Age Requirement for Junior Open Water Diver Certification

by Anonymous

How old do you have to be to get your Junior Diver certification in Oklahoma?

Hi,

There are varying age requirements for your Junior Open Water Diver Certification depending on what agency you go through.

First, though, I would like to clarify that the state doesn't legislate at what age you can get your scuba diving certification - rather it is the certification agencies themselves that set their minimum age requirements.

Thus the age requirements are the same for all states.

Below I discuss the age requirements from some of the top scuba diving certification agencies. They all have different requirements and which agency you use is a matter of personal preference. Practically, though, your choice will be between the agencies the dive shops near you are associated with.

The 2 most widely recognized certification agencies are PADI and NAUI.

NAUI's minimum age to get certified is 12.

PADI requires that you be 10 or older to take the certification course. Students younger than 15 will receive the PADI Junior Open Water Diver certification. It can then be upgraded to PADI Open Water Diver certification upon reaching 15.

The next two most widely recognized agencies for certification are probably the YMCA and SSI (Scuba Schools International).

SSI minimum age requirement for scuba certification is 10. I couldn't find this information on their website, but I called a dive shop that offers certification through SSI and that was the minimum age requirement that I was quoted.

For the YMCA Scuba certification course, you must be 15 years of age or older. If you are between ages 12-14 you can earn the Junior Open Water Diver certification (requires that you dive with and adult diver)

If you want more information on what is required to get certified for diving and what the course actually entails, you can check out our page on scuba diving certification..

I wish you the best of luck and please let us know how it goes if you do go for your certification.

Dianne

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