Greetings from a snorkeler

[iancampbell]

Perhaps there is less room in the OM-1 housing for things to slide around.

Could be. Or I could have just been lucky that it didn't happen to go in the zoom gear for me.

 

[iancampbell]

The Palau trip I'm looking at isn't with snorkel venture and is shorter (6 days snorkeling and 1 day land-based cultural) and cheaper. It is resort only--all at the Cove Resort which I expect you stayed at also. Does that sound good/bad or meh compared to what you did? Also, did you see much in the way of critters you did not see in Indonesia?

Yep, we used the Cove Resort too. The resort is just a hotel with a pool, but there is a dive shop next door that did a few days of boat trips for us before we got on the Aggressor. Honestly, the underwater world was great, but there is so much more out there that you can't reach in a day trip from Koror that I worry you'd probably miss a lot of fantastic sites. Palau is a place where I would strongly consider a liveaboard just because the island chain is so extensive and there are so many wonderful coves therein.

I'm not sure how interesting a land tour would be. They have some interesting military history if you're in to that kind of thing and the big bridge is nice, but my experience on land was that it's a place where real people are living their lives and wasn't wildly different than a place like Guam. One of the other members of my tour group had come in 2 days early to do some land touring on his own. He was gushing about all the pillboxes he saw from WW2 and also said that he visited a village where they had just caught a tiger shark and were butchering it. Personally, neither of those things would get my heart racing, so I didn't have much FOMO. I would rather have an extra day in the water than an extra day on land in Palau, and this is speaking as someone who usually makes a point to do some cultural activities when I travel someplace new.

Definite yes on good critter life in Palau. The tour guides on the Aggressor were amazing at spotting things. The guides from the Cove dive shop were pretty good, but the Aggressor guides were even better.

 

[Jai Bar]

The only living creature to cross paths with Chuck Norris and beat him fair and square was a Titan Triggerfish. In fact, Chuck Norris wakes up with cold sweat and soiled bed linen when he dreams of a Titan!

 

[Trilobite]

As a result of my BMI, I need quite a bit of weight. I use a weight belt with pouches. If you're shore snorkeling, you can just fill the pouches with sand and not have to scrounge up weights, and if you're with a dive shop then you can put their weights into the pouches. I need twice as much weight as you to be able to dive down and stay neutral, but I don't find it a problem to stay buoyant the rest of the time. It's definitely more of a workout for the whole snorkeling session, but it's a positive trade-off in my personal opinion because I really like diving down and staying down.

I don't really know how much weight I would need to stay down in salt water. I'm a decent swimmer and in decent shape, but there was more current than I was expecting on my Raja Ampat tour last year, and I found it challenging. So I ultimately decided it was not the place to experiment with weights, and eventually ditched them. That is one of the reasons I'm considering a snorkeling vest which I can inflate if necessary.

In any event, thanks for all the info Ian! Perhaps we will meet on a snorkeling tour in the future.

 

[iancampbell]

I don't really know how much weight I would need to stay down in salt water. I'm a decent swimmer and in decent shape, but there was more current than I was expecting on my Raja Ampat tour last year, and I found it challenging. So I ultimately decided it was not the place to experiment with weights, and eventually ditched them. That is one of the reasons I'm considering a snorkeling vest which I can inflate if necessary.

In any event, thanks for all the info Ian! Perhaps we will meet on a snorkeling tour in the future.

Agreed, I hope we do!

 

[Baja Sur Diver]

Hello all, I'm a long-time reader but finally got around to making an account to post. I'm probably an odd member out in that I don't dive at all but am an avid snorkeler with a weight belt. Perhaps someday I'll try SCUBA, but for now I'm happy duck diving with my camera. I've snorkeled many places throughout the Caribbean as well as Indonesia and Palau.

I won't bore you with tons of pictures, but here's a photo I took of my nemesis as a snorkeler, the Titan Triggerfish. I don't know they're less aggressive to divers on the bottom than they are to me on the surface, but these beautiful beasts have been none too kind each time I've been in Indo.

Welcome
I have had equal fun snorkeling/freediving after I got certified.

 

[ScubaWhit]

I now go only to Dominica, in part because of the topside bewitching rainforest. Th snorkeling in certain areas is excellent, but I also always rent a car which is how I get to the best snorkeling spots. I used to go to Negril often, and there are still some nice snorkeling spots there and just outside of town. Bonaire and Curacao are excellent for diving/snorkeling. Anyplace there is structure, like a large pier, a breakwater, or a cliff face will likely have good snorkeling.

As you are obviously an experienced snorkeler, how would you rate Curacao for beginner snorkelers? We are planning a family trip for both divers and snorkelers who are younger (12, 14) and just starting their underwater exploring. Looking for great snorkeling that's not too far to swim and more shallow until they build up skills so any tips and recommendations for Curacao appreciated.

 

[Dave545]

Hello and welcome, I got my first trigger this year spearfishing, and it was delicious!

 

[agilis]

As you are obviously an experienced snorkeler, how would you rate Curacao for beginner snorkelers? We are planning a family trip for both divers and snorkelers who are younger (12, 14) and just starting their underwater exploring. Looking for great snorkeling that's not too far to swim and more shallow until they build up skills so any tips and recommendations for Curacao appreciated.

In Curacao look for spots where the reef rubble exists close to shore, and places where there is some structure near shore. Dock pilings are great places to observe. I don't advise new first time snorkelers to go to places where they cannot stand up when they want to, and I definitely do not recommend those dangerous full face masks. Very shallow easy snorkeling is how I helped a non-swimming wife become brave enough to go deeper. Just a few coral rocks in waist deep water is interesting enough to start, until the equipment is fully familiar, including descending and then blowing the snorkel clear.

 

[sakalauskaitekristina07]

Hi, I'm also new here, nice to meet you guys.