Diving section for children. How to choose a good diving school for a child? Children's programs in "Crocus City Oceanarium"
In French, diving means swimming under water. This lesson opens life to everyone from a new side. Scuba diving is a recreation and sport, it is a constant discovery and a healthy lifestyle, it is an opportunity to learn a lot of new and exciting things. If we compare the underwater world with space, then its main advantage is accessibility for humans. Diving under water, the diver enters a completely different dimension with its own rules and laws, secrets and mysteries.
Diving in Moscow: theory and practice
According to historical data, the first mention of scuba diving dates back to the 17th century. Since then, this sport has been constantly improved. The process of learning to dive is quite simple thanks to modern methods and equipment, but it requires certain knowledge and skills, which require a lot of time and effort to master.
Anyone can learn scuba diving skills. Experts believe that you can start training at about 10-12 years old. Diving schools in Moscow offer individual and group lessons for different age categories. As a rule, classes begin with theory. Only having mastered the necessary theoretical knowledge, you can move on to practice. Practical classes are held in the pool. This is a convenient and safe option, especially for beginners.
Scuba diving is available for both children and adults. Often, whole families come to diving centers and scuba diving sections in Moscow. Such joint activities bring children and parents together, and common interests make their leisure time pleasant and comfortable.
Scuba diving training in Moscow for beginners and experienced divers
Attending classes in diving sections for beginners, future divers, first of all, get acquainted with the rules of safe behavior, on the strict observance of which a person's life sometimes depends. To feel comfortable and calm underwater, you need to understand all the nuances and subtleties of this sport. Only having the necessary stock of theoretical and practical knowledge behind you, you can go on a real underwater journey.
And although diving is still considered an elite form of recreation today, diving in Moscow is available to everyone!
Diving is a family activity and sport. Therefore, if parents are engaged, then children will sooner or later come to this hobby.
Moreover, they will fall in love with the underwater world instantly, because, unlike adults, they perceive everything brighter and more emotionally. Seeing at least once the amazingly beautiful sea depths, they will constantly return to them.
In addition, diving is a way of raising children. Thanks to him, boys and girls train their willpower, patience, calmness. They learn to work in a team. In addition, divers, like no one else, take care of the environment.
Teaching children to dive
Diving of children takes place at safe depths. Children 8-10 years old are allowed to a depth of 2 meters. Between the ages of 10 and 12, they can dive up to 12 meters.
From the age of 14, they have access to an 18-meter depth. Children under the age of 12 dive in open water only when accompanied by adults or professional divers.
According to PADI, children can take the Junior Open Water Divers course from the age of 10. The main thing is that the child is mentally and physically ready for this. The sooner the child starts diving, the more confident he will behave in the water.
A kind of "contraindications" to diving are: inability to equalize pressure, concrete thinking, lack of discipline. Not recommended for children with heart disease.
Diving for children in Moscow and St. Petersburg
In St. Petersburg, there are many clubs that teach children. Among them are the diving club "Baltika for Children" (teaching according to the international NDL system), "Admiral Benbow", "200 bar" (training according to CMAS and SSI systems), "Moby Dik", "Aquahit". Natalia Levochskaya has a useful one, we recommend it.
Kids from the age of 5 are accepted to the children's and youth club "Korka", and swimming skills are not required here. They teach children speed swimming with fins, sports and classic diving, wrestling with fins.
In the Mistral Diving School, children are accepted for training from the age of 8, here you can get different diving qualifications - from a trial dive to the PADI system. But in the diving center "Grott" children are taught diving from the age of 10.
International Day of Diving falls in autumn, but in Russia many professionals and amateurs of diving consider May 5 as their holiday - Diver's Day, which is celebrated in honor of the founding of the world's first diving school in Kronstadt. This event took place on May 5, 1882, during the reign of Alexander III.
And modernity is such that the popularity of diving is growing year by year, today this hobby has become massive and has long been not the prerogative of adults. Still not intending to write this material, I somehow asked my friends - dive masters and instructors - how children and teenagers begin to be fascinated by the underwater world. The answer was unanimous - at the suggestion of the parents. If adults have fallen in love with this type of recreation and knowledge of the world, they will certainly want to introduce their children to this. It has nothing to do, they explained to me, with trips under the stick to the figure skating section or many years of torment on the violin, after which children sometimes throw away the instrument, never to touch it again.
