Scuba Lessons for Kids – PADI Seal Team

Most of us started scuba diving when we were much younger and maybe even before we settled down, married and began to raise a family.  Now that our children are getting older it is only natural that we want them to enjoy many of the same pursuits that we enjoy, like scuba diving.  What is the best way to go about this daunting task?

Junior Scuba Certification

If your child is at least 10 years old but under the age of 15 years old,  they can obtain full Junior Scuba certification by earning the Junior Open Water Certification.  This can be obtained at any Dive Center that offers Scuba Classes for Children.  At Aquatic Adventures Scuba Academy, a PADI 5 Star Instructor Development Dive Center we routinely train younger divers throughout the year.

When a child certified as a Junior Open Water diver reaches the age of 15 they are automatically considered an Open Water Scuba Diver or adult diver.

PADI Seal Team

PADI Seal Team is scuba diving adventure for Kids ages 8 and older.  Kids will learn all about scuba diving in the comfort of a swimming pool under the guidance of a PADI Scuba Instructor.

PADI Seal Team is made up of 5 parts that are called Aqua Missions.  Each mission will teach the young student different skills that are needed to become a scuba diver.

Aqua Mission One focuses on how to breathe underwater, communicate underwater using hand signals, and how to keep their ears comfortable by equalizing while scuba diving.

Aqua Mission Two includes learning how to equalize your mask and how to clear and recover a regulator while underwater.

Aqua Mission Three shows the kids how to get water out of their scuba mask and how to float comfortably on the surface in scuba equipment, and how to use an alternate air source (called an octopus) in a simulated out of air emergency.

Aqua Mission Four emphasizes buoyancy control underwater, and other ways to recover and replace a regulator into your mouth while underwater.

Aqua Mission Five teaches the kids how to snorkel both with and without their scuba gear, how to switch between their snorkel and their scuba regulator, and provides further practice on everything that they learned.

During each Aqua Mission the youngsters will learn new skills and a few scuba rules.  They will play games that reinforce these new skills and rules to insure that when they have fun they do so safely.

Once the child completes all five Aqua Missions they will be certified as a Seal Team Member and receive their Seal Team Card.  But the fun does not have to end their.  Seal Team members can signup for Specialty Missions.  These Specialty Missions include snapshot or underwater picture taking, Creature ID, Inner Space and lots more.  After ten Specialty Missions the kids are called Master Seal Team members and receive a new card.

Scuba Diving Equipment for Kids

One final word about teaching children to learn to scuba dive.  Children are usually much smaller then adults.  When you take your child to a facility to learn to scuba dive make sure that the Dive Center has scuba diving equipment especially designed and sized for smaller divers.  It is very important that the child scuba diver has a fun experience and trying to make do with scuba equipment that is too large is no way to have fun.  At Aquatic Adventures Scuba Academy we have a few complete sets of scuba equipment set aside just for the child scuba diver.  We have Buoyancy Control Devices or BCD’s in child sizes and regulators with shorter hoses and smaller mouthpieces.  This helps ensure a fun and worthwhile experience for the child scuba diver.

Learn to Scuba Dive then enjoy Scuba Diving Travel and Vacation Trips – Cozumel Dive Trip

One of the great lures that encourage people to learn to scuba dive is the attraction of exotic vacations to various places that offer incredible scuba diving.

When you think of diving in the Caribbean the “big three” immediately come to mind, Cayman, Cozumel and Bonaire.  Our trip at Aquatic Adventures Scuba Academy this coming October is to our favorite resort in Cozumel, Scuba Club.

Scuba Diving Magazine awarded Cozumel “Top Five Honors” in eight separate scuba diving categories: Best Diving Destination, Best Diving Overall, Best Marine Life, Best Wall Diving, Best Advanced Diving, Best Underwater Photography Dives, Best Underwater Visibility, and Best Value in 2012.

