My 8 yr old just completed her PADI Seal-ear problems

Hello for all you experienced divers. I'm looking for some advice for my 8 year old daughter.

She's been snorkeling since she was 3 years old, we snorkel at every port we can when cruising (cruise 3-4 times a year). She's an excellent swimmer and would "live" in the sea if you let her. :p

She had been begging all year to "dive" or either snuba...of course she's too young to dive right now. So, I signed her up for the PADI Seal program and she has recently completed it. She did WONDERFUL! Loved every minute of it. She has completed one Specialty Aqua Mission (night diving) and will continue to work on the rest of the Aqua Missions over the next year or so to become a Master PADI and waiting on her to turn 10 so she can get her certification.

BUT....she has major problems with trying to get her ears to pop. She just can't. She has this issue on planes as well (coming down only). We have tried (on the plane) chewing gum, yawning, ear plane plugs WITH sound deadening headphones over it...nothing works. During her PADI diving, still the same problem. She tried the wiggling jaw back and forth and holding the nose and blowing. Nothing worked. She did make it down to the 12' depth, but would have to come up every so often because her ears would hurt.

ANY suggestions at all for her? Is there any other tricks we have missed? This little one just loves this diving so much and I hate to see her not getting the full benefit for it. :(

I welcome any suggestions or encouragement that this will pass sooner or later. She has 1 1/2 years to get this figured out. Anyone who knows me around here from my reviews knows this is her passion (along with being a Mermaid)

We had planned on doing a snuba dive or helmet dive on our next cruise because I know she would love it...but due to most of them saying they go down around 20', I think we will have to pass.

BTW, she has NEVER had any ear problems. No infections or anything growing up.

Made it to 12', with difficulty and pain.

Her night dive a few nights ago and still smiling

Given the lack of any other issues (recurrent ear infections, or other difficulties) the odds are in her favor that this will be something she grows out of. That fact that she's persevering despite the inability to clear the ears is commendable in one sense - that she is that enthusiastic - but suffering barotrauma to the ears from not clearing, even at the swimming pool depths could result in something that would hinder her later diving, or worse yet result in lasting damage to the ears. It sounds like you've consulted a doctor already, but I'd have a very pointed discussion with the doctor regarding the issue, and specifically how it relates to the pressure changes of diving. The pressure change in just that 12 feet of water is greater than the pressure change of a commercial aircraft, and it happens more quickly.

Another specific point is that she is having difficulty diving, and on the plane's descent; both are cases where pressure is increasing. This may be a clue to exactly what to discuss with your doctor. Again, I suspect the doctor's view will just be to let development occur (AKA let nature take its course); but there may be something specific that can be addressed.

Harris

Denver, CO

The only thing I might suggest is slowly tilting her head left and right while trying the normal clearing with pinching off her nose and pressurizing the sinuses, the other thing to keep in mind is that if you are doing the helmet dive (walk) with her, the helmet takes the pressure of the depth and does not press on her eardrums so no need to clear or pain for her. Hope she gets the clearing down in time for her getting certified best of luck!!

Equalizing ears is CRITICAL to diving. She really needs to get this resolved or she can't dive. Divers need to equalize their ears every 10-15' on descent on EVERY dive. If she doesn't she will rupture her ear drums and that is painful and she will be on antibiotics and shore for the rest of your vacation.

There are several really good videos on YouTube to demonstrate ear equalization. They include tilting her head and rubbing the tubes under her chin, etc. I am sure her scuba instructor showed her some of these tips.

It may also be just that she has very narrow tubes, and they may prevent her from diving...ever. Or she may be able to wait a few years and try again. A doctor will be able to look at them and let you know.

I know this sucks... but it is critical. We have been diving for 16+ years, and my DH is an instructor. I have seen numerous students and divers with this issue over the years, some can work it out, some can't. I have also blown an ear drum from over doing it, equalizing, on a trip when I was a bit conjested. Ditto my DH. It hurts a lot... don't let her do that. It also takes months to heal, and makes equalizing after that more difficult as it never heals perfectly.

