Meet Mia—The Youngest Female Master Scuba Diver in the US

by InDEPTH. Photos and videos courtesy of the DaPonte family.

Some twelve-year-olds have birthday parties with friends, presents, and cake. Not Mia DaPonte, of East Greenwich, Rhode Island. The precocious sixth-grader spent hers on February 18^th very differently. Travelling from New England, where it is very cold, to Cozumel, Mexico, she fulfilled her dream. For Mia’s birthday, she earned her PADI Master Scuba Diver certification, the youngest female diver in the US to do so. Fewer than two percent of divers hold this accomplished title.

How did she do it? 

Hard work and lots of it. In two years, she completed all of her training in Jamestown, Rhode Island. So, starting at age ten! And, you should know that training in New England is a bear. It’s been said that if you can dive there, you can dive anywhere. The waters are the most challenging with low viz, cold water, and changing currents. Plus, the window was limited by the seasons, so Mia had less time to meet the Master Scuba Diver requirements than any other candidate before her. 

Even though her training, for the most part, took place in the Northeast US, she logged rec dives in Bermuda, Puerto Rico, Bahamas, and Dominican Republic, exploring coral reefs and shipwrecks, swimming with stingrays and sharks, and observing a shark feeding up close. A very diverse diver, for sure. 

In Cozumel, on the day of her twelfth birthday, she qualified by passing her final e-learning classroom exam and then, performing three certification dives in one day—the first with her instructor Seamus to 18m/58 ft to meet her deep dive requirement. She also had to lift an “unconscious” adult from the ocean floor to the surface where she administered rescue breathing techniques while towing the victim to safety, thus demonstrating the required rescue procedures. Mia admits that this was the hardest part of the certification process for her. 

“I felt proud,” Mia said. “Even though I passed, not all of it was easy. The rescue portion was the hardest physically for me. It was not easy to lift someone to the surface and get in the right position above them for each rescue breath. I was also very nervous about taking my final e-learning exam on my birthday. This feels like an amazing experience, I made a lot of friends in Mexico and throughout my training over the past two years, especially my instructor, Seamus. He is the best. Accomplishing my goal feels like a dream come true.”

In order to become a PADI Master Scuba Diver, Mia, who also has a black belt in karate, earned certifications in PADI Open Water Diver, Advanced Open Water, Rescue Diver, and completed at least 50 dives. In addition to that, she holds more than six PADI Specialty Certifications including CPR & First Aid, Equipment Specialist, Underwater  Photography, and Underwater Navigation.

To give credit where credit is due, Mia’s family and her instructors, Allison Trainor and Seamus Hastings, supported her throughout her amazing journey, and they are incredibly proud of her. Allison had this to say, “Mia worked so hard to reach this goal. Even when she was clearly tired, . . . she dug deep and found the strength to carry on!” Both Allison and Seamus Hastings traveled to Cozumel with Mia and have nothing but acclaim for the young student that Seamus calls their “whirlwind of energy and focus.” He said that Mia’s ”passion and excitement for the ocean are truly inspiring,” and that “she is one of a kind.” Both instructors, from Dive On It Scuba, assured us that being part of Mia’s journey and watching her power on to realize her dream was an honor.

🥳 Happy Birthday, indeed, to Mia DaPonte, Master Scuba Diver!

Media Contact: Kate Murphy, [email protected], 401-808-4649