Learning to scuba dive as a family

[Brugmansia]

I am thinking of us going scuba diving as part of our summer holiday this year and am looking for suggestions of where to go and tips.

We'd been planning on doing a longhaul trip anyway. DS is 11 and is keen to learn to scuba dive (having watched loads of Steve Backshall programs recently).

I understand 11 is old enough for him to learn. I did a tiny bit many years ago so would want to start from scratch again too. DH used to dive but all his certifications are out of date so he'd need a refresher or similar I think.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Ideally I'd like to go somewhere we could do a week diving and then a week or so independent travelling with a mix of culture and other outdoors stuff such as hiking.

So far I'm thinking Thailand or Mexico may work.

Any ideas or advice for this type of trip? I'd particularly love some recommendations of particular places to stay where diving courses are easily arranged. We prefer smaller places to large resort type hotels.

Mexico is good, go down Tulum/Akumal way, decent coral, lots of turtles and the diving is very close to shore. And lots of other fun stuff, Xcaret, Xel-Ha, zip lines, swimming in cenotes and underground rivers, heaps for an adventurous family to do. Lots of variety of hotels from big resorts to smaller boutique style.
Re diving, at 11 he will be restricted to 12m so wherever you go,make sure you pick a place that has lots to see within that depth (which will be fine in Mexico).
You can also dive Cozumel but that may be a bit soon, can be currents and drift diving there.
There are lots of fabulous places to dive in the world but Mexico has lots of other stuff and just in case you find he doesn’t enjoy it.

Thailand. If you want a family adventure. Land in Bangkok, train Suritani and boat to Koh Tao. Four days diving would be enough and then a boat to Koh samui for a more conventional beach holiday. I’ve done it with my kids. You can learn to dive in Vietnam as well.

To enable my family to learn to dive safely and properly I would forget Mexico or Thailand they can be conveyor belts and process factories.

It may not sound exotic and is not very long distance but one of the safest places to learn to dive is Malta. I would aim for Gozo and a small inlet called Xlendi, loook up St Andrews divers cove and Utina dive schools. Both excellent training facilities with good quality kit to hire and good quality air. Xlendi has a bay with a gentle slope so training can be in clear water with something interesting to look at as the bay is usually full of small fish. Much better than a swimming pool with the bottom full of hair, debris and lost scrunchies etc. There are some Ok, but not awesomely 4-5 star hotels, or really good Air B N B within short walking of the bay. St Andrews have an arrangment and will pick / drop you from one of the Islands 5 star hotels ever day.

Do the PADI on line learning before you go and then do your confined and open water dives shortly after arrival.

We did exactly this in Belize - all of us did a course - DH did just a refresher- lots of sharks! Kids loved it age 11 and 14

Thanks very much.

I traveled quite a bit around Thailand and central America when I was younger and had been thinking of taking DS to both places anyway, which was why I had thought of those as possibilities.

Good to hear that Tulum is good for diving too. When I started looking into this I'd seen that Cozumel was good, but Tulum would be simpler to incorporate into a longer itinerary I think.

I've not been to Belize though so will look at that as an option too. Are there sharks in the summer months? DS is particularly keen to see sharks. Where did you stay in Belize @JudyP ?

We stayed in ambergris caye - which was really nice - we stayed in a hotel that also had apartments with kitchens so we had some flexibility for food but while we liked the area we didn't love the hotel ( also cannot remember the name!)