Sudafed is called "diver candy" as it can help divers with equalizing if they have a problem with congestion. I wouldn't dive for a long time without using them. But then I was unfortunate enough to have them wear off underwater on a dive once (long story, took them and had to wait a few hours before starting a dive due to equipment problems) .... needless to say, as I was on my slow ascent, I got a reverse block. Got stuck underwater trying to clear it and finally had to come up with my sinuses full of fluid and air trapped. I bruised the inside of my sinus passages with air expansion, and ended up with the worst headaches for a month... seriously, a month. I don't use Sudafed anymore... learned my lesson.

Sorry for the long post... but I hope this helps.

robin

Given the lack of any other issues (recurrent ear infections, or other difficulties) the odds are in her favor that this will be something she grows out of. That fact that she's persevering despite the inability to clear the ears is commendable in one sense - that she is that enthusiastic - but suffering barotrauma to the ears from not clearing, even at the swimming pool depths could result in something that would hinder her later diving, or worse yet result in lasting damage to the ears. It sounds like you've consulted a doctor already, but I'd have a very pointed discussion with the doctor regarding the issue, and specifically how it relates to the pressure changes of diving. The pressure change in just that 12 feet of water is greater than the pressure change of a commercial aircraft, and it happens more quickly.

 

Another specific point is that she is having difficulty diving, and on the plane's descent; both are cases where pressure is increasing. This may be a clue to exactly what to discuss with your doctor. Again, I suspect the doctor's view will just be to let development occur (AKA let nature take its course); but there may be something specific that can be addressed.

 

Harris

Denver, CO

Thanks for the info Harris. I appreciate it. When I signed her up for the PADI Seal program, I did discuss (in great lengths) with her dive instructor my concerns about her being able to pop her ears and the problems she has even when flying. Due to these issues, I did have to have her physician sign off on it saying that she was ok to dive. I discussed with her doctor my concerns and how she wasn't able to pop her ears on a plane and there were some concerns with diving. He said everything looked fine, but of course didn't really do anything other than take a peak in her ears. I might have to have another talk with him on this if things don't change.

The only thing I might suggest is slowly tilting her head left and right while trying the normal clearing with pinching off her nose and pressurizing the sinuses, the other thing to keep in mind is that if you are doing the helmet dive (walk) with her, the helmet takes the pressure of the depth and does not press on her eardrums so no need to clear or pain for her. Hope she gets the clearing down in time for her getting certified best of luck!!

Thanks, I will have her give this a try as well (tilting the head). I honestly wonder if she is "blowing" right to begin with. She has never blown her nose before and I was trying to practice getting her to blow her nose last night and it was such a "baby" blow that nothing came out. I told her to blow harder and make the "snot come out" lol. Then I held her nose and had her do it. But hard to tell if she was actually blowing hard enough or not. This might be the problem...she just doesn't know how to blow or not blowing hard enough. I'm really not sure.

Good to know about the helmet dive and not needing to clear the ears. I'll keep that in mind. I was also able to find a class they do in St Thomas at COKI for the PADI bubblemakers and she would be able to do one of her dives there while we are in port. However, I don't know how far they go down or if they would be able to work with her on clearing her ears.

Equalizing ears is CRITICAL to diving. She really needs to get this resolved or she can't dive. Divers need to equalize their ears every 10-15' on descent on EVERY dive. If she doesn't she will rupture her ear drums and that is painful and she will be on antibiotics and shore for the rest of your vacation.

 

There are several really good videos on YouTube to demonstrate ear equalization. They include tilting her head and rubbing the tubes under her chin, etc. I am sure her scuba instructor showed her some of these tips.

 

It may also be just that she has very narrow tubes, and they may prevent her from diving...ever. Or she may be able to wait a few years and try again. A doctor will be able to look at them and let you know.

 

I know this sucks... but it is critical. We have been diving for 16+ years, and my DH is an instructor. I have seen numerous students and divers with this issue over the years, some can work it out, some can't. I have also blown an ear drum from over doing it, equalizing, on a trip when I was a bit conjested. Ditto my DH. It hurts a lot... don't let her do that. It also takes months to heal, and makes equalizing after that more difficult as it never heals perfectly.

 

Sudafed is called "diver candy" as it can help divers with equalizing if they have a problem with congestion. I wouldn't dive for a long time without using them. But then I was unfortunate enough to have them wear off underwater on a dive once (long story, took them and had to wait a few hours before starting a dive due to equipment problems) .... needless to say, as I was on my slow ascent, I got a reverse block. Got stuck underwater trying to clear it and finally had to come up with my sinuses full of fluid and air trapped. I bruised the inside of my sinus passages with air expansion, and ended up with the worst headaches for a month... seriously, a month. I don't use Sudafed anymore... learned my lesson.

