David and Jesse are now adults. Well, pretend adults. You know that stage where your parents can't tell you anything, but you really only barely know enough to survive. You've never been audited by the IRS, you've not received your first speeding ticket -- the world is one rosy place. And you can do anything you want. Right now!

These two water babies, having grown up here on Hawaii, would be easy to certify right? One thing I've learned as a SCUBA instructor, is that living in The World Beneath (well, that is what you're doing for an hour when you dive - living underwater) is neither as easy as you think, and is considerably different than you think it will be. I've had folks who thought it would be a cinch; they're snorkelers, long-distance swimmers, surfers, paddle-boarders, whatever-ers. And none of them, none, accurately predicted their emotional or physical response to living underwater.

Of all my students, only two adult students were, what I would call, 'naturals' underwater. They had no hang-ups, were perfectly comfortable from the first second, never exhibited any fear, panic, or concern for being underwater. One is now a DiveMaster looking forward to taking his instructor's class this year. The other one I need to go shake him up a bit, throw him in the water, dunk his head - he hasn't been diving since! He knows who he is so I won't single him out, but I'm going to get him back in the water this summer - I'm coming for you Taylor!

Children are another issue. Most are quite comfortable in the water and catch on to techniques rather quickly. But, it is rather difficult to gauge a child's long-term interest in  any given activity. Children are curious about everything, but only those subjects which settle in their heart will become life-time interests. Hard to define that at a young age.

So, Jesse and David get in the water. And, I'll be straight, I was wrong. I thought Jesse would be most comfortable, and David would be less. Turns out, Jesse was less and David was more. See? You can never predict with accuracy based on one's past just how they will respond in the water. But, both boys worked their tails off over the three days. We were camping at Mahu Kona. In the morning they'd study their books. In the evening, they'd watch the videos. During the warm, sunny Kona day, we'd dive. The really cool part was watching them morph from "I wanna Dive!" to "I Am A Diver!" They both picked up skills quickly, Jesse worked through his difficulties equalizing. Both had to concentrate on their finning technique (no bicycling). They worked hard.

We dove the old wreck, went out to the sand flats, played on the go-cart. Tried to get fish to chase us. Did all the wonderful things we do when we first begin living underwater. And I am happy to report that there are now two new Mermen, feverishly looking for two lovely young Mermaids to join them in The World Beneath. Now girls, they're still new at their fishy habits so cut them a little slack.