“Usually children are fanatic, - said one of the participants in this conversation, - I know only one case when my friend, an instructor himself, taught his son and he took it as a necessity, nothing more ". However, scuba diving is a rather responsible occupation, and in the field of children's diving, it is necessary to take into account both the characteristics of the child's body and the perception of the world.
Oleg Grekov, member of the technical committee of the Confederation of Underwater Activities of Russia, diver since 1981, DOSAAF instructor since 1987, CMAS instructor, IDS Staff instructor, PADI instructor, head of the Oleg Grekov Diving School, tells about the features of children's diving to Letidor.
In my opinion, there are two concepts for introducing children to scuba diving. You can come to the resort and do 1-2 test dives, which do not oblige you to anything. But we will talk about something else - about comprehensive training and a serious attitude to diving.
First of all, it should be said about the two main mistakes of parents. The first is an overly frivolous attitude. Many adults who have come into diving and who have had easy first dives believe that it is just as easy to teach a child to dive and that they can teach them themselves. The second, on the contrary, is hyperprotection. For such parents, scuba diving seems to be something extreme and dangerous, and they try to control all the actions of the instructor. Recently, a 16-year-old teenager was brought by his father to classes in the pool by the hand. This is also wrong - there is a potential danger when crossing the street, and with a competent approach, diving is no more dangerous than any other sport or outdoor activity.
There is no need to be afraid, but we must not forget about the specifics and serious differences in the learning process and the actual immersion of children and adults. There are several reasons for this, firstly, the peculiarities of the physical training of children. The equipment is quite heavy, in addition, the impact of high pressure under water is different for children and adults. Secondly, children do not always correctly perceive such concepts as safety and responsibility. And finally, at school age, it is much more difficult to understand the laws of physics and physiology on which this safety technique is built. At the same time, children, as a rule, master underwater much faster and easier than adults because of their curiosity, greater readiness to perceive everything new and craving for adventure.
In all diver training and certification systems (CMAS and PADI systems are the most common in Russia), there are special courses and programs for children. They differ in duration, the minimum age of students, the depth of immersion, but all are mainly built on game methods with the obligatory consideration of the individual abilities of each child. Here, a lot depends on the instructor - not everyone is ready to work with children, since this is an additional responsibility, it is not enough to be a good diver, you also need to be a good teacher, be able to present the material correctly. In our school, for example, those instructors who work with children go through physics with them using clear and understandable examples - and then in a regular school in physics lessons, children show excellent results, even if earlier in this subject it was “no way”.
Parents often ask the question at what age can children go diving. There are no uniform standards here, there are recommendations, and there is an objective assessment of the child's capabilities, which the instructor must give. In some cases, parents are advised to wait six months or a year, and then come back. It can be quite traumatic for parents to hear that their child, the “best”, is not yet ready for diving, although his peers are already engaged, but in case of risk or danger to health, the instructor must take a tough stance.
The CMAS Confederation calls the lower age bar at 8-12 years old, starting from the age of 14, teenagers can receive certificates according to adult CMAS standards. The PADI Association sets the minimum age individually for each course of study. 10-year-old children are allowed to dive in shallow areas and in the pool to a depth of no more than 6 m, then gradually, accompanied by an instructor, they are trained to dive in open water up to 12 m. From the age of 10, a child can receive a PADI Junior Open Water certificate. And in all cases, children under 15 should only dive with adult certified divers.
There are special programs for the little ones, starting from 5-6 years of age. In these cases, special equipment is used, which includes a life jacket, to which a regulator and an air tank are attached. Thus, the child swims on the surface of the water without raising his head, and from a very young age learns to use scuba gear. Instructors who conduct such courses are certified separately.