 

Sorry for the long post... but I hope this helps.

 

robin

Trust me, I do know the importance of not hurting the ear drums. My husband busted his ear drums in a pool back when he was a teenager and never had it looked at. For many years he had an infection and his ears would drain non-stop. They smelled so bad. He had no idea why or what had happened (his mother never took him to the doctor to find out). He went a few years ago and they informed him about the ear drum. He was put on antibiotics and everything has been good since then with no recurrent infections. I know he wants to learn to dive but it makes me wonder if he'll even be able to?

I will look on youtube and see if I can find something that might help her. Thanks for that...that's not something I had thought of or expected that they would have.

You are not the first person to mention taking something like Sudafed. But that really worries me (considering the ingredients in this medication and especially since she is only 8 years old). I will have to do some more research on it.

Thanks for you stories and suggestions. I really appreciate it.

Not a diver but am a Pediatrician, I would talk with her doctor about a referral to a pediatric ENT who will be able to give you a much better answer about any anatomic issues, you can't evaluate the eustachian tubes just by looking in the ears.

You might want to review some dive physics about this statement

the other thing to keep in mind is that if you are doing the helmet dive (walk) with her, the helmet takes the pressure of the depth and does not press on her eardrums so no need to clear

without getting into the technical details and laws of physics, here's a part of the comparison of SCUBA to Helmut Dive from a Helmut Dive place:

Though some stress over the issue of claustrophobia, a helmet has much more room than a mask and affords a greater field of vision. Feeling trapped and out of control are issues at the heart of claustrophobia, not how big your prison is. You walk down the ladder on your own steam and come back the same way. Clearing one’s ears is also easier because there is no water tickling your ear canal.

You might want to review some dive physics about this statement

 

the other thing to keep in mind is that if you are doing the helmet dive (walk) with her, the helmet takes the pressure of the depth and does not press on her eardrums so no need to clear

 

without getting into the technical details and laws of physics, here's a part of the comparison of SCUBA to Helmut Dive from a Helmut Dive place:

 

Though some stress over the issue of claustrophobia, a helmet has much more room than a mask and affords a greater field of vision. Feeling trapped and out of control are issues at the heart of claustrophobia, not how big your prison is. You walk down the ladder on your own steam and come back the same way. Clearing one’s ears is also easier because there is no water tickling your ear canal.

So then you WILL have to clear your ears? Do you just put your hand up in the helmet to do this? (Sounds weird lol). But makes sense I guess.

I guess if helmet diving is the same with clearing the ears, then a better option would just be the snuba because at least she would have control over not going down too deep if she couldn't pop her ears. (Although she says she really wants to do a dive with the PADI bubble makers and that way the instructor would be aware that she has issues with her ears and help her out or not take her down as far if it doesn't happen for her this time around).

I just wanted to clarify after talking to her a little more about this last night, the picture I posted above of her giving the universal "ok" signal when she was in the 12', she said her ears did a "small bubble pop" that time. I was telling her she is not to give the "ok" hand signal if she's actually NOT ok and her ears hurt. She needs to tell the instructor the ears signal and that's when she let me know that it was just a little tiny baby bubble pop whatever that means to an 8 year old. :confused:

Another question, is being in salt water any different on the ears than a normal pool? When she snorkels all the time, she dives down pretty far and has never said anything about it hurting her ears and even told her instructor that she was fine when she did it, but of course she don't stay down there long because of no air.

If anyone knows how deep the area is there at Jalousie Beach in St Lucia where the divers go down, that's where she was at right before one of the drop offs. (That area goes down deeply on a slant and quick from the shore line). I'm not good with guessing depths, but thought maybe it was between 15-20 feet in some of the places she was going down. I'm not sure how she did it. I wish I would have caught some pictures in the deeper area that she was in, but I freaked out when she was out that far and yelled at her to come in and by the time I got out there, this was the area she was in.

Is it at all possible that being in salt water is easier on the ears than in freshwater? I just want to know how she does it when we are cruising. Maybe her ears are clearing and she doesn't know or realize it? Maybe she's just tolerating the pain and not admitting it? If she thinks that I would tell her she can't do it, she won't tell me they aren't popping and that's what I'm afraid of but I at least want her to admit it either way.

