8 Reasons Why You Should Take Your Teens Scuba Diving
March 22, 2024
It can be hard to find an activity that you and your teenagers can enjoy together, it can also sometimes be tricky to pry them away from their video games and YouTube tutorials. We believe that we have the answer… scuba diving! An activity that can be enjoyed by people of all ages, learning to scuba dive with your teenage kids can bring you closer together, build trust, and make memories that they will remember forever. Still not convinced? Here are a few more reasons why we think you should take your teens scuba diving.
Get inspired to take your teens scuba diving:
1.It gets them out of the house… and excited about it!
Think back to your teen years, when laziness can kick in and the appeal of going outside might start to dwindle. Snuggling up in bed with a movie or a video game becomes a daily routine and before you know it you have not engaged in an outdoor activity for years.
Scuba diving is not just any outdoor activity, it is truly awe-inspiring and thrilling.
Your teens will don their gear, step into the water, and get to explore wrecks, reefs and caverns, and see impressive marine life. If you think about it, breathing underwater is basically like having a superpower, and if the idea of that does not get your teens off of the couch, we do not know what will!
2.Develops social skills.
It can be daunting trying to make new friends at any age, but teenagers often feel self-conscious and shy to reach out to new people. The special thing about the scuba diving community is that everyone has at least one thing in common: diving! So there is always something to talk about if you take your teens scuba diving.
If you sign your teen up for some scuba trips, they will be around other divers all eager to share their experiences and learn about yours, too. Before you know it, your teenager could make dive buddies for life.
3.Encourages listening, focus, and teamwork.
Learning to dive requires focus and a real eagerness to learn. Scuba diving is a very safe water activity, but it comes with risks if you do not follow the basic rules. When taking an Open Water Diver program, your teen will have to listen to their instructor and take on vital information, which they will later put into practice in the water.
They will work as a team with their dive buddy (perhaps you!) to keep each other safe under the water. These are all great skills which will be transferred into other areas of life as they enter adulthood.
4.An activity you can do together for many years to come.
If you take your teens scuba diving, you will always be guaranteed to have this one thing that binds you together. You might not always connect with your children in all aspects of their lives, but diving is a hobby that you can enjoy together for many years.
You can plan dive trips together or tell each other all about the dives you do separately. It is something you will always have in common, and they will appreciate that just as much as you do.
5.Builds trust between you and them.
If you become your child’s dive buddy, a whole new level of trust and connection is achieved. You know that your son or daughter is trained and ready to save your life in an emergency, they know that you are looking out for them underwater and making sure you stay close. Scuba diving is a great team-building activity that can bring you closer as a family.
6.Who does not love a cool underwater selfie?
Let us face it, most teenagers love to post on social media and show off the exciting things they are up to. We might be biased but we think scuba diving is up there as one of the coolest activities someone can do. When you take your teens scuba diving, they will love posting a cool underwater selfie for all their friends at home to see. How many teenagers have a picture of themself wreck diving or diving with whale sharks? They will be the envy of their school!
7.Teaches them the importance of protecting the environment.
The younger generation holds the fate of the planet in their hands. They are the ones who will have to pass on vital information about the importance of rising sea levels, plastic pollution, and global warming to their kids. It is so important that our children understand the issues that our planet is facing.
There is no better way to teach children about the natural world than by allowing them to experience it for themselves. If your teenager loves to dive with huge schools of fish over vibrant coral reefs, they will have every incentive to keep those reefs healthy and encourage others to do the same.
We think that learning to dive as a family is a great idea, no matter how old your kids are. Take a look at Family Scuba Diving: 8 Great Reasons to Start Today.
8.Teaches them the importance of safety and acting sensibly.
Teens will be teens… and these are the years for them to make little mistakes and to learn from them, so they do not make worse mistakes in future. However, some actions can have serious consequences, and teenagers must know the importance of following rules that are in place to keep them safe.
Certain corners cannot be cut, and some waters cannot be tested; scuba diving is a prime example of this. If you follow the rules when you take your teens scuba diving, there is no reason why you should ever experience a diving emergency. However, if you push the limits and ignore safety procedures, it can have very serious repercussions.
This is made clear in the Open Water Diver program and your teen will be taught exactly why these rules and procedures are so important. This understanding of safety will serve them so well in the future, at various times in their life.
We think that scuba diving is the ideal activity for teenagers and gives them many transferable, lifelong skills.
Ready to dive in? Check out SSI’s beginner scuba diving certifications at the link below. See you in the water!