Are you a diver yourself ? Or has your kid expressed any interest in scuba diving ? Then it may be time to let your child try scuba diving.

If your kid has express interest in scuba diving, try snorkelling with him/her first, and see how it goes. If they love it, all may start with a simple Bubble Maker program (available for children age 8 and up), which is basically an introductory dive for children. Under the supervision of a professional scuba instructor, your kid will experience his first breaths underwater. If this goes well, start planning for their certification class for their next birthday ! They will be proud of themselves, and you will be proud of them.

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Although there are many concerns about kid diving, such as safety and discipline, here are the top 5 reasons your kids should try scuba diving.

1. Exploring a whole new world

Kids love exploring. Aren’t the all explorers after all ? They will like it even more if they get to explore somewhere absolutely new and amazing such as the ocean. As with anything with kids, you have to keep it fun, and it is a lot of fun to discover a new place with schools of colorful fish swimming by.

2. Emotional maturity

Diving will require a lot of maturity from your kids. They should be able to pay attention to the training, to focus reasonably-long periods of time, to follow simple safety rules and to respect authority. While they may or may not demonstrate these qualities in school or at home, it may be that being supervised by a new instructor, knowing why they are here and why they learn (while getting into college is a super- long term goal when you are a kid in school), and doing something fun (playing in the water) will help them grow emotionally and become more disciplined.

3. Cutting the cord

In many cases, kids do not get the credit they deserve. Parents overprotect their kids, meaning well, believing that they are not ready for it. However, kids are capable of great things … if you let them. Kids can develop at an amazing speed : let them explore and push their limits, acting like adults, feeling proud of what they can accomplish. Being under the supervision of an instructor, that is, not a family member, they will be able to grow and become more independent.

4. Family activity

Don’t cut the cord just yet ! If you are a diver yourself then you just signed in for family diving for your next vacation. If you are not, then consider getting certified in scuba diving as well, so that you can explore the beauty of the marine life with your kids. In this day and age when most kids and youngsters spend more time playing video games and being on Facebook than at family’s dinners, diving as a family may just be a great way to spend more time together.

5. If they start early

As in any sport, the younger they start, the better they can become. They will grow confident and more independent. They may wish to continue their scuba diving education and get certified to the next level. Let them explore their passion. They will get to experience a lot of different diving situations and by the time they hit 18, they will be much better divers than most adults.

Scuba diving is a lot of fun and will help your kid become more disciplined. Let them have a taste of what scuba diving is like with a simple introductory dive for kids. They will only go as deep as 2m (6 ft.) but will get the feeling of floating and breathing underwater.

Check out this introductory dives for kids