Open Water Class

[Leebo in SC]

My son and I took our first open water class tonight. We are looking forward to getting certified. Our next class is Thursday.

Lee

[rgecy]

Lee,

Congrats to you and your son! My little boy is 6 and is dying to get his own scuba gear. I took him in the pool one time and let him breathe through my octo. He loved it!

Hes still got a few years to go before I get him his own scuba gear!

If you ever want to come down to Beaufort let me know. I will also be in Florida quite a bit this summer diving on the 1715.

Robert

[Leebo in SC]

Robert,

My son is 11 and he is very excited about diving. I would love to come to Beaufort. We camped at Hunting Island last year during spring break, we had a great time. I would also love to have an oportunity to dive on the 1715. I hope to get down and dive with Seahunter this summer. Hopefully everything will go well with the rest of the class.

Lee

[Leebo in SC]

We completed our second class last night. Everything is going well.

Lee

[Gypsy Heart]

I start mine April 11th......cannot wait!!!!!

[Leebo in SC]

Thats great, I know you will have a great time.

Lee

[Skimmer]

Leebo=
Ain't Hunting Island a paradise?? Wow, I havn't been there since 1980, but GREAT memories. I lifeguarded there for Bft. county in summer 1979,
and in August hurricane Davd hit. We were out there till the last minute, securing stuff and preparing, and, owing to youth and semi-stupidity,
we (three of us) elected to ride out the storm in the lighthouse. No kiddin. I do not reccomend this. Only large quantities of beer and luck of youth can
work under these circumstances, and we had plenty of both. Forays up to the top during the storm were not to be believed, let me tell you. 'Course, after it passed, we were trapped wayout on Hunting Island for two days and had to go to the rangers house and beg food, and confess our sins. He was NOT pleased.By the way, to give you an example of how hard Hunting was hit...NONE of the present roads were there before the hurricane, except way back by the cabins, they are all rerouted and replaced. Entry used t be straight in on the main road , to the beach directly, where there was a rec center and restaurant, which is no more. Good luck to you and your son, many enjoyable days await you diving, I'm sure.
Mike

[Leebo in SC]

We finished up today. We both passed. My son did great. We both had a great time.

Lee

[rgecy]

Congrats! Nothing beats a little father/son time. My youngest is will be 7 this month and is dying to go down in the pool again. He swims next to me breathing on my octo.

Let me know when you are interested in coming down.

Robert

[diverlynn]

One of my 16 year old twins (yes, I said twins, boys) was certified last year. He managed to get to go with me to San Salvador, Bahamas on one of my group trips for his first dives, he even did a night dive but was too blown away to notice anything. I am hoping I can get him some more "down time" this summer on board the Damit Janet V. We'll see.

Diverlynn

[boone]

My childern were way to young to venture with an octo in their mouth. My two boys could not stand the adventures underwater without me. I told their mother, If they can breathe and swim, they can dive! If you can find a better dive partner, let me know. Teaching your own sons is beyond belief. A single rock, in the middle of the ocean, the size of your hand has creatures beyond, a childs belief and imagination. Peppermint shrimp and a parrot fish, crashing into a coral reef, have their attention. Their bewilderment and adventure remind them of you. Just remember, Those non-sufficient rocks and coral formations were once new to you.
Beat their asses when, they grab a 15 foot nurse shark by the tail. Docile or not, learn from dad's mistakes. No animal likes to be cornered against a coral reef. Everybody test's their limits. Your children will press the diving limits with parental limits. Have fun! My Father was the dumbest *******, I ever met, until, I 30 yrs old!

[Narked1]

Congrats to all on the OW course.

Read Boone's post about diving with sons and couldn't help but be touched. I can now understand the feelings of seeing a youngster experience the fun and excitement of diving for the first time (45 yrs old, no kids here)

I spent a couple of months last summer teaching "diving awareness" for free to kids at a hotel/compound on weekends (That is Friday here in Egypt) where I was temporarily living while my apartment was being renovated. Talk about having a blast! Although all diving was done in a pool in just over 6-feet of water, just watching the kids learn and being excited about it was such a wonderful feeling for me. And the parents? Well you could just see the pride that they felt by seeing their kids learning something new and exciting. I must've spent 6 hours a day in the pool with the kids. What a rush!

That's just one of the reasons that I decided to open a diving center here on the North Coast of Egypt. Oh, and certified BubbleMakers under 12 dive for free...always! It's worth it just to help kids explore new things and share in the adventure with them. Not being a parent myself, I get so stoked sitting around after a day of diving listening to the kids tell their parents about their adventure and chatting with the parents about what they did and saw. In Egypt, Egyptians have this phobia about diving. Have actually had a couple of fathers sign up for the BubbleMaker course! (ya gotta start somewhere) so that they can go with their kids.

Anyway, just thought I'd share with you all.
Mike

[s_c_u_b_a]

hey congrats! kinda late i know but im new to the forum lol. i still dive with my father but when we first got certifted we went to alot of dive parks and i loved it. they have all the sunken planes and cars boats etc.. might be a fun idea for you and your son..

[Leebo in SC]

Thanks for all the kind comments from everyone. My son and I went diving this weekend. he really enjoys it. I hope to get my other son into diving in a couple of years. he will be 9 soon.

Lee

[rgecy]

Lee,

Congrats! Hope you guys had a great time up in Murrels Inlet.

Robert

[Leebo in SC]

Hello Robert, yes, we had a great time in Murrels Inlet. I wish we could have gone diving while we were there. Maybe next time. I did some detecting on the beach, that is a very clean beach.

Lee

[Leebo in SC]

Robert,
Do you get in much diving in Beaufort? I would love to get down there and dive some. I am only about 4 or 5 hours away from you.

Lee

[rgecy]

Lee,

I get out a good bit. The best time would be during the week when there is less boat traffic. I am heading down to Florida on Thursday. Maybe sometime next week or the following.

Robert