Girls can Scuba too!

After getting Tristan on Scuba it was only a matter of time before Lexi was on her way as well.  She has always amazed me at her snorkeling and diving ability.  I have often been floating over a reef somewhere and out of the corner of my mask I see something diving down.  Lexi will dive down and spin around just for fun, to see what it feels like. Thankfully, she is very comfortable in the water and easily hangs with Dad and Tristan.

After Tristan's adventure, I waited a day and refilled our smaller scuba tank and suited the gear up for Lexi.  She and Tristan are almost the same size so it works out perfectly.  I am also getting very thankful that our boat has its own dive compressor- its certainly a convenient luxury that will hopefully pay off even more in the South Pacific.

We decided to do one more family snorkel/dive at the wreck in Santiago Bay.  There are tons of fish and its rare to see a wreck/reef that close to the surface - and where we can anchor our boat within 75 feet of the wreck.

Our beautiful 12 year old Lexi- "Everything is OK!"

Lexi and I let the family go ahead and snorkel and then we set about some lightweight scuba lessons - mask clearing, ear equalizing, buoyancy control and what the gear does.  The visibility wasn't great- but we dove down to 18 feet under water to practice some of these skills and to get her comfortable. Its hard to smile with a regulator in your mouth, but I could see her whole face contort in a funny and positive way.  After a few more times up and down she was eager to see more things, and we set about exploring the wreck.

Learning to Scuba was a big deal for me, that I was eager to do for a long time.  It was one of the classes I took in my first semester at San Francisco State University.  It also seemed so much harder and more complicated to me, than it seems to be for my kids. Granted they don't understand it all yet, and what to do in all the emergencies, but they just seem to think its natural that they can breathe underwater and swim with fishes and other marine life!  Its a pretty awesome sight to see.

"Selfie!"

Lexi happily consumed half the tank as we cruised through and over the shipwreck- and then she handed off the rest of the tank to Tristan who was eager for another dive.  Lexi went back to snorkeling and diving and spinning like a dolphin!

I now have two dive buddies to send to diving certification school, and to go exploring with!  We just set our hook in the bay of Zihuatanejo, and will go ashore to look for the dive store shortly.

Hope you are all well and having great adventures! CHRIS

There's a whole other world down there!