Snorkeling Q & A

After returning from a recent vacation, I was talking with the mom of one of my son's best friends.

"You took your kids snorkeling?"

Snorkeling over a stingray

"yup"

"At the beach?"

"Starting from shore. And off a boat."

"You were out in the ocean?"

"yup"

"But they could touch the bottom?"

"no"

"So they wore life jackets?"

"no"

"How did they float?"

It's not that her 9 year old son doesn't swim.  He has even been on a swim team.  Our boys roughhouse in a swimming pool with a deep end.  His family spends summer vacation at the beach.   [Although during this conversation she revealed to me that she is only comfortable letting him play in the surf.]

I'll admit, the thought never crossed my mind that the kids should wear flotation devices.  For a fleeting moment, I thought I had dropped the parental ball. This other mom seemed shocked and concerned that we would swim with our kids in the ocean, and away from the shore, and with no "floaties."  She had me briefly questioning my behavior.  But my kids are strong swimmers. And we didn't just throw them a snorkel and mask and let them rush to the water [They probably would have preferred this.] It was actually a great opportunity to teach them some skills.  Hopefully in a few years we'll all be scuba diving together.  I don't feel we were irresponsible.  I do, however, believe I unintentionally ensured her child would never be vacationing with us.

"It's much easier to float in salt water.  Anyway, wearing a life jacket would prevent them from diving deeper for a closer look at the barracuda."