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I have just taken it up, there is some cool places to go snorkeling here and I had a blast today, my son enjoyed it too (holiday here today).

If you do do snorkeling any tips? I may move on to scuba diving later.

It's pretty much like this (not my pics I don't have an underwater camera)





Here is a vid I found on youtube of the same area

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=kPoYLRkZicA#at=60[/video]



This is where I live (its a SeaKayak vid but it will give you an idea 1:15 shows what its like underwater for a moment)

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtACgsSRbe0&NR=1&feature=endscreen[/video]

GAS KING wrote:http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=snorkeling

I do a different type, but if that's what you enjoy... I can't say I am too surprised

kind of funny but the only time i've done legit snorkeling was while waiting for gear when scuba diving. diving, in a good spot, is WAY more fun. but snorkeling is awesome too. the place we were at in aqaba, jordan had reefs all the way up to the shore, so even in knee deep water you were navigating coral and all sorts of fish. snorkled there before and after. and a bit in the seychelles, as well, but it rained a lot when we were there.

i have been snorkling in the florida keys, the great barrier reef and in costa rica. its a blast.

i bet the barrier was awesome.

incredible. we snorkled and scuba dove there. got a little too close to an octopuss while i was swimming over some very shallow coral. freaked me the fuck out. lots of huge turtles and colors of fishes i have never seen before.

I used to do a fair bit free diving and spearfishing a few years ago... not so much now because my uncle that used to take me is some what older now and doesn't go anymore, so unless I'm on vacation some there that allows me to I don't get much of a chance... however my brother and are fixing up a boat now so that means I'll be back in the water soon!!!

on the whole Scuba Vs Snorkeling deal, while I love going scuba diving because you get to stay under for extended periods, I really like free diving and spear fishing... I find it to be more of a challenge.

Some simple tips that I've learnt over the years:

1) goggles with clear silicone... don't buy them. When you're on the surface the light from the sun will come through and reflect your image on the glass, very annoying... it goes away when you dive down but once you're on the surface you pretty much see your face...

2) spitting in the goggles before you go in is a must... some people think it's gross and buy different products to prevent goggles from fogging up, in the 20+ I've been snorkeling and scuba diving I've found spit to be the best anti fog solution.

3) if you want to do a deep dive, prep by taking lots of deep breaths... it helps expand your lungs so when you take your last big breath you have that much more oxygen to stay down longer.

4) if you want to go to the next level get a weight belt like the ones you'd use when you scuba dive so you can maximize your time when you dive since you'll use less effort to go down.

I've been briefly at Koh Phi Phi in Thailand, and a couple times in Mexico - once by the Isla de la Mujeres and once at the Xel-ha resort. Thailand was probably the best.

how long does one stay under free diving? and how deep?

Y0UNGBL00D wrote:how long does one stay under free diving? and how deep?

The longest I've made while free diving is a minute and down in the 20-30 foot range... when I was in my early 20s and MUCH fitter I could have held my breath in a pool, not moving, for a little over 2 minutes after a decent enough warm up time... Now I'll be lucky to get 30 to 45 seconds diving to about 20 feet after warming up lol... I'm hoping I can fix that once I get my boat sorted out, depending on the time of year there's lots of good spearfishing in Trinidad.

was just looking into it. looks awesome.

Marc G wrote:I used to do a fair bit free diving and spearfishing a few years ago... not so much now because my uncle that used to take me is some what older now and doesn't go anymore, so unless I'm on vacation some there that allows me to I don't get much of a chance... however my brother and are fixing up a boat now so that means I'll be back in the water soon!!!

on the whole Scuba Vs Snorkeling deal, while I love going scuba diving because you get to stay under for extended periods, I really like free diving and spear fishing... I find it to be more of a challenge.

Some simple tips that I've learnt over the years:

1) goggles with clear silicone... don't buy them. When you're on the surface the light from the sun will come through and reflect your image on the glass, very annoying... it goes away when you dive down but once you're on the surface you pretty much see your face...

2) spitting in the goggles before you go in is a must... some people think it's gross and buy different products to prevent goggles from fogging up, in the 20+ I've been snorkeling and scuba diving I've found spit to be the best anti fog solution.

3) if you want to do a deep dive, prep by taking lots of deep breaths... it helps expand your lungs so when you take your last big breath you have that much more oxygen to stay down longer.

4) if you want to go to the next level get a weight belt like the ones you'd use when you scuba dive so you can maximize your time when you dive since you'll use less effort to go down.

Great advice thanks. My wife was saying the same thing about spitting on the goggles.

I am sure there is a joke there somewhere.

Marc G wrote:

Y0UNGBL00D wrote:how long does one stay under free diving? and how deep?

