Snorkeling Advice/Questions

[Joel2693]

During the 1950s, I was a perpetual non-swimmer in a school with its own swimming pool. The swimming teacher had us half the time holding on to the side of the pool, kicking vigorously, and the other half trying to cross the pool, holding kickboards while trying to push ourselves off the bottom. None of this worked for me and I inevitably ended up choking with mouthfuls of chlorine water.

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My parents chanced to provide me with a copy of "The Seventh Eagle Annual" (above), which was an absorbing read for boys back in 1957. This was a hardback book published once a year to accompany "The Eagle", a boys' weekly comic paper that sought to educate as well as entertain its young readers. It contained what was for me an enthralling article entitled "Teach yourself to swim underwater". After perusing it, I was completely smitten and I asked my parents whether I could have some fins to help me learn how to swim on the surface and later underwater. They duly bought me a pair and shod with those fins, my legs delivered sufficient power for me to push myself off the bottom of the pool and to complete my first "breadth". Having achieved this, I soon mastered swimming without fins. Before long, I complemented my fins with a Typhoon mask and snorkel, the same make as the masks and snorkel illustrated in the article. And the rest, as they say, is history.

The illustrated "Teach yourself to swim underwater" article by Graham Pearce in "The Seventh Eagle Annual" of 1957 that propelled me all those years ago into the wonderful world of snorkelling can be viewed below.

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Thank you so much. Greatly appreciated.

 

[Joel2693]

Diving down to 25' while snorkeling is definitely possible but for most people it will take some practice to do. The limiting factor will be your ability to equalize. There are several methods of equalization, with the traditional Valsalva being the easiest to teach but arguably the worst one to do. Toynbee or Lowry methods are better, and Frenzel or VTO the best but the hardest to learn for most people.

Please make sure that you do not do repetitive breath-hold dives without a few minutes surface interval between each dive, breathing naturally. Also, do not hyperventilate before diving. This reduces the CO2 in your bloodstream and raises the risk of hypoxic blackout.

Remove the snorkel from your mouth when you dive.

As for a filter on your GoPro, if it is a sunny day and the water is clear you may find that you don't really need a filter at all. You can try a filter, but it might impart a red tint to your video. You can always color-correct in post, and you might find that works better.

Have a great trip!

Thank you so much.

 

[Joel2693]

A twenty-five feet depth is very easy to snorkel safely--if you know the basics. Is there any chance you can get some instruction before you leave for your trip? (A couple of weekends, assuming you're a competent swimmer already.)

rx7diver

If you're not familiar with it already, this site has a lot of useful information about snorkeling:
https://www.tropicalsnorkeling.com/

Thank you much.

 

[Joel2693]

People freedive to several hundred feet, so 25 feet isn’t that deep. To do so comfortably you’ll have to be able to equalize your ears. There are a lot of good YouTube videos on how to do it, and you may want to practice before your trip. Equalize before you feel any pain. To 25 feet it’s a pretty continuous process.

Usually you would wear some weight, but I wouldn’t recommend doing that without formal freedive training.

Take several full breaths at the surface before you dive, but don’t hyperventilate, as that is dangerous. The guidance I was given was never to force air out. Just take deep breaths and exhale naturally.

You mentioned you’ll be carrying a camera, so be sure to do so in a way that there are no dangling cords that might pose an entanglement hazard.

I can’t comment on the photography questions.

Thank you so much

 

[rx7diver]

I have a snorkel class that’s supposed to last 1-2 hours in about a week and a half. I bought a pair of shorts fins but should I get a longer pair. Also, I bought a GoPro and filter set it comes with a snorkel filter that is rated for 2-15 feet and a red filter rated for for 12-70 feet. If I snorkel down to 25 feet, would you suggest sticking with with the snorkel filter I think the visibility should be good or do I just avoid a filter altogether. Thank you for your time.

@Joel2693,

Good to hear you'll be getting some snorkeling instruction before you leave on your trip. You'll probably learn about using a weight belt to dial in your weight, how to do efficient surface entries (from a boat, say), how to do efficient surface dives, how to purge your snorkel when you surface, and, especially, about safety (since breath-hold diving comes with its own risks).

For my own snorkeling, I have only ever used my scuba fins (Scubapro Jet Fins), which I suspect aren't optimal for shallow, warm water snorkeling. So, I really can't offer any insight on snorkeling fins.

