7-year-old Girl Proves Diving Is for All Ages

There is always a balance for parents to strike when it comes to protecting their children and letting them discover their own independence. Many adults think that diving is not a sport for kids and prefer to get diving travel insurance for trips without children. Whilst there are understandable age restrictions on diving in some locations, the truth is that children love experiencing the diving life.

For example, Sophia Martinez from Mexico hit the headlines recently due to the fact that she is already swimming with sharks at the tender age of just seven years old. Her father Mr Martinez works for Shark Diver Magazine, and explained that:

‘We started taking her out when she was five but she was too young to get into the water then it was all a bit overwhelming for her, the ocean can seem a scary place to a child. But when we went again the following year she did get in the water for a few minutes. And then this year, she loved it so much we couldn’t get her out of the water. I was glowing just watching her, there is no better feeling to watch her in the water knowing she was comfortable and was enjoying it so much. Since this is what I do for a living Sophia has always had an interest in sharks, she’s grown up looking at pictures of me swimming with sharks and she’s always adored them.

“Sharks have always been a huge part of her life, she’s never been scared of them, she’s seen pictures of me swimming with them and she knows they’re nothing to be scared of. Sophia was out there swimming for at least two hours, she was close enough to touch the sharks but she didn’t as you’re obviously not allowed to disturb them. She wasn’t in any danger at all, Sophia knows you just need to have respect for the animals and swim carefully. The biggest danger is that you frighten them and they hit you with their tail as they swim off. As she gets older she’ll probably be doing more and more diving. She’s definitely the youngest we’ve ever taken out to swim with the sharks but seven is definitely a good age to start.”

This may be an exceptional case, as there aren’t many parents who would be happy to let their seven-year-old child swim with sharks! However it does prove that diving holidays can be enjoyed by all the family. There are plenty of kid friendly centres which are ready to teach youngsters the basics of how to scuba dive. It is important to ensure that you have the right type of diving insurance before you start out, and it is also a good idea to get dive equipment insurance too. It is always better to be safe rather than sorry, and having the right insurance will give you the necessary peace of mind to concentrate on ensuring everybody has a holiday of a lifetime.