Starting from the age of 8, it is permissible to make short dives to a depth of no more than 2 m. I would like to once again warn parents against overestimating the capabilities of their child and, in particular, their capabilities. It happens that inexperienced adult divers, exceeding safe depth limits, cannot cope with the difficulties that have arisen, and even more so cannot help a child who is nearby. For an adult person alone, this is risky stupidity, but his personal responsibility, and if there is a child nearby, is already a crime.
In general, almost all problems at depth are associated with safety violations. In our practice, there were no tragic cases, thank God. There were several cases when teenagers forgot to check the equipment in a timely manner, and the dive had to be interrupted. But ridiculous, but not terrible stories periodically occur. We warn you many times: do not put corals in swimming trunks or wetsuits - they drag them anyway. One boy accidentally brushed a bunch of sunglasses from the whole group into the water - then they dived and got it out. Several times children found underwater cameras and flashlights dropped by adult tourists at shallow depths…
My son is 4 years old, he already knows how to dive while holding his breath, we will teach him to dive with his wife Irina (she is also a diving instructor). But whether diving will become his profession - he will decide when he grows up.
Diving is underwater swimming with special equipment. Diving can be both an active recreation and a sports discipline with its own competition system.
To go diving, you need to master certain skills under the guidance of a professional instructor. Diving schools provide such services and equipment. Learning to scuba dive at a diving center is a prerequisite in order to prepare for independent diving.
Institutions (schools, clubs) in Diving, snorkeling for children in Moscow
Here is a list of all diving sections, diving clubs and sports schools for children 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 years old, for boys and girls. The search for a suitable place for diving in Moscow can be done directly on the map or according to the list of sports organizations represented. You can choose a suitable sports section near your children's home, work or school for their subsequent enrollment. For each of the sports sections available: phone numbers, addresses, prices, photos, descriptions and conditions to sign up for a section or clarify other information that interests you.Diving will provide an interesting and exciting joint pastime for children and their parents. Plunging even in the pool, children feel on a par with adults, become more independent and responsibly approach the tasks. There are no strict requirements for enrolling in the course, the desire of the child, age from 8 years and the permission of the parents is enough.
Scuba Kitty Program (PADI Seal Team)
The Seal Team program is open to young divers who are ready for underwater adventures and so-called aqua missions. Children who have already experienced the joy of diving under water probably dream of underwater photography, diving with flashlights or the opportunity to feel like an astronaut. The Seal Team program gives you the chance to turn all those dreams into reality.
All classes take place in the pool and are conducted in a playful way. Young divers, united in teams, comprehend the basics of safe diving, while making aqua missions. Among them are wreck diving, underwater navigation, buoyancy control, underwater photography and others.
By becoming members of the PADI Seal Team, children not only have fun and enjoy themselves, but also make new friends.
The PADI Association has developed the SEAL program and the Bubblemaker course for young divers aged 8+. Upon completion of these programs, children master the basics of diving. They will be able to breathe properly underwater, use real diving equipment, control and adjust their buoyancy. Having acquired the necessary knowledge and skills, young divers will be able to expand the scope of their hobby, passing aqua missions and learning about the underwater world. Children aged 8 to 10 years old receive PADI certificates and prizes after completing the entire course of training in the SEALs and Bubblemaker programs. And from the age of 10, you can take the next course and get a real diving certificate at the Junior Open Water level.
Course Bubble Maker (Bubblemaker)
Do you know that you can breathe underwater? This requires special equipment, a desire to learn and the help of an instructor. To learn all about scuba gear and make your first dive, you need to complete the PADI Bubblemaker Course. If the child is already 8 years old, then this course is what you need. Under the guidance of a qualified PADI instructor, children take their first steps in diving and learn to breathe underwater. A few lessons in the pool - and your child will receive a plastic card-certificate with his photo and many new experiences. He will have something to tell his friends about. When the child turns 10 years old, he will be able to take the Junior Open Water course and dive with his parents.
The issue that worries all parents is the safety of their children. During the training, the child is under the constant supervision of an instructor who clearly controls the situation. According to PADI standards, one instructor can train up to 6 children at the same time, but we do not train more than two young divers with one instructor. Since we are sure that an individual approach to each child is very important when teaching. If desired, parents can observe and even participate in the learning process.
