Text by Jeremy Cuff/www.ja-universe.com
Photography by Jeremy & Amanda Cuff/www.ja-universe.com
Diving trips, and especially liveaboards, are normally the preserve of the “grown ups” but not on the Caribbean based Aggressor boats. Firstly in the Cayman Islands and more recently in Belize, we took our young son Zac on the Aggressor Fleet’s unique family liveaboard weeks…
Anyone with children will know that if you want to maintain interests such as diving, it’s not easy. You’ve really got to want to do it, and find a way to incorporate it into an already busy and hectic life.
Though our son Zac has been on trips where we’ve been diving, he hasn’t really been able to be a part of our “other life” other than showing him images from our trips, looking at fish books and watching wildlife documentaries. That is, until we discovered the family week liveaboards run by the Aggressor Fleet in the Caribbean.
The family week itineraries are based on the normal “grown ups” trips, but with a few subtle tweaks to make it more “child friendly” both onboard and in the water.
In the Caymans, we visited the “world famous” Stingray City where we watched Zac snorkel with one of the crew, legs kicking feverishly towards the melee of divers and rays. Then, a crew member cradled one of the rays and eased it to within reach of Zac. It was a great moment to watch from beneath, and a great photo opportunity. He thought it was fantastic.
Also in the Caymans, Zac would get his first opportunity to emulate a “real” diver where he would attend the dive briefing and be shown how to kit up, check air and so on. He would then enter the water with a crew member using a SASY (Supplied Air Snorkelling for Youth) setup which is a self contained regulator and tank, but for surface swimming only. With this equipment, a child can thus breathe through a regulator like a diver, check air and view the reefs from above, but without the snorkel filling with water.
It’s a great step towards becoming a diver. We watched Zac perfect his giant stride entry and laughed as he begged to be given some weights. On one of his SASY “dives”, he went with a crew member on a “scooter” – a motorised torpedo like device that propels you through the water.
More recently in Belize, he was in the company of three other children of the same age, and we can honestly say that we’ve rarely seen children so happy and “in their element” – free of toy shops, shopping malls and TV – just kids being kids, having fun together, always happy and always smiling – it was a joy to behold.
On both of our trips, the crew were very friendly, encouraging and patient with the children, and as a parent you felt completely relaxed about them being onboard and that they were well looked after and entertained when you were diving.
The crew film the activities of the week (underwater and above) and produce a trip DVD for anyone who’s interested. Our copies have been watched countless times by Zac, and it’s a testimony to how much he learned and benefitted from the trips that were adventure, fun and education all rolled into one. He insists that any visitor to our house watches them!
In fact, these trips are among the most memorable times we’ve ever spent together as a family.