I am NOT recommending you give her Sudafed. I was just letting you know that many divers use it, especially to help when they are congested.

a hint .. or something to try anyway

most dive trips will encourage the divers to deflate their BC and drop slowly feet first .... this is because this posture keeps the estuation tubes the least constricted.

if dd has been 'swimming down' or descending in any other posture, she's not using the 'optimal' posture for clearing the ears.

I'm one of those folks who clears silly easy and almost always descend head first to the total dismay of the reigning dive master. But a wiggle of my jaw, 99 of 100 times, lets my ears clear.

DW on the other hand ALWAYS has to take it slow ... head up, feet down and go down SLOW clearing all the way.

*******

I've used SUDAFED and a nasal spray many a time but NO NO NO for a child ......

I am NOT recommending you give her Sudafed. I was just letting you know that many divers use it, especially to help when they are congested.

Gotcha. :)

a hint .. or something to try anyway

 

most dive trips will encourage the divers to deflate their BC and drop slowly feet first .... this is because this posture keeps the estuation tubes the least constricted.

 

if dd has been 'swimming down' or descending in any other posture, she's not using the 'optimal' posture for clearing the ears.

 

I'm one of those folks who clears silly easy and almost always descend head first to the total dismay of the reigning dive master. But a wiggle of my jaw, 99 of 100 times, lets my ears clear.

 

DW on the other hand ALWAYS has to take it slow ... head up, feet down and go down SLOW clearing all the way.

 

 

*******

 

I've used SUDAFED and a nasal spray many a time but NO NO NO for a child ......

Yep, they had her going down feet first and very slowly during her scuba class, still no luck and they tried multiple times for 2 days in a row. She said she felt the small pop, but I'm still unsure. :(

Another consideration..... maybe you should wait a few years.

Scuba diving research is limited with children - how it affects their growth and development, etc. Ear canals, bones, brain, lungs...

We got our child certified at 12, but she was already 5'4" tall so close to full height. She didn't have the ear problems, and she was a great student and did well on all the bookwork, tests, etc. She totally got the seriousness of air expansion, pressures, and the affects of diving on her body. It was great.... make sure your daugther understands that she cannot just kick up to the surface if she wants, there are rules about how fast you can go as it can cause air bubbles to expand in her lungs or joints (both can kill you). It is not the same as just free-diving like she does now holding her breath. These are critical to understand if she is going to dive.

We were told that even though they dropped the certification age to 10 now, that physical bone development was something to think about. There isn't much research on it, how it can affect a child who is small. I know, it is all your decision, just saying there are reasons to wait.

If you do get her to equalize safely, I really really really recommend either you or your husband also get certified. Scuba is a Buddy sport. Every diver has a buddy who is responsible for safety and helping out. You don't want your child to be assigned to a stranger on a boat, not knowing if they are going to leave her alone or cause problems. In class she will be required to work with a buddy on skills, sharing air, ascents together, showing how to save a buddy or save herself. It is SOOOO much easier with a parent as a buddy.

Just another Mom giving my opinions....

Another consideration..... maybe you should wait a few years.

 

Scuba diving research is limited with children - how it affects their growth and development, etc. Ear canals, bones, brain, lungs...

 

We got our child certified at 12, but she was already 5'4" tall so close to full height. She didn't have the ear problems, and she was a great student and did well on all the bookwork, tests, etc. She totally got the seriousness of air expansion, pressures, and the affects of diving on her body. It was great.... make sure your daugther understands that she cannot just kick up to the surface if she wants, there are rules about how fast you can go as it can cause air bubbles to expand in her lungs or joints (both can kill you). It is not the same as just free-diving like she does now holding her breath. These are critical to understand if she is going to dive.

 

We were told that even though they dropped the certification age to 10 now, that physical bone development was something to think about. There isn't much research on it, how it can affect a child who is small. I know, it is all your decision, just saying there are reasons to wait.

 

If you do get her to equalize safely, I really really really recommend either you or your husband also get certified. Scuba is a Buddy sport. Every diver has a buddy who is responsible for safety and helping out. You don't want your child to be assigned to a stranger on a boat, not knowing if they are going to leave her alone or cause problems. In class she will be required to work with a buddy on skills, sharing air, ascents together, showing how to save a buddy or save herself. It is SOOOO much easier with a parent as a buddy.

