Diving In

Tyler has been interested in learning to scuba dive since his first snorkeling experience a couple years ago. Conversations with Grandma & Grandpa R perpetuated that interest, but I thought you had to be 12 in order to be certified. I found out a couple weeks ago that I was wrong! 10-14 year olds can obtain a junior open water scuba certification. Once certified, they have to dive with a guardian (grandparents or uncles are acceptable!) and they are only allowed to dive to 40'. Once they are 15 they are considered adults (ha!) and can complete additional paperwork to have those restrictions lifted. Becoming certified is expensive and time consuming. The place we checked out offers an Intro to Scuba class for people to try out before they make the commitment, so we decided to try that out first.

When I called to reserve Tyler's spot, the lady told me the classes are usually pretty empty this time of year, and mostly they are attended by adults. Oddly enough, there was one other 5th grader there, and she happened to be another student in Tyler's class at school! I know there aren't a lot of scuba places around, but what are the odds that another kid would be interested in learning scuba in the middle of January and would choose to go on the exact same night?! (Side story - Tyler found out at school and told me on the way home. He said "She doesn't like me. She makes that obvious." When we got to the facility, I was talking to the girl's mom and told her what Tyler said. She laughed and said, "Well, she already has a boyfriend and feels funny because Tyler 'likes' her." It took me a minute to process what she meant and then I laughed. Hopefully I didn't insult her! I said, "He doesn't like her like that!!" And he doesn't. And really, what mother of a 10 year old talks about her daughter already having a boyfriend and makes it sound like that is status quo??!! Goodness. Anyhow...)

He had to sit through 50 minutes of classwork first.




The divemaster helped everyone put on their bcd. Notice the bored sister in the background!!

Almost ready to go down!

Testing their weights. He needed more.

Sitting on the 6' ledge, ready to take the plunge to the 12' depth. They were taking time to be sure their ears adjusted properly.



All good! It was a great experience!

Tyler thoroughly enjoyed the class and wants to continue. I think he is still nervous about what an open dive will actually be like, but hopefully that nervousness will encourage him to take the responsibility of learning seriously. It is rather expensive, so he will have to wait a little while before starting, but now we have something to work toward and look forward to!