Preparation for snorkeling trip

[aae991]

I'm going to St John in two weeks and plan on doing a lot of snorkeling and UW photography. I have not snorkeled in years and want the ability to dive to about 5-15 feet for some better shots on the reef (instead of always looking down). Here are my questions...

1) Where should I start for learning about diving down to 15 feet, especially when dealing with the added bouyancy of salt water? Do I need weight belts to make it easier to go down (and bring me to neutral bouyancy)?

2) Is there a set of breathing exercises and ear equalization exercises that I could use for the dive down to 15 feet? I can already hold my breath for over a minute, but that's without the exertion of diving and trying to stay down while using my camera rig. I'd like to start "exercising" right away so that I can try and prepare for the water.

I'm not trying to be a "freediver" and set personal records, but I really do want to try and enjoy some time below the surface. Last time I snorkeled was in St. Martin and had a helluva time trying to get below the surface. I had no idea there were methods to accomplish this without scuba gear...

Thanks for any advice or leads to appropriate articles for what I'm looking to do.

 

[Arubandi07]

If you want to read up on the topic, "Freedive" by Terry Maas is very informative and will adddress all your questions, equipment, basic techniques etc.. If not, the need for weights depends on whether you're planning to wear a wet suit or not. W/ a 3/2 WS I use 7-10 lbs, dep. on situation. Anyway, getting down is more a question of technique than wt.
Re exercises and equalization, you should check out some of the posts in this forum. Based on your post, you've already done some static breath holds, try apnea walking, that will give you an idea how your body reacts under physical stress similar to a dive. Check your time/walking distance, and in the course of a few days you should see some positive results. I'm also into UW photography and realized through personal experience, that even 2-3 wks of very basic exercise routine make a big difference in performance, once you hit the water. Hope, this is helpful, enjoy your trip.

A.

 

[David Wilson]

Do you have access to a safe swimming environment, aae991, such as a public pool, where you can do some preparation, or are you in the same predicament as me in England, where most public pools ban snorkelling gear and many scuba diving clubs are reluctant to accommodate snorkellers in their practice sessions?

I've snorkelled for five decades now, most recently in the North Sea, just eight miles away from where I live. I've never wanted to freedive and I'm perfectly happy with snorkelling, which is is a simple pursuit necessitating no elaborate equipment, training or terminology. Here is an extract from a chapter entitled "Teach yourself to swim underwater" in a book for boys published in the late 1950s or early 1960s. It's undated:

Swim a few lengths until you have gained confidence in your snorkel; then you can practise surface diving. Remember, once your head is underwater, you must not breathe through the tube, as you will only breathe in water. The simplest way of surface diving is the Jack-Knife method. Take a deep breath and hold it. Fix your eyes on some point at the bottom of the baths and push your head and shoulders down towards it. As you go down, raise your legs and feet out of the water, then give a few kicks with your fins when you feel they are below the surface. Save your air as long as possible by relaxing and swimming slowly. Swim to the surface as you near the end of your breath and clear the water from your breathing tube by blowing hard through it. Do not get into the habit of taking out the breathing tube when you surface,, as this wastes time and energy when you might be on the track of something exciting.

Here is another way of submerging yourself. Take several deep breaths. Then, treading water, give an extra strong kick with your legs, at the same time pushing down with your arms. This will force you upwards, out of the water. Point your toes down as you sink into the water again and relax, letting out some of your air as you sink. You can sink to about 10 feet this way, depending on how much air you exhale. If you want to go any deeper, bend at the waist and swim on downwards head first.

Simple advice in plain English, no unnecessary technical terms. I wish all writing about breath-hold diving nowadays was equally readable! Incidentally, the accompanying illustrations show a snorkeller without a weight belt. I expect others will want to correct or update some of the advice given by Graham Pearce in his article above, but from my fifty years' experience I don't see much wrong with what he says.

 

[aae991]

Thanks for the advice... I do not want to make this overly complicated BUT also do not want to get into trouble in the water. I just "tested" myself while sitting and got to 1 minute 35 seconds of breath holding. That's without any training or relaxation techniques. I'm sure with some practice I could easily pass the 2 minute mark above water. Below water will take some practice in the local pool. Speaking of that, I don't know if my local fitness center allows snorkeling equipment in the pool. Even if they allowed a mask I could practice underwater swimming. As a kid (many moons ago) I used to swim 70-100 feet underwater in a pool without coming up. I stayed about 2-4 feet deep. I hated doing it without a mask though!

 

[David Wilson]

Sounds like you managed very well as a child, aae991, just as I did, and snorkelling can be just as instinctive now you're in adulthood. Just get back into the water again and you'll be fine. What I'm saying is, don't overdo the freediving theory, the relaxation exercises and the breath-holding drills at the expense of simple swimming practice in the water. We're talking about shallow-water snorkelling here, not extreme-depth freediving, where you would be pushing the human body to the limits. Get into your fitness centre pool, and if they don't allow snorkelling gear, try swimming underwater without it until you feel at one with the aquatic environment.

 

[aae991]

Thanks David for the enouragement. It turns out I can take my mask and snorkel into the pool here. They were perplexed when I asked but said as long as I don't try to scuba in there it's o.k.

If I try any of the breathing exercises it would be more to try and extend the underwater time up to 1.5 - 2 minutes to allow me to compose some nice underwater shots. From what I've read the reefs in St. John do have some 10-15 foot ledges that are supposed to be really nice, but I do not think I could feel relaxed that deep without a lot practice first - especially with equalization for my ears. I'll see how it goes in the pool this week. We're also going to be on a boat for the day that takes you to more uncrowded snorkeling locations. Apparently there are some great reefs that are easily accessible down to about 6 feet. I'm sure I'll be fine with that.

 

[Arubandi07]

Adding to David's comments, try to figure out how to equalize efficiently and comfortably, there are several techniques, I'd go with whichever feels most natural. For your purposes, superiority of one method over another is pretty much irrelevant. Re mask choice, go low volume, even at 10-15 ft you'll have to eq your mask, and a low vol. takes less air to do so.

 

[aae991]

Adding to David's comments, try to figure out how to equalize efficiently and comfortably, there are several techniques, I'd go with whichever feels most natural. For your purposes, superiority of one method over another is pretty much irrelevant. Re mask choice, go low volume, even at 10-15 ft you'll have to eq your mask, and a low vol. takes less air to do so.

Thanks. I'll be in the pool this week and try the various methods. From what I understand it's wise to do an equalization before you dive. I got a low volume Cressi mask at a local dealer. It fits very well and is quite comfortable. It's a Penta model with the huge vertical view and side view as well. It's like wearing a clear bowl on my head with great visibility all around.

 

[Arubandi07]

One more quick note on practicing eq: Doing it on land(ie, while apnea-walking) is a good way of learning how to eq gently, since there is no extra pressure affecting your perception of the amount of force used. To release excess pressure after eq, simply swallow, that will get you back to normal. By repetion you can also work on developing a rhythm appropriate for your rate of descent, just use a certain number of steps walked as a substitute for fin strokes, 3-4 maybe, and imagine descending. Make it feel like second nature, it's easy to to forget, when you're focused on a subject down below and trying to get down for a shot(been there, done that).
Surface Eq is a good idea, gives you a bit more margin for your first UW Eq.