The longest I've made while free diving is a minute and down in the 20-30 foot range... when I was in my early 20s and MUCH fitter I could have held my breath in a pool, not moving, for a little over 2 minutes after a decent enough warm up time... Now I'll be lucky to get 30 to 45 seconds diving to about 20 feet after warming up lol... I'm hoping I can fix that once I get my boat sorted out, depending on the time of year there's lots of good spearfishing in Trinidad.

When I was MUCH younger I could get down to around 40-45 feet without a weight belt, but no wetsuit. I could probably hold my breath for around 3 minutes. That was before smoking pot throughout college, though, which effectively killed my lung capacity.

A few tricks:

- If you dive deep pinch your nose off and exhale gently into your nose to equalize the pressure on your eardrums. That will save you a bit of pain.

- When ascending spin up in a spiral so you get a 360 degree view of what is around above you. That might save an injury if a boat is in your area.

- If you get caught in a kelp bed go down to find a way up. Totally counter-intuitive, but you can more easily free anything that got caught, and find a ray of light to find a way to poke through to the surface by going down.

- If the thought of spitting in your mask to keep things from fogging up grosses you out, rubbing the mask with some kelp or seaweed on the shore accomplishes the same thing.

- To dive deeper you might get better results by exhaling a bit of air out of your lungs as you go down to reduce your buoyancy.

- When you dive down from the surface jackknife to start your downward momentum, but never start kicking until your fins are totally underwater. For that matter, make sure your fins don't break the surface whenever you're kicking. Disturbing the surface is the easiest way to scare whatever wildlife might be in the area away.

- By the same token, avoid sticking your head totally out of the water when you come up. You can feel the air on the back of your head and clear your snorkel. Again, you want to avoid surface turbulence.

- If you get mixed up on which way is up release some air and follow the bubbles up.

- Try not to interpose yourself between the sun and whatever wildlife you are interested in. You make a shadow like a large predator.

- It can be really fun to play around with sea lions if you have the chance. You can learn a lot about how to maneuver under water from them. On the other hand, you look an awful lot like a sea lion in the water, and that is one of the great white shark's favorite foods.

Snorkeling, diving, kayaking, surfing, etc. Love all of it. Great place to snorkel out here this time of year is down in La Jolla Shores (San Diego). Leopard Sharks are here for breeding. Can get within a few feet and see hundreds - up to about 6 feet. It is a great thing to see.

Shark Diver wrote:Snorkeling, diving, kayaking, surfing, etc. Love all of it. Great place to snorkel out here this time of year is down in La Jolla Shores (San Diego). Leopard Sharks are here for breeding. Can get within a few feet and see hundreds - up to about 6 feet. It is a great thing to see.

We don't get many sharks here, we'll not so close to the coast. But I love the water, a great feeling of freedom.
We do get monkeys in the sea sometimes though

neilrocks25 wrote:

Shark Diver wrote:Snorkeling, diving, kayaking, surfing, etc. Love all of it. Great place to snorkel out here this time of year is down in La Jolla Shores (San Diego). Leopard Sharks are here for breeding. Can get within a few feet and see hundreds - up to about 6 feet. It is a great thing to see.

We don't get many sharks here, we'll not so close to the coast. But I love the water, a great feeling of freedom.
We do get monkeys in the sea sometimes though

One of my employees just got offered a cage dive tour job in Hawaii. If she takes it I'll have to talk the wife into letting me go.

In the 'bay:

Bast snorkelling story ever penned was one by Curtis describing a rug munching fest with one of his gfs. Fucking lawlz.

Only in my bathtub

PurpleTrails wrote:When I was MUCH younger I could get down to around 40-45 feet without a weight belt, but no wetsuit. I could probably hold my breath for around 3 minutes. That was before smoking pot throughout college, though, which effectively killed my lung capacity.

A few tricks:

- If you dive deep pinch your nose off and exhale gently into your nose to equalize the pressure on your eardrums. That will save you a bit of pain.

- When ascending spin up in a spiral so you get a 360 degree view of what is around above you. That might save an injury if a boat is in your area.

- To dive deeper you might get better results by exhaling a bit of air out of your lungs as you go down to reduce your buoyancy.

- When you dive down from the surface jackknife to start your downward momentum, but never start kicking until your fins are totally underwater. For that matter, make sure your fins don't break the surface whenever you're kicking. Disturbing the surface is the easiest way to scare whatever wildlife might be in the area away.

- By the same token, avoid sticking your head totally out of the water when you come up. You can feel the air on the back of your head and clear your snorkel. Again, you want to avoid surface turbulence.

- Try not to interpose yourself between the sun and whatever wildlife you are interested in. You make a shadow like a large predator.

