What Is Snorkeling?

You may have seen people snorkeling, but if you’re planning to do it yourself, you need to understand the sport before actually attempting it.

Snorkeling is a water sport or activity where you get under the surface of the water, equipped with a swimming mask, swimfins, and a snorkel that enables you to breathe underwater. Your body is submerged in water while you snorkel and enjoy the scenic views of the marine wildlife.

Unlike deep-sea diving, snorkelers have to stay near the surface of the water. The snorkel tube is fairly short, and if you go deeper into the water, the snorkel tube will get filled with water, making it impossible for you to breathe underwater.

To put it simply, snorkeling involves you swimming near the surface of the water while your head is under the water’s surface. The mask and snorkel ensure that you can enjoy the underwater adventure without facing any difficulty seeing or breathing.

How to Prepare Yourself for Snorkeling

If you’ve made up your mind to snorkel, you better prepare yourself first. If you think you can snorkel because you know how to swim, well, knowing how to swim isn’t the only preparation you need for snorkeling.

As a beginner, there are many areas in which you’ll have to prepare yourself prior to diving in the water.

Become a Swimming Pro

The better you swim, the more you’ll enjoy your snorkeling trip. If you aren’t a great swimmer, you should first work on improving your swimming skills by taking classes or practicing swimming at a local pool.

Even if you’re a seasoned swimmer, it won’t hurt to try to get better. Practice freestyle swimming because that’s the swimming style you’ll be following while snorkeling. Practicing will also help you improve your muscle strength and endurance.

People who swim once in a while often feel extreme stress on their muscles, and they end up calling it a day sooner than those who’ve worked on building and improving muscle strength and endurance.

Another reason you should practice swimming even if you already know how to do it before you snorkel is that you’ll be safer underwater. You’ll feel more confident going and exploring deeper into the water. You may even be able to do it without a swimming vest.

While swimming vests ensure safety and keep beginners from drowning, it also makes moving around in the water difficult. So, becoming a swimming pro will only make your snorkeling more fun and enjoyable.

Practice Swimming With Fins

Swimming fins are one of the most important pieces of equipment. They’re also one of the most common reasons why beginners struggle in their first snorkeling session.

Swimming like a pro is one thing, and swimming with swimming fins is another. Since fins add extra weight to your limbs, they often take a toll on your muscles, and you’ll experience cramping. When your limbs start to cramp, you can no longer continue swimming.

So, another important preparation you’ve got to do as a first-time snorkeler is to practice swimming with swimming fins, so you know what to expect. If possible try them out in a safe, convenient place such as a swimming pool. Swimming with fins will also help you build up muscle strength and endurance. With that, your limbs won’t cramp, and you’ll be able to snorkel for longer without feeling your limbs giving up on you.

Work On Holding Your Breath

Snorkeling doesn’t require you to hold your breath. That’s what snorkels help you with. But if you wish to go deeper into the water and explore marine life up close, you might want to practice holding your breath underwater.

When you swim deeper into the water, your snorkel will get filled with water, and you’ll no longer be able to breathe through it. That’s when you’ll have to hold your breath. The longer you can hold it, the longer and better you’ll be able to enjoy exploring the underwater world.

Practice Energy Conserving Swimming Tactics

If you think swimming is just a way to relax, you might be mistaken. Swimming consumes a lot of your energy. Sure it helps you relax, but at the cost of your energy, especially when you’re snorkeling with swimming fins on, which require your muscles to bear the extra load.

If you swim aggressively, you’ll soon be left with no energy to swim any longer. If you want to thoroughly enjoy your snorkeling session without feeling exhausted in a few minutes, you must practice energy-conserving swimming tactics.

When you’re in the water, it’s important to relax and not panic. Moving your limbs aggressively will only drain your energy sooner. When you’re snorkeling, you should try to use your arms as little as you can and let the fins do the job. Legs with swimming fins consume less energy than your arms, so bringing your legs into use is a good way to conserve energy.

Know How to Conserve Air

Breathing through a snorkel is something you’ll get used to with time. It’s quite different from the regular breathing through the nose. One way to enjoy snorkeling and make the most out of it is to know how to conserve your air. You might want to work on it before taking the dive.

When you’re underwater, you should take deep breaths and breathe slowly. Doing so will keep your heart rate down and ensure that no extra energy is consumed. Slow breathing keeps your body relaxed and conserves energy, enabling you to snorkel for longer and enjoy marine life more thoroughly.

Once you’ve worked on these areas, you’re pretty much prepared for your first dive underwater.

What You Shouldn’t Do

Since you’ve never snorkeled before, it’s understandable if you make mistakes. To help you make your first snorkeling adventure one remember (for good), we’ve listed down some mistakes that you must avoid when going snorkeling for the first time.

Opting For Cheap Equipment

When you go to buy or rent snorkeling equipment, you’ll feel as if everything looks alike. Gear may look the same, but not all snorkeling gear is the same.

Some of the gear you find will be cheap, while some will be quite expensive. Most beginners often end up getting the cheaper equipment because they don’t know how these cheap pieces differ from expensive ones.

Imagine the mask filling with water while you’re underwater. Would that hinder your view and make you uncomfortable? It most certainly will. Or imagine your swimming fin coming off when you need it the most. That sounds scary, doesn’t it?

These are just some of the possibilities when you opt for cheap gear. Cheap snorkeling equipment is just not reliable. It often doesn’t fit as advertised, and may not ensure a safe and comfortable experience.

Not Practicing With Your Gear

Unlike scuba diving, snorkeling doesn’t have tons of gear, however, another common mistake that most beginners make is that they don’t practice swimming with gear on. As we’ve said earlier, swimming with swimming fins is nothing like swimming without them. The same is the case with masks and snorkels.

