Teaching Open Water Dive Classes

Well I just finished teaching my first dive class here in the Solomons.  It went really well, I had four students that volunteer in the hospital here.  They were all lots of fun, and we had a gorgeous place to learn in.  The training consist of five class room sessions, five pool dives, and four final training dives in the ocean.  For the class room portion we did it on the large veranda of my house, overlooking the ocean and the waves breaking.  The learning environment was quite nice compared to a stuffy class room with no windows.

There is no pool here, so doing the pool dives we needed to improvise a little bit.  We found a shallow lagoon that was between 3 and 12 feet deep, and used that to practice our skills.  We would set up our equipment on the beach, then wade into the water and start doing our class.  It was nice being in 90 degree water, as clear as a pool, with lots of fish.  One annoying aspect of teaching in a real swimming pool, is that it is hard to swim around in such a small space, but being in a large lagoon we could spread out and really practice the skills.

For the open water dives we did the first three off of Kennedy Island, on a site called Kennedy Wall.  This is the Island JFK was marooned on, hence the name.  We had clear warm water, and plenty of fish to see.  We saw some large jacks, trigger fish, and one of the biggest jaw fish I have ever seen.  We were also able to find 3 different kind of Nudibranchs .  The nudibranchs are a small snail like creature that are brightly colored and hard to find.  They are often smaller then your finger nails.  The last dive we did at a site name Naru Wall, by Naru Island.  We got to see some lion fish here, as well as a few small sharks.

I hope all is well back home, I was able to hear the election results, and I hope Obama will be able to do some great things for our country and the world.  America is a very great place that got that way through innovation, hard work, and God's blessing on the people there.  I just hope that everyone realizes that when you want something you need to work for it.  One thing I have noticed here, is everyone has complaints about the government and corruption, and why their problems are someone else's fault.  But..... All day they sit around, do not work, or strive to open businesses, and all night they spend their money on beer.  Their are some that contradict that statement, but they seem to be in the minority.  If you want something work for it, and I think Americans are forgetting that now more then ever.

Luke