husband I were certified many moons ago, only have a few dives in local lakes under our belts. We will both be taking a refresher course the fall.

 

We are interested in a dive or two during our trip and am seeking recommendations for ship-excursions or privately chartered dives. I believe my son will be permitted to dive to 40', but quite honestly I'll be happy if we all stay in less than 30 feet of water with the ocean floor at 40'. Currents are a concern of mine as well. I was considering a sting ray city dive since we'd be in 12' of water!

 

All advise and recommendations are gratefully welcomed. Thank you in advance.

[scubadiver888]

I'm in need of advise; my 11 year old son will be taking the PADI Open Water program this fall and will still be 11 when we cruise on Carnival to Cozumel, Belize, Roatan and Grand Cayman this winter. My husband I were certified many moons ago, only have a few dives in local lakes under our belts. We will both be taking a refresher course the fall.

 

We are interested in a dive or two during our trip and am seeking recommendations for ship-excursions or privately chartered dives. I believe my son will be permitted to dive to 40', but quite honestly I'll be happy if we all stay in less than 30 feet of water with the ocean floor at 40'. Currents are a concern of mine as well. I was considering a sting ray city dive since we'd be in 12' of water!

 

All advise and recommendations are gratefully welcomed. Thank you in advance.

 

Dive operators used by the cruise ship will have AT LEAST a dozen different dite sites. They will size up the group and go to the site which is safety for the less skilled diver. This is one of the down sides to diving with the ship. I'm a Dive Master. If I was on the same excursion as your son, I'd miss out on some pretty good dives.

 

As far as current, don't worry about it. Unless you are diving in Barbados or some locations in St. Lucia there is very little chance you'll have to worry about current. Some places will have a 'safe' current. You get in the water, go down and drift along with the current. When you get low on air (or hit your No Decompression Limit) you come up and the boat is waiting for you (he follows your bubbles).

 

So long as you follow all the rules of scuba diving, the ship excursions will take you to places that are almost as safe as diving in a pool.

 

Private excursions will be hit or miss. I have been on private excursions where the bulk of the group were navy seals and experienced divers. My buddy and I were rank novices. They took us to 101 feet (I was certified for 60) and I ran out of air. The dive op wanted to keep the bulk of the group happy. They figured I was a novice and might not return even if I had a good dive. If they kept me safe, the bulk of the group would NEVER return to dive with them and would NEVER recommend them to friends.

[KJHorton]

They will size up the group and go to the site which is safety for the less skilled diver. This is one of the down sides to diving with the ship. I'm a Dive Master. If I was on the same excursion as your son, I'd miss out on some pretty good dives.

 

I think this is an unfair comment. Diving "safer" isn't always a less quality dive. Also, deeper isn't always better. However, diving with the ship is usually more restrictive than diving with a private operator.

 

Often times, if you tell a dive operator you would like to dive more shallow, they will split the groups so they go to different depths, i.e. a shallow group and a deep group, as long as they have staff to accommodate this. We have experienced this on a cruise excursion in Cozumel.

 

Just because your son has a 40 foot limit, don't expect the operator to automatically plan your dives shallower than 40 feet. Don't hesitate to let them know what you are comfortable with, you are the customer.

 

I would definitely recommend Alison in Cozumel. She is very safety conscious and if you let her know your son's restrictions, I am sure she would accommodate you. Scuba Tony is also very good but he tends not to take ship divers as much.

[steve1968]

I'm in need of advise; my 11 year old son will be taking the PADI Open Water program this fall and will still be 11 when we cruise on Carnival to Cozumel, Belize, Roatan and Grand Cayman this winter. My husband I were certified many moons ago, only have a few dives in local lakes under our belts. We will both be taking a refresher course the fall.

 

We are interested in a dive or two during our trip and am seeking recommendations for ship-excursions or privately chartered dives. I believe my son will be permitted to dive to 40', but quite honestly I'll be happy if we all stay in less than 30 feet of water with the ocean floor at 40'. Currents are a concern of mine as well. I was considering a sting ray city dive since we'd be in 12' of water!

