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At what age should kids learn to snorkel?

Thread Status: Hello , There was no answer in this thread for more than 60 days.
It can take a long time to get an up-to-date response or contact with relevant users.

What age should you teach a kid to snorkel?

  • one year

    Votes: 6 17.6%
  • two years

    Votes: 3 8.8%
  • three years

    Votes: 3 8.8%
  • four years

    Votes: 5 14.7%
  • five years

    Votes: 9 26.5%
  • six years

    Votes: 8 23.5%

  • Total voters
    34
Here's a few pics I took of Christopher today, playing frisbee...
 

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Every child is different. Physiologically most children are capable of swimming and diving at a young age. Their emotional readiness is a different issue. At age nine, my son would watch me dive. ( I needed someone to keep the boats away) The best he could personally do was shallow water rocket dives until he was 18, then it dawned on him that he was OK. Three weeks later he was reaching 32 m. My next child was a water baby. I had her diving for coins at a young age. When she realized that there were animals in the water her diving and swimming currier were over. My next daughter listened to her older sister and has never tried. This summer, my youngest daughter, age 12, reached 23 m. her second time out. She dives with smooth assurance. If a parent is patient, kids will have a chance to succeed. My oldest daughter, last year, snorkeled Baja while I held her hand. As she learns to accept the 'animals' she may return to the water. Over pressing our children can give them a humiliating failure effecting their confidence later in life. Where patience may bring them back.

What I didn't expect was how teaching my children to dive would effect me. Of course I want my children to share in what brings me enjoyment yet it's not so simple. The first time I took my son to Baja to spearfish, instead of keeping one eye looking behind me, I spent the week watching his back. Once, after I brought up a fish, I searched for my son for 5 min. with no sign of him. No snorkel, no fin flipping up, no ripple, then his head came from around a small exposed rock. Though relieved, that was the most frightening experience I have ever had diving. At the lake, I watched my little girl going for her pb disappear into the abyss. Yes, I was pleased with her calm courage yet it reawakened the protective angst deep in me. Diving with my children has returned some of the fear that I worked so hard in the past to melt away. This part of my experience I only share with you. From me, my kids get patience and encouragement . . . . and an eye as far as it can follow.
 
My daughter is 7 and has snorkled for a year. My others play with the gear (dry) but i haven't shown them how to use in water yet (they'll be three soon (twins) so I'll probably let them try in the tub first). Probably a good idea to have a dry snorkle so they cant suck in water. [ame="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0002CT17Y/102-9647432-5272938?v=glance"]Amazon.com: Scubamax Kids Totally Dry Snorkel: Sports & Outdoors[/ame]
teaching tips-check out:
http://travelwithkids.about.com/cs/accessibility/ht/teachsnorkel.htm
use safety with depths, children under five should always be supervised and in a depth of water they can stand up in if not wearing a pfd.
 
Last edited:
iceselkie said:
My daughter is 7 and has snorkled for a year. My others play with the gear (dry) but i haven't shown them how to use in water yet (they'll be three soon (twins) so I'll probably let them try in the tub first). Probably a good idea to have a dry snorkle so they cant suck in water. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0002CT17Y/102-9647432-5272938?v=glance
teaching tips-check out:
http://travelwithkids.about.com/cs/accessibility/ht/teachsnorkel.htm
use safety with depths, children under five should always be supervised and in a depth of water they can stand up in if not wearing a pfd.

Christopher gets on well with this snorkel which has a small, anatomical mouthpiece. http://www.aqualung.co.uk/products/airdry_midi_pv.html
 
Pellizzari recommends starting children snorkelling in a pool, as young as you (well, they) like)... i think 4 years old was mentioned as an example of age... he then gets them to do apnea when they get out in the sea, by not giving them snorkels, so they just keep their heads underwater without even thinking while they soak up all the new sights.

fred

anyway,
 
Hey everyone! I'm new here. I joined because of this thread... I'm an enthusiastic but infrequent scuba diver (about 6 dives a year). One of the reasons I don't dive very much is that I'm the only diver in the family. My husband has ear problems and isn't very comfortable underwater anyway, and my daughter is only 2 1/2 years old. I'm desperately hoping that when she grows up she'll want to join me in scuba diving. I figured that snorkeling is a good way to get her started. She has swimming lessons every week, and loves underwater creatures (we have some fish tanks at home and she enjoys helping me feed the fish, and likes to let them nibble her fingers). She's seen me diving and seems very intersted by my mask, and when asked, she says she'd like to get her own mask and come with me in the water.

Where do I find a mask that might fit such a small kid? She'll be 3 by the time we get the chance to go on a holiday where we can do some nice snorkeling. But she's very small for her age. Now she's wearing clothes for a 1 1/2 year old kid, so I guess that when she's 3 she'll be about the same size as a typical 2 year old. I think that the typical kids mask, which is meant for kids 3 to 10 years old, would be too big for her. Any ideas?
 
Seeman Sub and Aqualung supply good quality children's masks but I suspect it may be difficult to find something for a child so small... Maybe a junior pair of swimming goggles would suffice for a while?
 
Yup, Tim, I think I may be out of luck. I sent off an email to the owner of the last dive shop that I did diving with, asking about small masks, and he doesn't think I'll find anything.

What a shame... And she's so keen too. We'll try the swim goggles, and maybe the cheapo sets from ELC, in hopes that I can find something that will allow her to float on the surface with me and look at the pretty fishies.

Hmmmm, I've seen little inflatable floaty things with plastic windows in the bottom, maybe that would allow her to at least look at the stuff along with me, even if I can't find her a suitable mask or goggles. Has anyone used one of these things?
 
Tim1 said:
A major problem for Christopher is proper thermal protection... Does anyone have any ideas? He is 135 cms / 53 ins tall.

Same thing with my little guy. Here's a pic of him just getting out of the water in Tobermory where the water was a balmy 15C/60F in a shorty that dosn't fit well. I've just sent an email to Elios to see if they can make him a custom 5mm suit for the spring. If so then he'll be warm for sure!

I'm gonna check out one of those "Sphera kids" masks for him too... He's using an old mask that I used when I was 13-14, but it's too big really.

Aaron
 

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Since, I have spoken to Apnea and they recommended the Immersion Monopiece - http://www.imersion.net/index_uk.html which is a 5mm steamer in kid's sizes. Looks good especially if I can find a thermal rash guard and shorts as a base layer.
 
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