What PADI Scuba Diving Courses For Children Are Available in Phuket?
Every parent scuba diver wants to share their wonderful diving experiences with their children, there’s many options in Phuket from just a swimming pool experience to full PADI courses that apart from a few extra safety rules exactly are the same as the adult course. Kids have very little fear of water and will see the programmes as a lot of fun, it will fill them with confidence for when they’re old enough to complete the PADI Open Water course.
There’s three main age brackets for children’s PADI courses: 8 – 10, 10 – 11 and 12 – 14 years old. We’ll break it down into sections using these age ranges.
Scuba Diving Courses for 8 – 10 Year Old Children
PADI Bubblemaker
Just a fun couple of hours under the direct supervision of one our PADI professional instructors. They’ll be able to use scuba gear and swim around in a pool that’s no more than 2m deep. A great opportunity for the kids to take their first breaths under water in a safe environment.
Parental approval is obviously required, the children should be already comfortable in water before they blow their first bubbles under the direct care of our PADI Pro’s. They’ll practice a few simple skills such as mask and regulator clearing, go through the basic safety rules and have a great time!
PADI Seal Team
The PADI Seal Team is a lot more action packed and really gets the children excited about scuba diving. Completion of fun filled aquamissions will really set them up for when they’re old enough to take the Junior Open Water course.
As well as basic safety skills, they’ll get to experience floating effortlessly, try different pieces of equipment such as torches, compass and even try their hand at underwater photography. Specialty aquamissions teaches them environmental awareness, buoyancy and navigation.
To join the PADI Seal Team, a child must be 8 years of age or older. No prior experience with scuba diving is necessary, but kids should be comfortable in the water. Parental approval is required
The PADI Seal Team programme promotes responsibility and respect for the aquatic realm. There’s two main parts. The first five aquamissions will cover basic scuba skills and experience the feeling of being weightless. The second part consists of 10 exciting specialty aquamissions such as skin diving, search and recovery and marine life identification. The experience may count towards the PADI Open Water course when they’re old enough.
There is a little preparation required before the kids hit the water. The videos and puzzles that accompany the course are interactive, fun and sure to keep their attention.
10 – 11 Year Olds
PADI Junior Open Water
Children over 10 years old can take the PADI Junior Open Water course, it’s almost exactly the same as the adult PADI Open Water Course. All the skills will be the same but there are depth and supervision restrictions. 10 – 11 year olds can’t exceed a maximum depth of 12m and must always dive with a PADI professional or certified parent or guardian. They must be able to swim before starting the course.
12 – 14 year Olds
PADI Junior Open Water
When they reach twelve years old, young divers can go to the same depth (18m) as the adult version of the PADI Open Water course. They must still dive with a certified adult, two twelve year old’s can’t simply go off diving on their own. After successful completion of the PADI Junior Open Water they will have options to up their experience and certifications.
Advanced Open water: Hone their skills and be certified to a maximum depth of 21m
Rescue Diver: Increase self awareness and learn how to manage problems in a safe manner
Junior Master Scuba Diver: As well as improving skills and experience they’ll get a cool title after completing 5 specialties
15 Is The Magic Number
They now follow the same depth and buddy rules as the adult version of the course. There’s no need to repeat courses to get the full adult certification. You can simply order a replacement card and it will arrive without the ‘Junior’ and listed restrictions. This is automatic so no need to inform PADI of age, it will already be in the system.
A Family Affair
Of course parents are encouraged to join their children at every step of the way. If you’re already certified then your extra support will make the kids feel a lot more comfortable and confident. Even if you haven’t got an interest in scuba diving you can still join them on the boat as a non diver. Alternatively you can just relax with a few cocktails by the pool while we take care of your kids
If you’re getting certified together then be warned – children haven’t got much fear of water and find the courses a whole lot of fun, very often leaving the adults lagging behind as they fly through the skills. Most PADI pro’s will tell you that children are the easiest to teach…
Drop us an email for more information or to arrange a fantastic family experience.
