Snorkeling Logs!

Attached with this posting are examples from Ian and Tica's snorkel logs. Every time we go snorkeling, they must keep a log with information about location, times, conditions and other highlights of their skin dives. Each dive they must also pick and describe a "fish of the day", complete with common name, scientific name and a colored drawing. As you can see, the kids are doing a great job complying with our requests.

The purpose behind this exercise is to 1) practice keeping a log, which is required of SCUBA divers. It is also a great way to learning about the flora and fauna of the reef. We brought a comprehensive fish guide for Indo-Pacific fishes (Allen, Steene, Humann & Deloach's Reef Fish Identification: Tropical Pacific) and we the "fish of the day" exercise is a great way to use the book for research.

We have told each kid that she/he needs to log at least 25 hours of snorkeling in this way before we can even consider whether they are ready to try SCUBA diving. Snorkeling and SCUBA diving have many skills sets in common such as ear clearing, proper body positioning and gear manipulation. Both of us are convinced that good snorkeling experience will mean Even with the snorkeling, there are other prerequisites to SCUBA diving, of course. These include age -- one must be at least 10 to get a junior certification -- maturity level and ability to correctly and reliably follow directions.

The jury is still out whether the Drury kids will dive anytime soon. They are both making tremendous progress however and we are looking at dive outfits in the Savusavu area who would be able to provide them with a good education. We could aid in the process but as in most cases, it is better not to mention legally required to have someone else do the teaching.

We are hoping that, if done right, the kids will learn to love and enjoy SCUBA diving as much as their parents do. Yes, you could say we have an alterior motive but hey, so be it.

-- Brooke