I'd have thought it was? BBC NEWS | England | Devon | Diver, 14, sank after air ran out

And looking for that article on line I found this one too. Blimey, it's happening left right and centre in the South West...

BBC NEWS | England | Diver killed after suit inflated

From a PADIs POV

I've taken a number of youngsters on dives in the sea and found them to be the better buddies in some cases as they actually listen to the briefing and monitor their air.

It is so easy for all divers to get complacent with what they are doing, even more so on their home turf, and perhaps they had done that dive hundreds of time, always with plenty of air remaining.

From the news article, which I admit to only scanning, it would appear they had boat cover, had both made it back to the surface safely, therefore in all other ways had had a successful dive. The problem would appear that the lad didn't have sufficient air to inflate his jacket, sufficient training to consider dropping his haul and/or his weights.

This could happen to anyone.

From a personal POV, I am taking my daughters, aged 12 on their first diving holiday next year, they will only dive 1:1 with me, will have my transmitter in their first stage, so I can monitor their air remotely, and the dives are likely to be quite short.

It is my intention to limit their diving to short shallow dives for a couple of years before looking at diving in the North Sea with either of them. This will be much to the disappointment of the elder twin, as she is desperate to dive with seals :- However safety has to be the number one concern.


With respect to the second news article, the cynic in me is crying bullshit to the inflator button getting depressed by the cannon ball accidentally and more to the tune that the lift bag didn't have sufficient lift, therefore the diver inflated the suit (and probably BCD) to bring his haul to the surface.

Now, I could be 100% wrong and if so, I am prepared to eat my own words.

Both are terrible accidents that bring home the fact that the sport we enjoy (love) is dangerous and that we should all take care at all times.

My son was 14 when he learned to dive

If you're gonna go, make sure you blow.

I learned to dive (in Malta?) aged 14, BSAC school.

I have taken a fair few teenagers in the pool for try dives and on the whole they have been very good.

However, BSAC say that it is up to club to decide what their age limit is. Ours is 14, but we are very clear about parent supervision and it is diofficult for them to go on dive weekend as we always go to pub on the Friday and Saturday.

You do have the option of taking 12 year olds, but we voted against it. A lot of people didn't aggree with it on the basis that a 12 year old might not be able to drag you out of the water etc etc. I dont agree with that 100% as you should always have cover, as in theory you should always have cover on the shore....

Anyways...back on topic. I think the first one made the news pages of the BSAC mag

My BSAC club (Canterbury Divers 326) won't take on kids at all, the age limit is 18. Not really from a training or ability point of view but more because of all the aggravation caused by Child Protection issues and the like, after all it's pretty 'hands on' at times.

A fair number of the instructors are also of the view that kiddies are generally better students than adults when it comes to the practical side of things. In fact I was told by one last ight after pool training (coz I've ben quite quick on the uptake) that she'd not come across many students who have picked things up as quickly as myself apart from a few ten year olds. Not sure if this was intended as a compliment or not! I reckon it's because I generally have a ten year old's approach to life though so I'm treating it as a positive.