Marine Explorers swop surfboards for dive gear

With today’s option of soft surfboards, surfing can be a blast from the very first wave. And Muizenberg, with its anything-that-floats vibe, is the kind of carnival environment that inspires enthusiasm in all who take to the water. Having spent the first term learning to love the waves while getting used to being churned around by Muizenberg’s playful foamies, the group are now building on this experience and learning to… dive!

As someone who rates riding waves as the most fun thing this world has to offer, I cannot say that skin diving is further along our evolutionary path than surfing. But the sequence of exposing our young Marine Explorers to surfing first and then diving seems to be working well as these youngsters evolve into confident yet cautious divers with a passion for the sea.

The pool is the classroom

We’ve had two skills development sessions expertly led by Pisces Diving in their sparkling dive pool with wonderful support from UCT Underwater Club divers, and the group has already made huge progress. Even the kids who lacked water confidence during their first surfing outing are now happily head under water, and everyone seems to have got the knack of using a mask, snorkel and fins. By the end of the second session the kids seemed comfortable with weight belts too, even though there were a few sceptical glances initially.

Trying to find Nemo!

Once we’ve got our skills in place, our next step towards becoming fully-fledged skin divers will be to take to the ocean and start exploring the nearby kelp forests, and all of us – kids and adults alike – can’t wait!