For those of you who have never been to Cozumel, the Island is located just south of the tip of the Yucatan Peninsula in the state of Quinta Roo, Mexico.  It is directly opposite of the city of Cancun.  Cozumel definitely is Mexico’s premier dive location.

Cozumel is truly a dive destination that has something for everyone.  Beautiful drift dives loaded with sea life and corals, and arguably the best visibility in all of the Caribbean.  Large schools of fish, amazing critters like banded coral shrimp and arrow crabs, and even those special sightings, like turtles, sea horses and octopus can be seen on most any dive.  Cozumel is noted for its drift dives and boasts of what many consider to be the best visibility in the entire Caribbean!  What an incredible place to finish that Open Water or Specialty Dive Course?

When not diving spend your time either touring the Mayan ruins (Talum and Chechen Itza) on the nearby mainland of Mexico or walking through the quaint town of San Miguel.  San Miguel is dotted with restaurants and bars and hosts a local bazaar where you can find a myriad of local handicrafts.

Scuba Dive Training – PADI Continuing Education Scuba Courses

Our dive trip vacations are also an excellent place to continue your scuba dive training and education.  Our trips are lead by one of our Scuba Instructors, who is available to offer scuba diving courses and scuba specialty courses while on the trip.  Trips like these are great places  to complete a specialty dive class like underwater photography, the boat diver specialty, fish identification and many other worthwhile scuba classes.

Scuba Diving Vacation Value

We will spend an entire week (October 6 – 13, 2012) at Scuba Club Cozumel.   Included in this 8 day, 7 night package is six days of two tank boat dives, one boat night dive and unlimited beach diving.   Scuba Club is known for its great cuisine, and our trip includes three meals per day at their great restaurant.  Airport to hotel transfers when we arrive and depart are also included.  The entire package is incredibly priced at only $999.00 per person double occupancy and is based on two divers per room.

Aquatic Adventures Scuba Academy is a PADI 5 Star Instructor Development Dive Center and specializes in Scuba Training and Dive Travel.  Join us in October and let us help you enjoy that next great Aquatic Adventure.

Learn to Scuba Dive in Northern Virginia – The PADI Wreck Diver Specialty Course

When most people Learn to Scuba Dive Northern Virginia they think that once they take the initial Open Water Certification Course that they are ready to dive anywhere.  This is probably the same in most any location.  However, Scuba Diving in Northern Virginia has many benefits that other areas do not.  One of the most popular is Wreck Diving.  The entire east coast of the United States is littered with ship wrecks.  Many were sunk as part of the reef preservation program but many were sunk during World War I or World War II.  Scuba diving on these ship wrecks is diving on a piece of history and is very exciting.

Wreck Diving Specialty Course

The PADI Wreck Diver Specialty Course is one of the most popular PADI Specialty Diver Courses offered by PADI or any other scuba certification agency.  Whether sunk on purpose as an artificial reef or the result of mishap, wrecks open fascinating windows to the past. Most divers find wrecked ships, airplanes and even automobiles nearly irresistible because they’re intriguing to explore, exciting avenues of discovery, and usually teeming with aquatic life. The PADI Wreck Diver course teaches you the ins and outs of rewarding, responsible wreck diving.

PADI Wreck Diver Course Training

During the PADI Wreck Diver Specialty Course you will learn:

• Techniques for diving exploring shipwrecks, and how to avoid common hazards
• How to research and learn the background of your favorite wrecks
• Wreck scuba diving equipment considerations
• Considerations and techniques for entering intact wrecks
• Experience in planning, organizing and making at least four wreck dives under the supervision of your PADI Instructor

PADI Wreck Diver Course Schedule

The PADI Wreck Diver Course includes both classroom and practical dives.  To supplement the course is a student kit which includes a DVD showing wreck diving techniques and a manual describing wreck diving techniques and safety.  The Wreck Diving Student completes both of these and the knowledge review questions in the manual, and goes over them during the classroom portion with the PADI Wreck Diver Instructor.

