Gypsy Divers

Sport Scuba Shop and Aquatic Center

Two divers are standing beside each other smiling at the camera. The mother is on the left, bending over to stand head to head with her son, who is on the right.

Children Divers

Children can get scuba certified! We have a few different options based on your child’s age, maturity level, and interest.

As always, our Open Water Course is completely refundable! We want all of our divers to enjoy the sport of scuba without feeling like they have to do any of it.

The 3 Levels

8 – 11 Years Old

SSI Explorers

This is a special series of courses just for children! With other children, they’ll be able to practice the skills they’ll need to become certified divers once they’re old and mature enough.

SSI Explorers

10 – 14 Years Old

Junior Open Water

This is the full Open Water Certification and will be good for the entirety of your child’s life!

Limitations: The child must dive with a certified adult or dive professional

Max Depth:

  • 10 – 11 years: 40ft.
  • 12 – 14 years: 60 ft.
Open Water Course

15 Years Old and Up!

Open Water

After they turn 15 years old, they are fully Open Water Certified! Just contact us to get their account updated and they’ll be a full Open Water Diver!

Though depending on your trip they might still need a guardian or dive buddy.

Open Water Course

SSI Explorers

Starting at age 8, with Snorkeling Explorer, children can experience the underwater world in different ways! For children who have not yet reached the minimum age for scuba diving, this is a great program to help young adventurers grow their maturity, self-esteem, and sense of responsibility. This program is run by our instructors Sally, Steve, and Joe, who have decades of experience working with children divers!

Price: $635

The scuba certification card for SSI Explorers.

Price Includes

  1. 1 Snorkeling Session and 4 Scuba Sessions
  2. Physical Manual
  3. Explorer Digital Recognition Program

Prerequisites

  1. 8 years or older
  2. Filed a completed Medical History Form. Please note that you may need to have a doctor’s sign-off (MD or DO) if you answer yes to any questions with an *.
  3. A set of snorkeling equipment
  4. Comfortable in water
  5. Cooperative and mature attitude

Step 1: Snorkeling Explorer

Session 1

  • January 24, 2025

Step 2: Scuba Explorer

Sessions 2-5

  • February 07, 2025
  • February 14, 2025
  • February 21, 2025
  • February 28, 2025

Ready to Sign-up for Explorers?

Contact us to get started! If you are able to set up an orientation, we would love to walk you and the student through the registration process, take a tour of the facility, and discuss equipment and classroom setup!

Contact us

FAQs about kids diving

Children

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Once my child turns 15, how do we update them to an adult Open Water certification?

If your child turns 15 after getting certified, they’ll be moving from a Junior Open Water diver to a full Open Water diver. For this change to occur you’ll need to run through these few steps:

  1. update the child’s profile picture
  2. contact us and let us know to update the card
  3. wait for the app to sync and reload the new card
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Can a child get certified without a certified adult?

Technically, yes. However, it might be hard for them to find the time or places to practice. For example, all of our trips require an adult to accompany any minors on the trip. This means on land as well as underwater. So, unless they have a family friend or mentor, finding someone willing to serve as a guardian on trips, might be hard.

We have had teens pair up with divers at the quarry during quarry socials, but that’s all the practice we can offer.

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If I’m not certified, can I take the course with my children?

Yes! Diving is a great sport to do as a family! We’ll match the whole family up with an instructor to schedule the course based on your availability. For families, we generally have 1 point of contact but everyone will have their own SSI login and material to go through.

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If I’m certified, can I dive in the pool while my child is taking lessons?

We don’t recommend getting in for the first two sessions. We want our students to be able to focus on the instruction without getting distracted or worried about their performance in front of an audience. This is also a good time for the instructor to gauge if the student is mature and fully wants to get scuba certified.

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Should my children get scuba certified?

We leave this up to the guardians and the children. Technically, they only have to be 10 years old to get open water certified.

However, we treat this on a case-by-case basis. What we generally ask guardians is “Would you trust your child with your life in an emergency situation?”.

Scuba diving is a ‘buddy’ or pair sport and while emergencies don’t happen often, if they do, it’s up to your buddy to help you. The classes are set up to train you to react to these emergencies so that when they do happen, you can help yourself or your buddy in a calm and safe manner. So, even though the training material and guidelines are created to certify a 10-year old, you have to decide if your 10-year old is mature enough to go through the course.

If you want to talk with our staff about any concerns or questions, let us know! We have seen both sides with staff members certified at young ages that have turned around and taught young children as adults.

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