Ocean
Watch
Monday, June 28, 1999
Legal snub leads
nephew to Snuba
When my 9-year-old nephew, Joe, moved to Hawaii 10
months ago, one of his most fervent wishes was to go scuba diving. But the
age limit for scuba certification is 12, a virtual lifetime away when
you're 9. Joe was sorely disappointed.
And he wasn't the only one. His dream of scuba diving
could not be replaced with snorkeling, a sport I enjoy and tried to
encourage in Joe. He would go with me, but his heart wasn't in it. What
the boy really wanted to do was dive.
Then last week, while several family members and I were
vacationing on the Big Island, Joe found a brochure advertising a sport
called Snuba Diving. On the front was a picture of a child and an adult
swimming underwater with regulators in their mouths. Above them, carrying
an air tank, was a small yellow raft.
As Joe read the fine print, he learned that Snuba
Diving was his dream-come-true: It allowed limited-depth diving with no
certification required -- and the age limit was 8.
After hearing Joe talk about Snuba for days, there was
nothing to do but book a session in Kona. Yes, the $60 per person was
pricey, but there was a serious interest here that Joe's auntie could not
ignore. I made reservations for him and his mom, my sister Michele.
Now, Michele does not share her son's dream of diving
nor does she share her sister's love of snorkeling. But she's crazy about
wildlife and I thought it was time she add some marine animals to her list
of favorites.
When I told her I signed her up for Snuba, she
shrugged. "If an 8-year-old can do it, I can probably figure it
out."
At the appointed time, we all trooped to the water's
edge, where a pleasant dive master named Steve helped Joe and Michele gear
up. In about 10 seconds, Joe was swimming underwater like he had been born
with a regulator in his mouth.
Michele, however, did not take to it as easily. She was
miserably cold, bit down so hard on her mouthpiece her jaws ached, and had
trouble clearing her ears. When I saw the distress on her face, I realized
my mistake. I trotted back to the beach to pull on a wet suit and take her
place.
By the time I returned, however, I was astounded to
find Joe and Michele swimming beneath their little raft toward the outside
reef. Steve, in scuba gear, guided the two while I, in mask and snorkel,
watched from above.
One of the Snuba divers I gazed down at swam smoothly,
looked around continually and ended up tugging at his 20-foot leash to go
deeper and see more. Joe is truly a natural in the water.
His mom was another story. She got water in her mask,
then swallowed some while trying to clear it. She looked stiff with cold,
swam erratically and nicked her knee on the coral.
During all this, Steve pointed out Kona's exquisite
marine life. A sea turtle swam by and a moray eel flexed its muscles.
Steve showed us a slate pencil urchin and captured a small pufferfish,
which we passed around, then released.
After an hour or so, we were back on shore. Michele
pulled off her mask, checked her scraped knee, then stared at me,
shivering, dripping and bedraggled. She hated it, I thought. Then she
spoke. "Was that fantastic little thing a pufferfish? He was
adorable! And that eel -- it was a moray?" She gave me a big
hug. "Susan, I can do this!"
Joe, still underwater, could not be persuaded to come
up until Steve shut off his air. Then, Joe's head popped up. With eyes
shining, he told us about all the animals he'd seen.
Seeing my sister and nephew having such fun diving
gives me hope that we will share many more good marine moments.
