At 15:13 29/01/02 +1100, Strike wrote:

>My eldest, (nearly 11), grand-daughter's determined to take up diving as
>soon as she's "old enough"!  (She's already a keen snorkeller.  But even
>then she sometimes exceeds her present physical capabilities in terms of
>travelling distance from the shore or boat)  :-)
>
>I keep telling her that she'll be old enough when she's fifteen or so and
>capable of carrying - and handling - all of the gear by herself without any
>assistance.

I agree with the carrying and handling all gear by themselves but I added
some standards for my daughters.   They won't start scuba classes before
they can breath-hold dive to 5 meters and until they can clear their mask
and snorkel - free diving.  It used to be taught in OW classes (CMAS) but
the standards had been lowered here to "match" the commercial
organizations' standards so this one was taken out.  I believe that every
diver should be able to do it, in order to become a decent diver.


Regards,

                    Kuty