Four open water wreck dives will also be included in the PADI Wreck Diver Specialty Course.  During these dives the student wreck diver will learn the techniques listed above.  Important  Scuba Diving Equipment, like wreck diving reels, wreck diving slates, and submersible marker buoys will also be included in the course presentations and dives.

Wreck Diving Trips

At Aquatic Adventures Scuba Academy we offer Dive Travel throughout the year.  In the summer we offer trips to Morehead City, N.C. to go wreck diving.  These are a few of our most popular dive trips.  Since many ship wrecks are located in deeper depths many graduates of the wreck diver course take the PADI Deep Diver Course upon completion.

Learn to Be A Better Scuba Diver – PADI Peak Performance Buoyancy Specialty Diver Course

The single hardest skill for a new scuba diver to learn is proper neutral buoyancy.  What is neutral buoyancy?

Scuba divers like to be neutrally buoyant so they neither sink nor float.  Learning proper neutral buoyancy can be quite tricky.  Divers who’ve mastered the highest performance levels in buoyancy stand apart.  You may have seen them underwater.  They glide effortlessly, use less air and ascend, descend or hover, almost as if by thought.  They interact gently with aquatic life and affect their surroundings minimally.  The PADI Peak Performance Buoyancy course refines the basic skills you learned as a PADI Open Water Diver and elevates them to the next level.  There are several aspects of Dive Training that you must learn to achieve good neutral buoyancy.

How do you learn proper buoyancy control?

One of the best ways to learn proper buoyancy control is to enroll in the PADI Peak Performance Buoyancy Specialty Course.  This course is available at almost any PADI 5 Star Instructor Development Dive Center, like Aquatic Adventures Scuba Academy in Alexandria Virginia.  In fact it is one of the most popular PADI Specialty Diver Courses offered.  This specialty diver course includes a classroom session and two open water dives, where you fine tune your buoyancy and related scuba diving skills.

What you Learn in the Peak Performance Buoyancy Course?

There are many valuable skills that you will learn in the Peak Performance Buoyancy course.  These include how to trim your scuba equipment so that you are properly balanced in the water.  You will also learn how to determine how much weight you will need when you go scuba diving so that you are properly weighted and not too heavy nor too light.  Once you are properly weighted you will learn how to streamline yourself when scuba diving so that you have minimal drag and resistance in the water, enabling you to move almost effortlessly.  Last you will learn how to hover motionless in the water in both a heads up position and horizontally.

Prerequisites to take the Peak Performance Buoyancy Course?

Naturally you first have to be a certified scuba diver to take the course.  This can be to any certification level.  Since the minimum age to learn to dive is 10 years old, you have to be at least ten or older to take the course.  The Course will include both in water and out of water instruction.  There is a student kit which includes a manual and instructional DVD video.   The student kit is available at most any PADI Dive Center, and is included in the course price at Aquatic Adventures Scuba Academy.

I have completed the Peak Performance Buoyancy Course – What is next?

Once you have completed the PADI Peak Performance Buoyancy Course you will want to practice these important scuba diving skills that you learned.  One of the best ways is to go on a scuba diving vacation or scuba diving trip.  Another good idea is to purchase your own Buoyancy Control Device or BCD.  Since this is a personally fitted piece of scuba diving equipment it is preferable to have one that is fitted to you personally.   This allows for not only proper fit, but allows you to learn the characteristics of your BCD making you a better and more polished scuba diver.  Women, especially will benefit from a buoyancy control device that is designed for a women.  An integrated weight system is also a desired feature that makes diving easier and more enjoyable.

Once you complete the peak performance buoyancy course and purchase a properly fitted buoyancy control device you will be amazed at how skilled a scuba diver you become.

Scuba Diving Equipment – What Scuba Diving Equipment Should the Student Diver Buy?

Congratulations, you have decided to learn to scuba dive.  Now you have a few very important decisions to make.  Where to take your Scuba Classes and what personal gear to buy for these classes?  First, lets look at where to get scuba certified.