 

Just another Mom giving my opinions....

Thanks for the info and suggestions.

We will keep gradually working on it and won't risk any safety issues (which is why I made sure to inform her instructor and her physician about her ears).

They were teaching her about ascending slowly and she will continue to work on these things. I will continue to teach her myself about it in (hopefully) a way that she will understand. She already knows a lot about the body and how it functions, at her age, I am a nurse, so I teach her as much as I can. (She is also an artist...seriously, she has been tested and deemed gifted, and you ask her to draw a picture of a heart, you are going to get a picture of an actual heart, not what most kids her age would draw, which is the <3 ).

Yes, I do realize about it being a buddy sport. We would never allow her to go out alone with someone other than us on a dive once (if) she becomes certified...for the reasons you have mentioned. No one is going to look after your child and their safety more than a parent. The hubby has been wanting to get certified for several years now and I have been considering it. I'm just scared...of sharks :eek: and the thought just petrifies me even though I know they say they normally don't bother you. I would probably have a heart attack under water if I seen one. (We have swam with nurse sharks...and that's ok with me...but anything else :eek:). I will have to get over my fear because I have such a love for the ocean and water. That's why I would also like to do the Discover Scuba with her in port this time to see how I like it and then maybe when I return, the hubby and I will get certified. But, we won't be able to do anything with this certification until she is old enough to be certified. If she is one of those that can never dive, it will not do us any good to be certified ourselves because we can't (and won't) leave her behind. So...it may be another year and half before she (and us) can get certified, or it may be years from now...or it could be never. I guess we won't know for awhile. But no worries, she won't be going on any dives without us. :)

Mitsugirly,

Please clink the link below to send me an email.

Harris

Denver, CO

Mitsugirly,

 

Please clink the link below to send me an email.

 

Harris

Denver, CO

When I click that, it take me to a new google search tab in Chrome. :confused:

When I click that, it take me to a new google search tab in Chrome. :confused:

Hmm, it works with firefox, but please just use my screen name at Gmail.com.

Harris

Denver, CO

I hope you do get over your phobia about sharks. They really are a joy to see underwater and they really don't attack divers like they show on those horrible videos on Shark Week. Divers are really safe as long as someone isn't chumming the water around them. Sharks are lazy predators... they like easy food, wounded creatures or dead creatures. As long as you are neither, you are fine.

If you want to see my diving experiences with sharks, I have dozens of videos.

Here are just a few:

That last video, from our Palau trip, we saw hundreds of sharks... it was shark mating season (Dec-Feb). They were everywhere, above us, below us, swiming around us.... and not one person was approached by a single one. We even had one drift dive where we were literally blown through a school of 40+ females and they didn't even pay attention to us. It was awe inspiring.

So, since you are young and in good health, I hope you consider getting certified. It is really amazing and life changing. I doubt I will ever be able to dive again due to a medical problem and I am really sad about that.

I have tons of videos on my website if you want more inspiration.

As a Padi Instructor who teaches a lot of younger children I often come across similar problems.

The advice about ensuring there is no underlying medical problem is sound, take this advice to heart and follow it.

I often find kids just do not understand the technique of equalising, sometimes I have to explain in numerous different ways and get them to practise, practise, practise.

Also I have seen scuba masks, especially some of the cheap ones, that small fingers simply cannot compress the nose piece sufficiently to seal the nose. I sometimes get them to equalise in the pool without a mask (kids usually don't mind this) so i can check the technique.

In a head up descent, with one ear causing problems, I get them to tilt their head with the bad ear higher, this often helps.

All this takes time, lots of time, so your daughter needs to be in a one on one session with an experienced scuba instructor.

Dont push her too hard on this, she will get it, it just takes time.

Last month I had an 11 year old from a cruise, who the previous day could not equalise on a discover scuba. He was travelling with his grandparents who were experienced divers. With me, he manages to clear his ears and has 2 great dives. No it was not easy, took us a while to get underwater but we managed it together. He is coming back this xmas for his open water course.

I hope diving goes well for you and your daughter, the underwater world is amazing.

Hmm, it works with firefox, but please just use my screen name at Gmail.com.

