We coming to Bonaire for the first time in August. We will be bringing our 9 year old son and have enrolled him in the Aquakids program at the Plaza/Toucans. We are some of those "over protective" parents... is this a safe and reliable program?

Hmm, I just emailed the Plaz asking for a contact on island to ask more questions. We will putting our 12yo and 8yo in for the 5 day program when we're there in August. Let me know what you find out and I will do the same.

You might also want to check out Caren at Sea and Discover - she has a similar program and is fantastic with kids. www.bonairenature.com/seandiscover/ My kids talk about her all year long and can't wait to see her again.

Where is this located on the Island and will they pick him up from the Plaza Resort?

Caren / Sea and Discover is just north of town and yes she picks up at Plaza. I think her email is info@seandiscover.com

I've had my kids in both programs and they are both very reliable.

Larry,
You can contact Annet, our Aquakids Manager, on aquakids@toucandiving.com
Annet is back on island on Sunday. In the meantime I have emailed you a copy of the programme.

New Bonaire Talk Poster?? Have I been away from this board for so long?
Regards
Steve, (manager, Toucan Diving.)

Thanks Steve! I got your note on my normal email as well. I have passed on the doc to my wife and will email Annet when she returns. I appreciate the awesome followup!

I have emailed sea and discover twice now with no reply, is there another way to contact them?

Lisa,

In Feb03 we had our 10yr daughter & 5yr old son in Aquakids. Christy was fabulous. My son was not a great swimmer & she helped him learn to float & snorkel and worked with him on fish ID. (Daughter is a fish and loved the program so much she didn't mind being with her little brother!)

In Feb04, the now 6yr old was an old hand at snorkeling & loved it. He is very proud to let everyone know he "gave" his first tooth to help build the coral reefs of Bonaire.

Over these 2 years, the only kids that don't seem to have a good time (I saw 1 each year) are the introverted kids whose parent obsess that their child is not getting 100% of the instructor's attention. If your son likes to be with other kids, he should have a great time and learn alot about Bonaire & the sea.

All:
How would you rank the three programs: Sea and Discover, Aquakids, and the one at BonBini--Just for Kids. My son will be 10 in April 05 when we visit and in addition to fish ID, ecology and snorkeling we would like him to take one of the short "dive" classes that takes them into shallow water with scuba eqmt. Perhaps a combination of two different programs??
thx! Aimee

Aimee,
I had my son since we have been going to Bonaire and since even bought property there, seeing Caren, from Sea Discover. He is 9 at present. He just adores her and her program is very educational and fun. I did have him attend Aquakids once, bad experience, they were nice, but lack of supervision in regards that this young lady kept taking my son's facemask off, throwing it in the water and completely bothering my son, the person in charge only told the young lady to stop once, I was not pleased and told her afterwards, and felt she was very snippy to me, so my son had a bad trip due to her lack of controling the children. Maybe that is not the case now, however, I will never send him there again, I only sent him there to try something new, since Caren was busy that day and couldn't hold class. I cannot comment on BonBini, but that it my opinion and plus, Caren's groups are much smaller and more attention is given per child. Debbie B

Aimee,

Just a side note - he can be certified as a junior open water diver at the age of 10 with some of the agencies such as PADI, SSI, etc.

I certified my stepson when he was 10 and his sister was 15. It has been a fantastic family experience for us all and they LOVE to dive.

Marabeth, Debbie: Thanks for the feedback! I do want to get him certified, but he will be *just* turning 10 on that trip in 2005 and we think maybe he will need another year of maturity before getting the full cert. I think one of these "resort" single dive programs will be enough to get him smitten, it did for us years ago! At this point it sounds like Caren's program will be ideal for the week, then maybe Aquakids for the class/dive program they have for one day.
Anyway, we'll just have to come back in 2006 to get him certified, our tough luck...
Aimee

I do support your decision delaying your child receiving their dive certification. My family visited Bonaire and stayed at the Plaza in June 2002. The kids (10 & 8) loved the Aqua Kids program and I have heard nothing bad about Caren's program. In fact I was going to use her program but she was unavailable at that time. Something about having a child or something (LOL). They did do an introductory scuba session in the pool at the Plaza, couldn’t do an ocean dive as my youngest was only 8 and not advanced enough.

