Should I wear a snorkel or not

[Celt]

Were people diving an hour before, and later that day?

No but 15 foot seas are not extraordinary and no problem to a well found vessel. And absolutely survivable.

 

[NW Dive Dawg]

I've seen divers who can swim on their back in a BPW, but I have never figured that skill out.

I have Zeagle Ranger for drysuit diving and a Stiletto for tropics, Both back inflate. Both with rear trim pockets. Both with dual tank straps. The dual tank straps let me mount the tanks really low and that along with the trim weights makes it super easy to swim on my back. On Bonaire for the far south sites where the swim out can be a couple hundred yards I even remove my mask and wear cheap sunglasses till I get out to the drop-off.

On the subject of snorkels I don't use one......but in 2019 on Little Cayman I did see a woman almost drown because of her snorkel. Easy conditions, no surface waves......after splashing into perfect conditions with no current the group all signaled to descend so we all dumped our BC's followed by a full exhale to get started down while equalizing. The woman had inadvertently had her snorkel in rather than her primary 2nd. When she got to 5 or 6 ft whe went to take her first inhale and the rest was just full blown instant panic to get her back to the surface. Turned out OK but she was really shook-up and definitely took in some water and bagged the dive. The two things I noticed when talking to her later on the boat was........1) She had her snorkel rigged on the right side so much easier to confuse with her primary. 2) Her snorkel had the exact same Comfobite mouthpiece as her primary to add to the confusion.

Anyway...no snorkel for me but I do have friends that won't dive without one. To each his or her own.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

I use my snorkel nearly every dive.

I pretty much exclusively beach dive and there is almost always a significant surface swim before I am where I want to submerge. Since my daily diver is a steel 72 that gives me maybe 35 minutes of air, I don't want to burn that during the relatively strenuous surface swim because I would rather have it for use under the water. That said, on the swim back I will often breathe on my reg because the work of breathing is less and hey, less air is less weight to carry back to the car.

I've seen divers who can swim on their back in a BPW, but I have never figured that skill out.

You’re probably having trouble floating and finning on your back because you might not be putting enough air into the wing? IDK?
They do it because it’s like a big raft. I don’t hang out on the surface that way because I don’t like a lot of air in my wing, it gets awkward. I dive in a lot of neoprene so I don’t really need any air in my wing at the surface even before the dive.
It doesn’t really matter if you can do that or not because snorkelling face down on the surface to your drop point is way more efficient anyway. You’re not dragging a tank and reg/hoses through the water and your frontside is “clean” especially with a BP/W.
While snorkeling you can see down and forward to check things out plus navigate through weeds or kelp. If you run into a patch you can push it aside or crawl over it. When finning on your back you can’t do that, but you CAN get all those weeds hopelessly wrapped up on your first stage and tank valve! Cool!!
Who’s laughing at who now?
On your belly, If you don’t want to pop your head up to see where you are going which is super easy, you can keep your face down and look at your compass comfortably.
I don’t wrap a hose around my neck either so the snorkel Is never in the way. I leave it on my mask so it’s always there and ready to use before and after the dive. I’ve gotten used to it and I don’t even notice it.
Long surface swims, or even shorter surface swims, save your air and use a snorkel. A divers best friend!

 

[MB NZ]

Having had a "lost at sea" experience, I wished I had a snorkel with me. A roll up snorkel in a pocket would is a good compromise. Snorkel flopping around on a mask during a dive? No.

 

[shoredivr]

I use my snorkel nearly every dive.

I pretty much exclusively beach dive and there is almost always a significant surface swim before I am where I want to submerge. Since my daily diver is a steel 72 that gives me maybe 35 minutes of air, I don't want to burn that during the relatively strenuous surface swim because I would rather have it for use under the water. That said, on the swim back I will often breathe on my reg because the work of breathing is less and hey, less air is less weight to carry back to the car.

I've seen divers who can swim on their back in a BPW, but I have never figured that skill out.

Swimming on your back in a BPW isn’t difficult.

 

[chillyinCanada]

Swimming on your back in a BPW isn’t difficult.

For *you*, it is not difficult. However, the member who posted just above you said that they haven't been able to figure it out.

Perhaps you could make some helpful suggestions rather than just say that it "isn't difficult".

 

[Ukmc]

I can not believe there has been 500 replies on the topic of wearing snorkel...
Somebody could not figure out how to swim on their back???

 

[chillyinCanada]

I can not believe there has been 500 replies on the topic of wearing snorkel...
Somebody could not figure out how to swim on their back???

There are special rules for this subforum, "New Divers & Those Considering Diving". You should read them and attempt to abide by them.

 

[divingdayz]

You’ll open a hornets nest.

It’s up to you. I ware one on every dive, have done for over 40 years.

Ha, everyone has an opinion))) Carry one in your pocket and keep everyone happy!!!!!

 

[MB NZ]

Swimming on your back in a BPW isn’t difficult.

It is for a couple of hours in strong current.