How to Go Diving with Nondiving Kids

A pioneer in family dive travel, San Francisco’s Rascals in Paradise was founded in 1987 by two alumnae from Carl Roessler’s now-defunct See & Sea travel agency. Theresa Detchemendy and Deborah Baratta realized from their own experiences that family travel presented different challenges, so they formed their agency to provide family vacations. While dive travel is only part of their business, it remains a favorite for both women. Detchemendy proudly told Undercurrent, “I have three kids, all rescue certified. They still love to travel with Mom and Dad.”

Rascals in Paradise has initiated children’s programs at resorts worldwide. They have organized a “Divers with Kids” program at family-friendly dive resorts in the Caribbean, Mexico and the South Pacific. The kids are happy, supervised and active while parents go diving. Sometimes, kids may travel to dive sites to snorkel and teenagers may learn how to dive.

One family-friendly getaway with reasonably good diving is the Jean-Michel Cousteau Fiji Islands Resort, which offers its own club for kids. Children are supervised and entertained by nannies fluent in English. Bula Club features a playground, a family pool and a wading pool with a waterslide for toddlers. Children brush colors onto forms of fish and imprint them onto T-shirts to take home. Other activities include snorkeling, coral reef exploration, tidal flats discovery, movies, storytelling and a scavenger hunt. www.fijiresort.com.

Bonaire’s Buddy Resort offers a kids’ club, with different activities five days a week for $130. http://www.buddydive.com/resort.html. The Aggressor Fleet hosts seven-day Kids Sea Camps, which include five hours of supervised activity for children each day, while parents can go diving guilt-free. Sea Camp also meets at resorts in Curacao, Grand Cayman, Roatan, Bonaire and Fiji. It gives kids a week of education and adventure while their parents enjoy guilt-free diving. You’ll get a firsthand review in the January issue of Undercurrent.

Over the years, Undercurrent has received many good reports about Rascals in Paradise. If you want to go diving while your kids are in good hands, Rascals can help you find a well-organized, safe and enjoyable family trip. www.rascalsinparadise.com or call 415.921.7000

Another information source: www.travelwithkids.about.com