Boating & Fishing Insiders

Give the gift of diving to your child. Credit: Terry Gibson/Northswell Media & Consulting

A few years back, when business brought me close to Key Largo and I had a rare day to myself, I decided to go diving. I was looking to do some easy dives for a change, and indulge my inner coral geek.

I hopped on a boat at Amy Slate's Amoray Dive Resort, and we headed out to some shallow, spur-and-groove formations, in about 25 feet, that I hadn't seen in years.

On the way out, I sat next to a father and daughter, Rob and Elizabeth, who upon seeing my sophisticated camera and housing, started asking me questions about what they could expect to see. Turns out, Elizabeth had just gotten out of school for the summer, and Dad was taking her to the Keys to get dive certified. I'd put her about 13, at that vulnerable, impressionable age when becoming a confident SCUBA diver will really help a kid's self-esteem. 

Fortunately, the conditions were perfect -- calm seas and almost unlimited visibility, which is pretty typical for the Keys in June. Elizabeth took to the water like a fish, performing all her underwater skills on her checkout dive with ease. She liked diving so much they booked again for another two tanks in the afternoon, and stayed two extra days. By the end of the day, she could also identify half a dozen species of coral, a bunch of reef fish, and had added to her life list a green moray eel, a nurse shark and a loggerhead turtle.

It was clearly some great bonding time for the father/daughter dive team, a memory they'll cherish for a long time, and some really valuable training. The gift of SCUBA diving is a life-long gift. If you're wanting to spend some quality time outdoors this summer with your children, think about taking them on a dive adventure to the Florida Keys. The Professional Association of Dive Instructors, (PADI), offers dive lessons and certifications for kids ages eight and older.