Scuba for junior certified diver

[mjk43]

Hi

We will be visiting the islands of St Thomas, St Kitts, Grenada, Isla Margarita and Aruba on our Princess cruise.

Our 14 year old daughter is PADI junior open water certified to 12 metres. She would like to dive whilst on this vacation.

We cannot find out from Princess what the depth is for the dive they offer in Aruba "New Waves Certified Scuba". Does anyone know:

whether she can go on this Princess dive?

of an alternative highly reliable dive operator on one of these islands? There may only be enough time on Grenada or Aruba as the other dockings set off again quite early

Many thanks for any advice

[Jumbie]

Well, I just posted this in your other thread, but I guess I'll do it here as well.

 

Hi

We will be visiting the islands of St Thomas, St Kitts, Grenada, Isla Margarita and Aruba on our Princess cruise.

Our 14 year old daughter is PADI junior open water certified to 12 metres. She would like to dive whilst on this vacation.

We cannot find out from Princess what the depth is for the dive they offer in Aruba "New Waves Certified Scuba". Does anyone know:

whether she can go on this Princess dive?

of an alternative highly reliable dive operator on one of these islands? There may only be enough time on Grenada or Aruba as the other dockings set off again quite early

Many thanks for any advice

I don't dive, but I've heard from divers that Grenada has some pretty good diving and it was all left undamaged by the hurricane (not that I would have expected it to be).

 

I can't really tell you if it would be better than going through the ship, but you might be able to get some information on this page http://www.grenadaexplorer.com/Diving.htm and by contacting some of the operators.

 

I was out fishing yesterday and we passed the Aquanauts boat. I know that they are definitely operational.

[bruce-r]

Hi

We cannot find out from Princess what the depth is for the dive they offer in Aruba "New Waves Certified Scuba". Does anyone know: whether she can go on this Princess dive?

It will depend on a couple of things. How strict are you and they going to be with her max. depth, and which sites they dive that day. If you want to be sure that she stays above 12 meters (36ft for us in the US), you might want to make your own arrangements and hire her a DM of her own. I'm not sure who Princess uses on Aruba. It is either Redsail or Pelican Adventures. Contact them directly and ask them about the situation. I went with Pelican on an afternoon dive of the Antilla, which would be a good shallow dive. They take snorkelers there as well as divers.

of an alternative highly reliable dive operator on one of these islands?

On Aruba, I went with DiveAruba and I would normally recommend them, but in your case I would look to a larger operator, such as mentioned above.

There may only be enough time on Grenada or Aruba as the other dockings set off again quite early

Many thanks for any advice

Unless you are going to be in St. Thomas for less than 3 hours, you would have plenty of time for her to do a shore dive at Coki Beach. I used Coki Beach Dive Club and can easily recommend them. Actually, Coki Beach is a pretty nice beach in it's own right, and an excellent place for her to do a guided dive while the non-divers snorkel, go next door to Coral World, or just hang out on the beach. For $50 I got the guide all to myself for the dive. If you could arrange that for her, you could be sure that she would stay above 12 meters.

 

Hope this helps

Any other questions?

[mjk43]

Thank you . That's very helpful

We will be on St Thomas all day and I have exchanged emails with Coki Beach and are all set to book them. Coral World looks fun for the rest of us.

[White House]

We just returned from our cruise on Princess. We also stopped at St. Thomas and did a discovery scuba dive with Admiralty. The capatain and dive instructor were great. There were three of us on the dive. My wife and I on the discovery dive and one other gentleman who was completing a few steps in his certification. I would highly recommend them. As a bonus, they picked us up at the dock where the ship docked. We just walked down the pier and there they were. It was much easier than jumping in a taxi.

[chriscamp]

My 12 yr old son just passed his JR Open Water certification and I questioned the depth wording on the card. The card states 10-11 with parent / PADI pro to 12m / 40'.

 

12 + with Adult.

 

I called PADI today to confirm the depth restrictions. As we are going on a cruise on January. They told me that since he was 12 when he took the class (same class as adults) he had the same restrictions as a adult 60'.

 

You may not have a 12m depth restriction based on this info from PADI.

[SandDollar Laura]

As the provider for most of the lines for certified scuba here in Cozumel, this is what we do when we have Jr. Open Water divers. We offer private guide service for an additional $35. That way, Mom and Dad have the option to "go deep" with the rest of the group, while offspring is in good hands, or they can also take advantage of the private guide as well. On the second dive, everyone can be reunited and get the VIP treatment with their own private tour.

 

Space permitting, I always advise everyone to go for the private guide service, especially those who complain of that "cattleboat" feeling. As a dive instructor for the last 12 years (no age comments here, folks) I love being a private guide, and really take advantage of the opportunity to show off my knowledge of the area and the marine life.

 

You can check with the ShoreEx onboard and get all that arranged prior to your arrival in port.

[ambiz]

In St Kitts, I would recommend Kenneth Samuel who is the proprieter of the oldest local dive shop. He is an experienced dive master offering certification courses. To send a tour enqiuiry visit http://www.discover-stkitts-nevis-beaches.com/st-kitts-nevis-tour-enquiry.html.

 

Amicia Mussenden

Your St Kitts and Nevis Tour Guide

[mjk43]

Just to report that we used Coki Beach Dive Club on St Thomas and they were excellent. My daughter really enjoyed her dive and the rest of us snorkelled and lay on sunbeds while she was out. The sand was beautiful; the fish plentiful and colourful. The divemaster was professional and friendly. This turned out to have been a great choice and thanks for the recommendation.