 

Harris

Denver, CO

I do use firefox, but for some reason (even me being on firefox) when I click that link, it pulls up Chrome in another window. I emailed you though using what you told me. Hopefully you'll get it. :)

I hope you do get over your phobia about sharks. They really are a joy to see underwater and they really don't attack divers like they show on those horrible videos on Shark Week. Divers are really safe as long as someone isn't chumming the water around them. Sharks are lazy predators... they like easy food, wounded creatures or dead creatures. As long as you are neither, you are fine.

 

If you want to see my diving experiences with sharks, I have dozens of videos.

Here are just a few:

 

 

That last video, from our Palau trip, we saw hundreds of sharks... it was shark mating season (Dec-Feb). They were everywhere, above us, below us, swiming around us.... and not one person was approached by a single one. We even had one drift dive where we were literally blown through a school of 40+ females and they didn't even pay attention to us. It was awe inspiring.

 

So, since you are young and in good health, I hope you consider getting certified. It is really amazing and life changing. I doubt I will ever be able to dive again due to a medical problem and I am really sad about that.

 

I have tons of videos on my website if you want more inspiration.

Actually the other night I did click on the link you have in your signature line and watched a few of those videos. So beautiful. I did see the Palau shark video and I think my anxiety level hit an all time high watching that. :eek: (I think the music you have playing for that video helped...lol, but it was the perfect music for that video indeed).

Well, I don't consider myself being "young" and I wish it was something that I had done in my younger years but life and raising 3 children (now grown with the oldest being 30) got in the way. Now that they are all grown and we only have the little one, we are enjoying life to the fullest. I am definitely going to consider this since my love for the water is just undeniable. It's just really scary for me though. I think the "unknown" is what really gets to me. When I'm watching your videos and I see the dark water ahead, that's the part that I don't like. The visibility is clear around the area you are at, but that dark blue...I feel like not knowing what might come out of it is the scary part. :o

As a Padi Instructor who teaches a lot of younger children I often come across similar problems.

The advice about ensuring there is no underlying medical problem is sound, take this advice to heart and follow it.

I often find kids just do not understand the technique of equalising, sometimes I have to explain in numerous different ways and get them to practise, practise, practise.

Also I have seen scuba masks, especially some of the cheap ones, that small fingers simply cannot compress the nose piece sufficiently to seal the nose. I sometimes get them to equalise in the pool without a mask (kids usually don't mind this) so i can check the technique.

In a head up descent, with one ear causing problems, I get them to tilt their head with the bad ear higher, this often helps.

All this takes time, lots of time, so your daughter needs to be in a one on one session with an experienced scuba instructor.

Dont push her too hard on this, she will get it, it just takes time.

Last month I had an 11 year old from a cruise, who the previous day could not equalise on a discover scuba. He was travelling with his grandparents who were experienced divers. With me, he manages to clear his ears and has 2 great dives. No it was not easy, took us a while to get underwater but we managed it together. He is coming back this xmas for his open water course.

I hope diving goes well for you and your daughter, the underwater world is amazing.

I will be honest. I really think she's not understanding how to do it either and you might be right, not being able to pinch off the nose fully in the mask may be the problem. However, she does not have a cheap mask and we purchased a dive mask from the dive shop that they suggested. She does have a very small "button" nose (takes after me) and even when I was trying to pinch it off for her to help her, it was hard. I made a comment to one of the people at the dive shop even when I was picking out me a new scuba mask that the nose parts are so big and my nose is so small that it barely even goes into the "nose shape" of the mask, making it hard to pinch. Who knows, I may have a hard time clearing my ears as well since I have never done it under water.

Although in her PADI class there were 2 kids, the other child didn't have any problems clearing his ears. So, the instructor took A LOT of time working one on one with her. I felt bad for the other kid, but he was having fun anyhow and I don't think he minded. Her instructor inched her down little by little holding her and if no pop, he inched her back up and started over. I'm sure she'll get it sooner or later (fingers crossed), I just don't want her to dive and not tell anyone (because she wants this so bad) that it's not clearing and hurt herself.

I did find a video online that showed a different way to see if they are getting the nose pinched off all the way and testing it...plug each nose hole separately with the fingers and blow, making the nose expand and "blow up". Then you know that it's actually being done right. I thought it was a pretty neat idea to try.