OK back to Jr. dive certification. After visiting Bonaire I offered my 10 year old the opportunity to get certified anytime she wanted. I would help her with book work but I wouldn’t do it for her. She is an exceptional student and this summer she decided she was ready and did the entire book work herself. Reading the book and answering all questions. I did review them and went over the answers with her. She attended a 5 day program through the local dive shop for 12-16 year olds and got certified at a local quarry in 60 degree water with 8 ft of viz. She proved to be a great dive partner one month later when we visited the islands at the age of 12.

What I am trying to say is that I think it is a great idea to involve the children in diving but we should only make the opportunity available to the kids and if they have interest great if not they can snorkel or be shore birds. Diving is a sport that has many risks. When you dive with a child they are your support and partner not your child. They have to have the maternity and ability to handle any situation an adult can. Yes we are supposed to limit the depth of a Jr. diver but there still are risks associated with diving at any depth.

I do think you are doing the correct thing in waiting. Especially if you wait until they want it. I will compliment my dive shop on insuring that my daughter wanted it and that she wasn’t doing it because I wanted it for here.

I’m sure whatever you do your child will enjoy it for a long time.

Good luck,

Pat

Pat,

I couldn't agree more. If I were a regular diver I would have certainly hesitated and even though I am an instructor I was even a bit hesitant however I did not allow Boy to slack in his knowledge, his confined water nor his open water skills. I also knew to keep an eye on him a little more and at times which I had had a scuba leash (you may have seen parents with these on their kids in the malls). He was determined (I'm sure a bit more because his 15 year old sister was doing her certification as well and there is always a bit of a competition between them) but they have a deep respect for the water and the ocean...thankfully.

He doesn't dive as much as his father and I do but he usually does 1-2 dives a day and that works out very well.

I said all this to say that it HAS to be a parental decision about when the child is old enough to certify. I had another child that was 10 and she, her older sister and mother were to get certified and I just couldn't pass her in the certification because she was not mature enough to handle the sport. I would not pass her confined water and could not allow her to even consider open water because she just could not handle it.

So we do have to allow the children to be ready and the parents to understand their responsibilities as well. Any time in the water makes a child more comfortable and makes a parent more comfortable as well.

Best of luck with it all - and hey Aimee - it means another trip from Maine (BRRRR) to Bonaire.

Mara

Am I incorrect in having thought that physical immaturity may also be a factor? I don't think there are a lot of studies out there showing the effects of depth on growing muscle/bone/brain, right?

Marabeth,

I wish more instructors were like you. I see too many divers I do not enjoy diving with either because they don't practice safe diving habits or they don't respect the environment we enter when diving (swimming through corals and touching the reef). I hope I don’t come of as pompous but there are basic skills and safety measures we should follow and develop. I definitely am not perfect. I should state I love diving with newly certified divers. I get great satisfaction from helping others enjoy the sport and completing new skills and/or increasing their comfort levels. Diving is a lifetime of learning.

On my daughter’s first ocean dives with me she wouldn’t come close to examine some of the reef creatures I found. She didn’t want to come into contact with the coral. I appreciate her concern and wish more divers would practice this. I do realize we all make mistakes at times. Like the old line goes “only leave your bubbles” or something like that.

Well my daughter wants to go back to Bonaire soon. Guess I have to start looking for 2005.

Hope to see all there again.

Pat

About the physical immaturity issue. I've heard something to that idea but that is better left to people more knowledgable. I've heard that is one reason we limit the depth of Jr. divers.

Pat,

Thank you for the compliment. I hate to say that I wish more instructors were like me but I do. I have seen new and old divers with no concern for their environment, standing on the coral, hands all over the place - I want to smack their hands and feet.

Luckily my kids are the same way - a great respect for the sea. I try to explain how all of the organisms live. I point out things such as the corals "protective" coat and how that is like our skin - it protects us from harm and when our skin is damaged (through burns, scrapes, etc) then it can cause infections in us. Well the same thing is true with the coral. When we touch their "skin" then they can get infections because we have damaged their protective outer layer.

Often times when we relate our environment to our children in terms they understand then they are more apt to protect it AND they want to learn HOW to dive better. And you also hear them telling their "friends" or other divers about the things that you tell them.

We (my family and many friends) are going to be back on the island Dec 22 - Jan 5. Yeah - I'm ready.

Mara

And I too cannot comment on the physical maturity issue. So far so good though - he's been diving for almost 3 years and other than typical 13 year old actions (ohh - you mean I was supposed to TURN IN my homework) all things seem fine.