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Educational activities for children – with a diving focus!

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Self isolation definitely isn’t fun. While I don’t have any any young children of my own, I know of the challenges of finding fun, exciting and educational activities to occupy the kids during this Covid-19 crisis, and we at STEPDive want to help!

Below you’ll find a fantastic list of resources about our amazing underwater world, all that can be accessed from your living room. We’ve included reading and visual materials to inspire, documentaries that share environmental challenges, but also potential solutions for ocean preservation, coloring in materials and much more!

Monterey Bay Aquarium Live Stream


Take a (virtual) field trip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium! This Californian aquarium has setup livestreams so students can observe ocean creatures in real time. Play with the sea otters, check out the jellyfish, or even swim with sharks! The aquarium also has fact sheets about its inhabitants, curriculum plans, and lots of other activities.

National Geographic’s Ocean Education Collection


National Geographic has designed a range of cool activities for young learners (K through 12). Create your own living room adventures to understand the parts and sizes of waves, demystify the Mariana Trench, explore why people live near the coast, or even size yourself up against a blue whale!

STEPDive Coloring In Drawings


Feel free to download these great coloring in activities! There’s 3 to choose from:

Where Wild Microbes Grow by Kevin Kurtz


These freely downloadable eBooks are part of the International Ocean Discovery Program, funded by the US National Science Foundation. Where the Wild Microbes Grow: The Search for Life Under the Seafloor is just one of the freebooks created by Kevin Kurtz, an award-winning children’s author, and Alice Feagan, an award-winning illustrator.

Netflix Documentaries


Chasing Coral (YouTube Trailer): A team of divers, photographers and scientists set out on a thrilling adventure to document the disappearance of the world’s coral reefs.

Mission Blue (YouTube Trailer): Follows world renowned oceanographer Sylvia Earle on her personal mission to save the ocean.

Journey to the Bottom of the Ocean


This interactive site lets visitors dive deeper than any human has before! As you scroll down the page, the ocean “depth” increases; the blues turn to black and an array of deep water animals appear. Start on the surface and work your way towards the wreck of the Titanic!

US NOAA Educational Resources for Children


Visit the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) educational resources for a range of fun activities. Kids can learn about the Sea Level Rising, or even play a whale migration e-board game found in the NOAA’s game center. There are also plenty of worksheets using NOAA data to keep students occupied!

Amazon Prime Video Documentaries


Beneath the Sea (YouTube Trailer): a celebration of marine life from around the world by Emmy Award Winning Cinematographer, Howard Hall.

Galapagos: Realm of Giant Sharks (Vimeo Trailer): the whale shark is the largest fish in existence, yet so little is known about them.

Secrets of the Ocean Realm Activities by PBS


These fantastic exercises will help your children learn all about the ocean environment, from coral reef preservation to diver decompression. Designed for 10-14 year olds, these classroom activities include background information, activity plans and discussion topics – helping to build our ocean advocates of the future!

Our hearts and wishes are with everyone right now, so please stay safe and healthy.

See you underwater (after the crisis)!

:: Darren

Discover a world of night diving

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The idea of diving at night can be scary, especially if the underwater darkness amplifies fears of safety, or brings sensationalised movie ideas together (if you’ve recently seen ‘Jaws’ or ‘Open Water’). However the good news is that in reality, it is very different!

Night diving usually involves kitting up after sunset and entering the water just before dusk, giving you natural light for both gear preparation and initial directional assistance. But once you’re in the water, a completely new world of activity can be discovered: one of brightly colored corals standing out of the darkness, nocturnal creatures such as octopus and crustaceans hunting and if you’re comfortable turning your flashlight off, sparks of bioluminescent plankton firing around you!

Whilst night diving is accessible with regular SCUBA, currently it’s not possible to take children younger than 10 years of age. STEPDive can change this paradigm by giving families the opportunity to dive together at night, whilst still ensuring industry standards are met.

Of course, whether you’re diving with STEPDive or regular SCUBA, you should always have a compass and backup source of light, but with our optional night diving attachment, you can:

  • Dive with a broader base of ambient light, that can be individually configured the way you want;
  • Have an effective surface marker, recognisable underwater and to boats (should they be operating); and
  • Dive with complete confidence (provided through the additional safety of the raft and by gaining a better feel for the surroundings).

Let your family experience the thrill of diving at night with STEPDive – I highly recommend it!

See you underwater!

:: Darren

DIWA Partnership

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STEPDive is super excited and pleased to announce our new partner: The Diving Instructor World Association (DIWA)! Yesterday we spent the day at DIWA Austria’s home base (Lake Weissensee) discussing future plans, product developments and the cooperative opportunities that lay ahead.

In addition to the above, a full range of courses is pipelined, from try dives, commercial and tech courses all the way up to an instructor specialty. Feel free to visit DIWA Austria or stay tuned to our blog for future updates!

See you underwater!

:: Darren