I do use firefox, but for some reason (even me being on firefox) when I click that link, it pulls up Chrome in another window. I emailed you though using what you told me. Hopefully you'll get it. :)

 

 

 

Actually the other night I did click on the link you have in your signature line and watched a few of those videos. So beautiful. I did see the Palau shark video and I think my anxiety level hit an all time high watching that. :eek: (I think the music you have playing for that video helped...lol, but it was the perfect music for that video indeed).

 

Well, I don't consider myself being "young" and I wish it was something that I had done in my younger years but life and raising 3 children (now grown with the oldest being 30) got in the way. Now that they are all grown and we only have the little one, we are enjoying life to the fullest. I am definitely going to consider this since my love for the water is just undeniable. It's just really scary for me though. I think the "unknown" is what really gets to me. When I'm watching your videos and I see the dark water ahead, that's the part that I don't like. The visibility is clear around the area you are at, but that dark blue...I feel like not knowing what might come out of it is the scary part. :o

MOST diving you willl probably do will have very small chance of something appearing out of the dark water! Most dives you will probably do are over reef in clear water and you will be distracted by the pretty fishes. We did the Palau trip primarily to see the sharks, it was a bucket list trip and not cheap. Worth every penny though. My husband and I have done lots of more extreme diving than you will probably want to do. LOL Don't even think about watching videos of diving in Calif and NC.. I almost got in the water with a great white once, but they stopped me. That would have been great video (seal colony, great white spotted circling as we were about to jump off the boat in Calif. )

Personally, I am much more afraid of sea urchins, fire worms, and jellyfish! Its the little guys that can deliver the stings and poisons. Don't even think about touching a scorpionfish or lionfish. Eeek. Sharks are really the last thing to worry about for most divers. Only fish I have been bitten by was a damsel fish... those guys are so territorial and can dart out at you and nip your fingers.

Fish generally are afraid and swim away from divers. I have learned in order to get good video, I have to stop and go very slow, slow down my breathing so it is not scary to the fish.... and amazingly the fish get used to me and sometimes swim up to me to say hello. I have been doing video underwater for 10+ years... it takes lots of underwater time to get a few minutes of that kind of interaction. It is really fun to hover eye to eye with a fish or swim along inside a school of jacks like you are one of them.

Get certified.... you know you want to.

MOST diving you willl probably do will have very small chance of something appearing out of the dark water! Most dives you will probably do are over reef in clear water and you will be distracted by the pretty fishes. We did the Palau trip primarily to see the sharks, it was a bucket list trip and not cheap. Worth every penny though. My husband and I have done lots of more extreme diving than you will probably want to do. LOL Don't even think about watching videos of diving in Calif and NC.. I almost got in the water with a great white once, but they stopped me. That would have been great video (seal colony, great white spotted circling as we were about to jump off the boat in Calif. )

 

Personally, I am much more afraid of sea urchins, fire worms, and jellyfish! Its the little guys that can deliver the stings and poisons. Don't even think about touching a scorpionfish or lionfish. Eeek. Sharks are really the last thing to worry about for most divers. Only fish I have been bitten by was a damsel fish... those guys are so territorial and can dart out at you and nip your fingers.

 

Fish generally are afraid and swim away from divers. I have learned in order to get good video, I have to stop and go very slow, slow down my breathing so it is not scary to the fish.... and amazingly the fish get used to me and sometimes swim up to me to say hello. I have been doing video underwater for 10+ years... it takes lots of underwater time to get a few minutes of that kind of interaction. It is really fun to hover eye to eye with a fish or swim along inside a school of jacks like you are one of them.

 

Get certified.... you know you want to.

Oh gosh (the Great White and the seal story). Yikes!

I have never run across a scorpion fish (don't they have another name too? Like rock fish or something?). I have come across many lion fish and know the dangers of them and know that they seem to be taking over the Caribbean waters and people aren't liking it.

Sakari messed with a spiky sea urchin on our cruise a few months ago and she learned her lesson (water was pushing her up close to the shore and she touched it) and it broke off in her finger. But we do hold the "nice" ones. :D Fireworms, oh yea, had an experience with one of those too. It was not nice. We have swam with the jelly fish and not had any problems yet, but have only came across 1 man of war in Bermuda, while we were on a boat exploring. Eek.