Selecting a Dive Center to Learn to Scuba Dive

There are a large number of Dive Centers in most areas, but how do you select one?  Your friends who are already scuba divers are a good place to start.  Ask them what Dive Centers are in your area and which ones do they recommend?  Then you can go on line and do some research yourself.  Check out their web pages and see what they have to say.  Do they clearly list the courses that they offer?  A Dive Center should not only list the courses that they offer but tell you what they are about and what they cost.  Look to see what is included in the classes and what is not.  Many Dive Centers look like their prices are competitive but when you add items not listed they can add up to be quite a bit more expensive then you thought.   At Aquatic Adventures Scuba Academy, a PADI 5 Star Dive Center we even have a webpage entitled: How Long Does It Take & What Does It Cost? just to make sure that you are well informed and that there are no surprises.

Do they plainly display what scuba certification agency or agencies that they represent?  There are several very reputable Scuba Certification Agencies.  A Dive Center should be proud to display the agencies that they represent and not just say “nationally recognized certification agency.”

Look on their webpage to see what others have said about them.  Is there a page for testimonials about satisfied dive customers?  Do they list their Scuba Teaching Staff and tell you about them?  If so read these articles to educate yourself about the Dive Center.  Last but by all means not the least is to pick up the phone and call them or even stop by to see the Dive Center and discuss what your desires are and how they can help you fulfill them.  Once you have done this homework you can make a very informed decision about where to learn to dive.

Scuba Diving Equipment for the Dive Student

Now that you have selected your Dive Center, speak with them about what Scuba Diving Equipment they will provide as part of your scuba training and what you are expected to purchase?  Most Dive Centers will provide the major scuba equipment and expect you to purchase or provide the basic personal items of scuba diving equipment: Scuba Mask, Snorkel, Scuba Boots or Booties and Scuba Fins.

Scuba Mask

The Scuba Mask allows you to see underwater and since a well fitting mask is important it is an item that you want to own.  Make sure that the scuba mask fits correctly and is comfortable.  Your nose should be enclosed within the mask so that you can equalize the mask when scuba diving.  Some good features to look for at tempered glass lenses and a double silicone skirt to prevent leaking.  Always try on your scuba mask before buying it to ensure proper fit.  If you wear glasses or contact lenses you may want to purchase a scuba mask that can be fitted with prescription lenses to enhance your scuba diving enjoyment.

Snorkel

The snorkel is not only used by snorkelers but by scuba divers as well.  Most scuba divers will enter the water and snorkel to the point that they want to start their scuba dive.  The snorkel allows you to do this comfortably.  It is also a safety item.  Should you run low on air or need to spend time waiting on the surface for you dive buddy the snorkel is a really nice item to have.  Look for a snorkel that has a drain or purge valve and is flexible.  If you scuba dive in the ocean a deflector for rain or waves or even a dry snorkel is easier to use.

Scuba Fins and Scuba Boots

Your scuba fins are your means of propulsion in the water.  They allow you to move about with much less effort.  The best fins for scuba diving are the open heeled fins that you use with scuba boots or booties.  A split bladed fin is the fastest fin with which to scuba dive.  The full bladed scuba fin allow more control and maneuverability.  Which ever you choose try them on before buying them and try them on with the boots that you will be using with them.  The boots  should fit snugly but not too tight.  Make sure that the tips of your toes are not squeezed.  When you try on the scuba fins with your scuba boots they should feel comfortable and not wobble when you move your foot around.

Having your own scuba boots and scuba fins is well worthwhile.  You will use these items every time you go scuba diving or snorkeling.  If you take good care of them they will last many years making them a sound financial investment.

Scuba Weights

If you scuba dive locally scuba weights are a good investment.  If you only scuba dive while on vacation they usually are not.  Most scuba divers do not carry weights on an airplane and most Dive Resorts have factored the rental of weights into the price of their dives.  This is an item that many new divers can skip buying until they get more into the sport.

Now that you know where to look and what to look for, you are ready to get certified as a scuba diver and start your next great Aquatic Adventure!