It takes time to get comfortable with snorkeling equipment. If you don’t practice swimming with your snorkeling gear, you’ll only be focused on handling your equipment during your snorkeling adventure. That will ruin it for you.

Get your gear a few days prior and practice swimming with it at your local pool before the day!

Not Considering All That Can Go Wrong

One of the biggest mistakes most people make is not considering everything that can go wrong during snorkeling. Just because you know how to swim with your equipment doesn’t mean nothing can go wrong.

Remember that you’re swimming in an ocean that’s very much alive. There will be waves and currents, and the water can take you with it.

When you’re aware of the possible dangers and threats, you’ll be able to prepare yourself accordingly. Don’t just go snorkeling. First, check the ocean and weather conditions to ensure you aren’t walking into danger.

Choosing To Dive Directly Into Deep Water

For as much as we know, when you go for a snorkeling excursion, a boat takes you to the deep waters, and then you jump. While that’s pretty much how it is, that’s also what often makes the first snorkeling experience ‘not the best one.’

Beginners often panic when they dive into deep water. They’re unable to float and handle their snorkeling equipment. Then there’s the challenge of learning to breathe through the snorkel. All of this can really take the charm of snorkeling away.

First-timers should start at a beach and choose a time when the water is calm, ideally early in the morning. You certainly wouldn’t want your first time to be when the waves are aggressive, and even swimming is dangerous, let alone snorkeling.

Once you get the hang of the technique, more advanced snorkelers dive from the boat directly into the deep sea!

Doing It Just Because Everyone Else Is

The most common answer we get when we ask people ‘why they want to snorkel?’ is ‘my friends say it’s a must-try adventure’ Well, doing it just because everyone else is raving about it is one of the biggest mistakes that you must not make.

Snorkeling is less of a sport and more of a meditation. It’s about relaxing underwater and enjoying the pleasantries of life underwater. If you’ve got no interest in the underwater world, you won’t enjoy snorkeling. You should only decide to snorkel if you’re really into marine life and want to appreciate the hidden secrets of the great deep.

What You’ll Need

So, now you know how to prepare yourself for the snorkeling adventure and what not to do while at it, let’s move on to what you’ll need. Getting prepared mentally is one thing and getting yourself practically equipped is another.

The better equipped you are for snorkeling, the more you’ll enjoy it. Let’s have a look at the basic snorkeling equipment that you’ll need.

Diving Mask

This is a basic piece of equipment that you’ll need when you go snorkeling. A diving mask covers your eyes. A rubber seal around the mask ensures no water gets into the mask and hinders your view. A good diving mask will be one that fits your face snuggly and doesn’t feel too tight, too loose, or uncomfortable in any way.

Swimming Fins

While you can go snorkeling without swimming fins, we don’t recommend that. As we’ve said earlier, using your limbs too much will result in your energy stores getting exhausted too soon, and you won’t be able to continue to swim.

Using swimming fins helps you conserve energy. They’ll also help you swim against a current in case you get caught in one, as they provide extra swimming strength and power that your limbs can’t provide alone.

Wet Suits

You should invest in a proper wetsuit for your snorkeling adventure. While some people will suggest you opt for cheaper swimming suits, we would highly recommend investing in good quality wetsuits or dive skin. This provides your body the protection it’ll need underwater and keeps you comfortably warm, even in winters.

Snorkel

The snorkel is the most important snorkeling equipment. This is what will enable you to breathe when you’re underwater. Not everyone can hold their breath for too long. A snorkel will ensure that you’re able to breathe while your face is submerged in the water as you explore the wonders of the underwater world.

If you want to be absolutely certain that the water doesn’t get inside your snorkel tube, even if you accidentally (or willingly) go deeper in the water, you should invest in a dry snorkel. Although it’s costlier, it’s worth it. It has a valve that closes automatically as soon as the tube gets submerged in water, thereby preventing any water from getting in. The valve pops open as soon as the opening of the tube comes out in the open air.

Floatation Vest

If it’s your first time snorkeling, you should wear a floatation vest. The first-timers usually panic when they get into the water and fail to float immediately, which worsens their anxiety. And that’s understandable too. The fear of drowning is real.

A floatation vest will keep you afloat, and you’ll be much more relaxed when you get into the water. This will help you enjoy your first snorkeling expedition more, as you wouldn’t have to divert your focus on staying afloat. Your vest will do that for you.

Snorkel Keeper

Another important piece of equipment that every beginner must invest in is a snorkel keeper. You should try to get into the water as well equipped as possible, all the while ensuring that you aren’t overly equipped. That would mean you’ll keep handling your belongings and not focus on what’s around you.

This is where a snorkel keeper will come in handy. It keeps the snorkel and masks connected to one another so that they don’t separate at any point, making way for water to sweep into your mask or snorkel.

Snorkeling Tips to Help You Snorkel Like a Pro

If you follow all the instructions correctly, we can assure you that your snorkeling experience will turn out amazing.

We’ve listed down some of the best tips that will help you snorkel more confidently, like a pro, to further ensure there are no mishaps while you're at it! Nobody would be able to tell it’s your first time!

Find the Rightly Sized Mask

The mask should fit you to perfection. If it’s loose, the chances that the water will enter it are high. If it’s too tight, you may feel uncomfortable. To check if the mask is the right fit, hold it to your face and take a deep breath through your nose. If the masks fit snuggly, you’ve got the right fit.

Defog Your Mask

If your snorkeling mask gets fogged, it’ll affect the visibility underwater and your experience. Make sure you’ve defogged your mask with a baby shampoo or a defogging product beforehand.

Conserve Energy

We can’t stress enough the importance of conserving energy as much as you can. The more you save your energy, the longer you’ll be able to stay underwater and enjoy the beauty of the ocean.