 

All advise and recommendations are gratefully welcomed. Thank you in advance.

 

I am just back from a cruise on the Epic and my 11 year old daughter and I dove at Roatan, Cozumel and Costa Maya. We are novices with only 6 dives prior to our trip, also my daughter is limited to 40 feet.

 

I can recommend Native Son in Roatan and Dive Palancar in Cozumel.

 

I booked Native Son last minute from the ships internet access as our route had been changed last minute due to hurricane Earl. They responded very quickly and gave us our personal guide to stay at 40 feet with us, at no extra cost. We only did the 1 tank dive which cost $35 each. Great dive, all between 30 and 40 feet. If you go with these I can recommend Brandon as a guide. Clear pre dive briefing and spent time after explaining all the marine life we'd seen. The dive shop is located at Half Moon Bay. The taxi cost us $60 round trip for 4 of us from the port.

 

In Cozumel I booked the Nachi Cocom beach break through Island Marketing and a 1 tank dive through the same company. The dive shop is at another resort 15 minutes walk up the beach but they came to collect us by boat. This was a drift dive which I was concerned about as we hadn't done one before. However there was no need to worry, it was a fun experience. No private guide but group was small (6-8 people).

 

We actually returned to Cozumel on our second week due to the itinery change and returned to the same dive shop and beach. I was very happy with both guides. We did find though that the depth at the sites chosen were 40 to 60 feet and occasionally we went below the 40 feet without realising. At times we found the current taking us quicker than the rest of the group who remained deeper. The visibility on the day was so good though that we didn't lose sight of the dive master and a few times had to swim against the current to stay with the group. We did really enjoy the drift dives and saw loads of marine life including nurse shark and turtle.

 

We had a totally different experience at Maya Palms in Costa Maya when the visibility was very poor and the dive master left us to it while he took the rest of the group to 60 or 70 foot. I decided to abandon the dive and return to the boat after 20 minutes as I didn't feel confident enough to explore without the guide.

 

Last year we dove at Grand Cayman with Absolute Divers. We had a private booking which wasn't cheap but it was our first dive since qualifying so still a bit nervous. We dove at Stingray City which was really good and at the time I preferred the shallower dive.

 

Out of all of them my favourite was Roatan.

 

Not sure what the policy is with Carnival but with NCL and RCI the minimum age to dive is 12 years old so we had to go for private bookings.

[BlueWaterPrincess]

I'm in need of advise; my 11 year old son will be taking the PADI Open Water program this fall and will still be 11 when we cruise on Carnival to Cozumel, Belize, Roatan and Grand Cayman this winter. My husband I were certified many moons ago, only have a few dives in local lakes under our belts. We will both be taking a refresher course the fall.

 

We are interested in a dive or two during our trip and am seeking recommendations for ship-excursions or privately chartered dives. I believe my son will be permitted to dive to 40', but quite honestly I'll be happy if we all stay in less than 30 feet of water with the ocean floor at 40'. Currents are a concern of mine as well. I was considering a sting ray city dive since we'd be in 12' of water!

 

All advise and recommendations are gratefully welcomed. Thank you in advance.

 

Best advice you will receive is to request a private divemaster in each port that you dive, even if it is extra; your safety is priceless as well as your son will be a new diver and a jr. diver

[BlueWaterPrincess]

I'm a Dive Master.

 

Big deal! Your c-card means nothing to a dive op - you are a dime a dozen, especially if PADI certified and your following statements throw up big huge red flags as a "dive professional".

 

If I was on the same excursion as your son, I'd miss out on some pretty good dives.