If the course will take place in a pool that has a diving well with a high dive (a 10 meter diving platform will require a pool depth of at least 16 ft, I think), this will give you a better idea of how things will feel at 25 feet.

And I've only ever snorkeled using a film camera (Nikonos), so I can't offer any insight on taking digital video while snorkeling. One thing: Sunlight will penetrate deepest between the hours of 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM, which is probably the best time for taking natural-light video. Consider wearing a full dive skin or wet suit in order to protect your skin from this strong sunlight.

Write back and let us know about the snorkeling course.

rx7diver

 

[dcvf2]

Hi “Joel2693“
Concerning :The "Toynbee maneuver"
It's for those situations : in aircraft after the take off or in freediving during ascent to the surface in case of problem.

From Ear clearing - Wikipedia
“Normally the ears will clear automatically during a reduction in ambient pressure, but if they do not, a reverse squeeze may occur, which can also require clearing to avoid causing injury to the eardrum or inner ear.“

Normally, Valsalva is enough down to 65 feet. Don’t forget to clear your nose before the duck dive

You can perhaps learn from How to Freedive: The Basics of Freediving - Scuba.com.

How to kick?

Bad
This part of the leg opposes movement, it slows down!

Good

The 2 above pictures are coming from this video

Long fins require many hours of training the leg muscles must adapt.
Train as much you can in swimming pool with your snorkeling gear.

How to film under the water…?
GoPro # 662 | MicBergsma
Useful ?

 

[lowwall]

If you are a good swimmer 25' is possible with training and equalization practice. But the reality is that only a tiny percentage of snorkelers get that deep.

What do you mean by short fins? The truly short fins which only go maybe 6" (15cm) past the toes are not going to be very useful. But something like these are fine (and @David Wilson approved since they are made of natural rubber ):

U.S. Divers Adult Unisex Sea Lion Fins at SwimOutlet.com

Free Shipping on $49+. Low Price Guarantee. Largest selection of U.S. Divers Adult Unisex Sea Lion Fins. SwimOutlet+ Members Save More!

www.swimoutlet.com

Full foot fins give you much more power and control than equivalent bootie fins. If you need some foot protection, size up a bit and wear a neoprene sock.

 

[dmaziuk]

I have a snorkel class that’s supposed to last 1-2 hours in about a week and a half. I bought a pair of shorts fins but should I get a longer pair. Also, I bought a GoPro and filter set it comes with a snorkel filter that is rated for 2-15 feet and a red filter rated for for 12-70 feet. If I snorkel down to 25 feet, would you suggest sticking with with the snorkel filter I think the visibility should be good or do I just avoid a filter altogether. Thank you for your time.

"If you have to ask" then you're likely not going to be diving to 25 feet much. Even after a 2-hour class. So I would say, stick to the 2..15' filter.

 

[Joel2693]

People freedive to several hundred feet, so 25 feet isn’t that deep. To do so comfortably you’ll have to be able to equalize your ears. There are a lot of good YouTube videos on how to do it, and you may want to practice before your trip. Equalize before you feel any pain. To 25 feet it’s a pretty continuous process.

Usually you would wear some weight, but I wouldn’t recommend doing that without formal freedive training.

Take several full breaths at the surface before you dive, but don’t hyperventilate, as that is dangerous. The guidance I was given was never to force air out. Just take deep breaths and exhale naturally.

You mentioned you’ll be carrying a camera, so be sure to do so in a way that there are no dangling cords that might pose an entanglement hazard.

I can’t comment on the photography questions.

Thank you so muc

"If you have to ask" then you're likely not going to be diving to 25 feet much. Even after a 2-hour class. So I would say, stick to the 2..15' filter.

If I dived down to 12 and using the snorkel filter that is ratted to 15 feet and the reef is 25 feet down how would that probably look?

 

[dmaziuk]

If I dived down to 12 and using the snorkel filter that is ratted to 15 feet and the reef is 25 feet down how would that probably look?

Blue-ish. Depending on the vis, there may be too much scatter to have a clear picture to 25. Or not -- you won't know until you do it. It's also a matter of preference to some degree: I often colour-correct my photos to be a little blue-ish to look more realistic.

There is a gopro forum under "videography", I'd ask there how those filter perform.