45 Feet is pretty damn hardcore man... that's awesome

man...totally forgot to mention the pinching the nose deal... just a reflex for me now, which I guess it becomes to anyone that does scuba or free diving..

Never thought about the spiral deal, though most places I dive are not far from the coast and seldom have boats in the area.. plus the good thing about being under water is you can hear the boats coming from a ways off.. still a good tip..

The rest are great spearfishing tips, the kicking at the surface especially since besides the noise it literally wastes energy since you're going to be kicking and going nowhere...

Shark Diver wrote:

neilrocks25 wrote:

Shark Diver wrote:Snorkeling, diving, kayaking, surfing, etc. Love all of it. Great place to snorkel out here this time of year is down in La Jolla Shores (San Diego). Leopard Sharks are here for breeding. Can get within a few feet and see hundreds - up to about 6 feet. It is a great thing to see.

We don't get many sharks here, we'll not so close to the coast. But I love the water, a great feeling of freedom.
We do get monkeys in the sea sometimes though

One of my employees just got offered a cage dive tour job in Hawaii. If she takes it I'll have to talk the wife into letting me go.

In the 'bay:

I would love to do that

Marc G wrote:

PurpleTrails wrote:When I was MUCH younger I could get down to around 40-45 feet without a weight belt, but no wetsuit. I could probably hold my breath for around 3 minutes. That was before smoking pot throughout college, though, which effectively killed my lung capacity.

A few tricks:

- If you dive deep pinch your nose off and exhale gently into your nose to equalize the pressure on your eardrums. That will save you a bit of pain.

- When ascending spin up in a spiral so you get a 360 degree view of what is around above you. That might save an injury if a boat is in your area.

- To dive deeper you might get better results by exhaling a bit of air out of your lungs as you go down to reduce your buoyancy.

- When you dive down from the surface jackknife to start your downward momentum, but never start kicking until your fins are totally underwater. For that matter, make sure your fins don't break the surface whenever you're kicking. Disturbing the surface is the easiest way to scare whatever wildlife might be in the area away.

- By the same token, avoid sticking your head totally out of the water when you come up. You can feel the air on the back of your head and clear your snorkel. Again, you want to avoid surface turbulence.

- Try not to interpose yourself between the sun and whatever wildlife you are interested in. You make a shadow like a large predator.

45 Feet is pretty damn hardcore man... that's awesome

man...totally forgot to mention the pinching the nose deal... just a reflex for me now, which I guess it becomes to anyone that does scuba or free diving..

Never thought about the spiral deal, though most places I dive are not far from the coast and seldom have boats in the area.. plus the good thing about being under water is you can hear the boats coming from a ways off.. still a good tip..

The rest are great spearfishing tips, the kicking at the surface especially since besides the noise it literally wastes energy since you're going to be kicking and going nowhere...

I used to dive off Catalina Island on occasion. There were so many small boats to yachts around there was often at least some noise underwater, plus some of those suckers moved pretty fast.

I started training on extending the time I could hold my breath at age 11. By the time I got to my late teens I could go quite a while without distress. It really helped when I was spearfishing.

^ that's cool... when I was 11 I was just tagging along with my uncle, didn't get really in to it till I was 16 or 17, then by my early 20s alcohol and pussy got more attention lol... looking forward to getting back in to it now that I'm married pussy isn't really a distraction, hell it's hardly an option lol

Marc G wrote:^ that's cool... when I was 11 I was just tagging along with my uncle, didn't get really in to it till I was 16 or 17, then by my early 20s alcohol and pussy got more attention lol... looking forward to getting back in to it now that I'm married pussy isn't really a distraction, hell it's hardly an option lol

I was driven when I was 11. Worked an entire summer mowing the lawns of a bunch of neighbors to raise enough money to buy a mask, snorkel and fins. I think I was inspired by the Jacques Cousteau TV specials that ran in the late '60s.

I hear you about the drugs, alcohol and pussy in the early 20s. I got a couple girlfriends into diving just after I got out of college. Found out it made them extremely horny. The sex tended to be epic after a day diving in the ocean.

hahaha... I tried to get one GF in to it, letting her tag along on easy spearfishing dives or just fun snorkeling places, she would freak the fuck out if she saw a fish bigger than 12" in the water... I remember we came up on a school of some Gar Fish, some big guys 3 foot plus and she all but crapped her pants... in her defense Gars that size can look pretty menacing, like a barracuda with a miniature mouth.. but they are harmless none the less... that was the last time she went in the water to freedive/snorkel with me lol... Since I've been married other than our honeymoon my Wife an I haven't had the opportunity to go snorkeling together, she did well though.. when I pointed out the sea snake to her I thought she would freak, but she stayed calm... she didn't like when I dove down to take it's picture though..