 

How do you figure? Do you think that just because you have a DM card you're going to get taken on an advanced dive by a reputable/quality operation? Hate to break it to you, but unless you have a history with a dive shop, your certification level means nothing and you will be treated as a new diver until you prove otherwise in the water. You might as well pull out your OW card if arriving on a cruise ship for one day because a DM card is nothing special and no proof that you are a safe/qualified/responsible/good diver and as a DM you should know that. The fact that you don't is a big red flag!

 

 

They took us to 101 feet (I was certified for 60) and I ran out of air.

 

They TOOK you - did they force you? Even in OW you are trained to dive your limits and do not dive beyond your comfort and skill level. Even as an OW diver, you should have spoken up - you are ultimately responsible for your dive, no one else - as a DM you should know this. Another red flag.

 

As a "DM", you should know that a diver is not certified for a specific/max depth. There are RECOMMENDED depth limits, but every location is different. I would not hesitate to dive to 80 - 100 feet in blue water places like the Caribbean, but 80 - 100 feet in a dark lake or quarry is an entirely different story. Certification recommendations are to dive within your training limitations, not with a hard deck max. I'm guessing you are not a working DM, and if you are, I would encourage you to brush up on your standards.

[drew sailbum]

The ship sponsored tour very well may be restricted to divers age 12 or older. This frees up the tour operator to choose sites a bit deeper and greatly expands their options.

 

Since your son will be only 11 he has additional limitations. He must dive with either a certified parent or dive professional (Divemaster or instructor). His depth limit is 40ft.

 

I would strongly encourage you to contact dive operators privately and discuss your needs. Inexperienced divers and youth divers require more attention and a private guide may be a good idea.

 

Here in Grand Cayman you may be better served by diving with a shore diving operation, though that would not work for a Stingray City dive. Most dive sites are in excess of 40ft. In only a very few spots around the island is it possible to dive edge of the Cayman Wall at that depth.

[SCUBA Mark]

The Carnival Certified Diver shore excursion does not allow 11 year-olds to dive

 

"Minimum age is 12 years. Guests must present a valid C-card in order to participate and must have logged a dive within the last 3 years.

Guests between the ages of 12 - 16 years of age will be required to pay an additional fee directly to the operator for a separate Dive Master. Junior Open Water divers are restricted to a depth limit and therefore cannot dive with the group on the first dive. The private Dive Master will accompany them at a shallower depth and as per park regulations, all divers MUST be accompanied by a park certified divemaster."

[Capt_BJ]

hmmmm

 

missed this thread b4 now and see some amazing mis-statements

 

Current in Cozumel is a MAJOR concern. Most Cozumel diving is drift diving and as drift diving goes I find Cozumel to be FAST drift diving! It is like a Disney ride at times .... don't think about stopping cuz you're on a Merry-go-round!

 

I'd recommend a shore dive at Sunset House with a pre-contact by e-mail first just to ensure there are no age issues..and make arrangements accordingly. I recently took DD-18 there for her first open water dive and we had a great time. I've trusted SSH since first diving with them in the early 80's and they are still a great group of folks. You can do a great shore dive just steps from their operations desk and then enjoy a libation at MY BAR. The entry point is easy, the dive profile will be to your liking.

 

You could probably make similar arrangements thru Eden Rock but I do not have nearly the experience with them that I do with SSH

 

http://sunsethouse.com/shore_diving.php

 

And I concur - a dive op that takes a C-Card as a statement of experience is in most cases ... well, it just isn't going to happen....

 

Now most ops will look at advanced or dive master different than open water because it DOES mean a little more interest but for the most part they are going to figure you have the minimum experience for that level until they see you perform.

 

I'm not a dive master. I have several hundred dives. When an operator tries to touch my gear I politely send them away - cuz I set it up right .... and "my way" .... my first dive with an operator I expect them to treat me as an unknown which is exactly the way I treat them. In my first certification class we used two hose regulators. My PADI instructor's number was a single digit . . . he was also a NAUI and YMCA instructor.

 

Been around the block ... dove SSH in May ... have a trip booked for November