Day three was our first ocean swim! I was most nervous about these two dives because I wasn't sure how my ears would do going down deep in the ocean. We arrived nice and early to get in the clear waters off the shores of Poipu. We had the very best instructor. Will was top notch! He made us all feel safe and comfortable in the water. The gear is extremely heavy when not in the water and so hard to carry. I am surprised Nolen made it out of the water each time.
After our first dive, Will announced we would be going back in the water. Nolen nearly died!! He wasn't expecting to go back out into the water a second time that day. When you are in the water, you have to complete a lot of tasks to show you can scuba by yourself. Some of them involve taking off your mask, putting it back on under water, then clearing the water from your mask! It is really tough to get the hang of while under water. You also have to be able to ascend from the bottom of the ocean floor in one breath! That was the toughest of all the challenges. Nolen tried to go back down for his second dive but his heart just wasn't in it. He was tired and wanted to go back to shore. That meant that the next day he would have to do three dives! I didn't take an under water camera so we have zero photos from our actual dives.
This was the longest day for my family because I had planned a kayak and hike for the day. I had actually hoped to do it yesterday but the pool swim took way too long. So after our second dive we drove up to the city of Wailua and rented our kayaks. Then we drove down to Wailua river to kayak two miles then hike three miles all to see a waterfall. It was stunning and a fun time. Stephen dropped his paddle in the river and I thought I could grab it but instead ended up flipping our kayak. After our adventure we went back home for our much needed costco dinner and rest.
Day four was our last day of scuba class. We were all excited because we didn't have to do any more tasks under water after our third dive. We could plan our own dive and execute the dive. It was awesome! Nolen was able to complete all of his dives and Stephen was even able to save enough air to do the last dive with Nolen. They saw a huge school of fish as the went down for their dive and said it was magical.
After our final dives, we headed back to our condo and dropped the boys off to rest. Stephen and I went on a fun hike near Wailua. It went straight up for a while until we were able to view nearly the entire island. It was so fun to have a little escape with just Stephen.
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