I saw the movie open water back when it opened and my girlfriend watched it with me yesterday night and it reminded me of how terrified I was of Scuba Diving. She wants to go snorkeling in Mexico, from what I heard the main difference is you just wear a mask with a air tune that goes out above the water so obviously you aren't going as deep as you would scuba diving, but still, does anyone know of the dangers or any bad experiences with Snorkeling? Getting lost in the water really scares the crap out of me.
You don't get out much, do you? Snorkeling... dangerous? :grin: Seriously speaking, though, I believe it may depend on where and how you do it (that's what she said). I and the SwoLy family went to Hawaii and snorkeled a bit in a beach area and we saw a bunch of small colorful fish in Waikiki. Although we didn't have all the gear, we still went with just some goggles and held our breath to view them underwater in the clear Pacific water. We called that semi-snorkeling... although there were places that did that specifically... but we just did it near the hotel where we stayed. It was fun. Unless you're out there by yourself and don't know how to swim or get back to the boat, I don't see the danger. Enjoy it, sir.
Seeing how you can only disappear from the sight of your group for as long as you can hold your breath, I suspect getting lost is the least of the concerns with snorkeling. I'd say the biggest threat would be Barracuda (insert obvious music here), and I don't think it's very common to see groups of snorkelers being attacked by them. You should ask Mr. Brightside, though, about potential crocodile/alligator attacks .
you can snorkel off the beach by swimming out...then you don't have the fear of getting left behind by the boat. The downside is that you have further to swim to get out to the cool areas and you're by yourself. But you can see the shore and swim back. No real dangers though. It's pretty fun to dive down while snorkeling, but you can only last down below for as long as you can hold your breath. The surface snorkeling is alright...but after scuba diving, I've always preferred to get closer to the things I see
Completely depends on where you are snorkeling. Currents, tide, depth, etc are factors that you need to consider. But if you're going on a regular ol' snorkeling trip that the masses go to, you'll be fine as long as you know how to swim. If you can't swim, do not simply assume that a life-jacket will be enough. Also, since this is your first time snorkeling, I would advise to rent the snorkeling gear that prevents water from getting into the breathing tube (usually only one or two more dollars).
That's just Crazy, Dave. Barracudas would only attack a snorkler/diver if they were severely messed with. The only 'fish' in the ocean that would see a snorkler and think food are sharks and orcas.
well, I am pretty sure I mentioned it wasn't common... but I have heard of it at least (not from being disturbed, or because they crave humans, but mistaking shiny things they might carry for fish, is the reason I've heard). Never heard of snorkelers getting lost as sea. Oh, and open water was a terrible movie.
In one of the places I dove it was a common danger.. but that's because of the diving. They (dive masters) regularly fed the barracuda so that when they brought divers, they could see them (barracuda would think they were being fed again) There was no danger, though, as long as we didn't wiggle our hands out to our sides (as if we had fish to feed them). Plus they explained it all to us prior to our dive. But that's the only time I've been told barracuda were something to worry about
You are talking about SNUBA not snorkeling. Snorkeling you just stay at the surface. SNUBA you actually breath from a tank but the air tube is tethered to a tank at the surface. You go about 20 feet deep at most and it is essentially scuba diving except that you are tethered to this 20 ft long air tube that connects to the floating oxygen tank. There is nothing to be scared about. You are only going 20 feet deep. And in regards to sharks, your chances of being killed by lightning are higher than being attacked by a shark. I have encountered reef sharks a few times on my dives and they don't bother you at all.
he's not talking about SNUBA. he's talking about snorkeling. You dive down when you snorkel unless you're doing it the boring way.. edit: after reading the post again, he could be talking about either one
I just re-read the original post and I was mistaken. You actually were talking about SNORKELING so ignore my snuba explanation. Snorkeling is not dangerous at all. Little kids do it with no problem.
I never understood the 'higher chance of getting killed by lightning' rationale. Of course there is a greater chance I die from lightning, I spend 99.99% percent of my time not in the ocean.