I have learn to be very still when snorkeling to get the fish to come out. But those darn eel's just run from me most of the time no matter how still I am (I still manage to capture a few pictures). Oh gosh damselfish are so pretty and look so harmless. I didn't know they would bite and I'm always busy getting close and taking pictures of them. Oops.

I have to say the only fish I have actually been afraid of in the past was a really HUGE parrot fish that was red and the biggest I have ever seen before, was in Bermuda and this thing acted like he wanted to chase me. It's the first parrot fish that I have ever seen that had some type of really tall fin that came straight up on his back like a sword when he was doing it. I'm not sure if it was mating season or what was going on with him, but he scared me and I high-tailed out of there and around him. He followed me for awhile. :eek:

I just have to ask (because I have never seen anything like this), I am finding a lot of pictures of this weird looking fish in the Coki St Thomas area....what the heck is this?

That is a sucker fish of some sort. That flat spot on its head is where it attaches to some larger fish.

Scorpionfish.... they are really everywhere, they are ambush hunters, pretend to be coral. They are usually called rockfish in the Pacific, I think.

Tons of them in Cozumel... I even had one hop up to me on one shore dive, and kept following me around. Its in one of my Cozumel videos. I usually find scorpionfish all the time now that I know what they look like, and I have them in lots of videos.

Here is one of my hubby's photos:

But..... if you get certified, you can spend your time looking for things like this:

hint - Roatan is a seahorse lover heaven! My hubby is a nut for the little stuff, like seahorses, pipehorses, blennies, etc. He can spend an hour underwater in one spot, watching them.

More photos: http://www.rnrscuba.net/photos.html

That is a sucker fish of some sort. That flat spot on its head is where it attaches to some larger fish.

 

Scorpionfish.... they are really everywhere, they are ambush hunters, pretend to be coral. They are usually called rockfish in the Pacific, I think.

Tons of them in Cozumel... I even had one hop up to me on one shore dive, and kept following me around. Its in one of my Cozumel videos. I usually find scorpionfish all the time now that I know what they look like, and I have them in lots of videos.

Here is one of my hubby's photos:

 

 

But..... if you get certified, you can spend your time looking for things like this:

 

hint - Roatan is a seahorse lover heaven! My hubby is a nut for the little stuff, like seahorses, pipehorses, blennies, etc. He can spend an hour underwater in one spot, watching them.

 

More photos: http://www.rnrscuba.net/photos.html

Thanks for the "sucker fish" direction. I was able to look it up and think it may be called a Remoras. A lot of pictures of them on sharks. :eek: Eek! That must mean that there are a lot of sharks in that area. Gasp. lol :p

I have seen a lot of those rockfish/scorpion fish in places like the aquariums and I have tried to find them in the ocean, but haven't seen any yet that i know of. I did take some pictures once of something that looked like seaweed only to get home and look at the pictures and found that it was some sort of sea cucumber, I believe, after zooming in on the pictures. LOL (It wasn't the normal brownish sea cucumber that I was use to seeing).

Oh my gosh...sea horses. The one thing I have been dying to see and haven't been able to find not once. I would love to see these little guys. Once when we were at Chankanaab in Cozumel, there was one and everyone was talking about it. They pointed me to the rock/sea weed that it was on (it was a huge rock filled with stuff) and I searched and searched forever and never did find it. :( So, I'm still on that mission. I float very slowly and inspect all the seaweed hoping some day that I'll spot one.

I have possibly spotted pipehorses, but then again, looking at pictures of them, it could have been a pipefish because there are some that look like that. Blennies...I love blennies and the way they seem to stand on their fins. I use to have one in my salt water aquarium back in the day and he was so cute. I could watch him forever too.

Since you mentioned Roatan and sea horses...would you find them at West Bay? I think I will head back there next time I go. Last time I was there they had a storm the day before and it was quite churned up so I never made it out to the "kidney" or drop off there. I was disappointed. (Plus my daughter was only 3 at the time and she would tire easily from just learning to swim beside us and we would throw her on our backs to rest while we snorkeled). I'll have to give it a shot again. :)

Do you have any idea on a GREAT book that identifies sea fish that would be good to get and learn all the things we see? We know most of them (even my little one can point out things and know what they are called) but we do come across some things we can't figure out.