SCUBA diving can literally open up a whole new world for most people but you can begin to appreciate that world by snorkelling. If you have never snorkelled before, then this page might help you learn how to snorkel so you can get started.

Snorkelling Safely

Before learning how to snorkel there are some pre-requisite factors that you will need to know about.

• Firstly, you cannot learn how to snorkel unless you can swim.
• Secondly, you should be aware of some fundamental snorkel safety practices. You can find further information about snorkelling safety here: how to snorkel safely.

Learning How to Snorkel

Below are 6 steps designed to help you learn how to snorkel.

1. Enrol on a Basic Snorkelling Course

   Many diving centers offer such courses alongside their diver certification programs. This may seem an obvious tip but a dive center can show you how to use your dive fins most in the most effective and energy conserving way possible to ensure you do not wear yourself out. Learning how to snorkel with a dive center will teach you all of the following skills.

2. How to Clear Your Dive Mask

   Sometimes when you are snorkelling your dive mask will take in water. This is something that occurs with all masks and is largely unavoidable. However, there is a technique that can be used to clear your mask while you are in the water which is fundamental to helping your learn how to snorkel.

   • Firstly, if you are on the surface you can of course just lift the mask off your face and tilt the bottom out to allow the water to run away.
   • Secondly, you can clear your mask while you are under the water. You simply use your hand to put pressure on the top of your dive mask between your eyes and gently breathe out through your nose. This technique drives the water out of the mask beneath your nose and replaces it with what you have exhaled. When you finish, your mask will go back into position without allowing water back in.
   • Thirdly, nowadays you can purchase dive masks that have a purge function. The purge function is activated when you apply pressure to the whole mask and exhale through your nose. The seal between the mask and your face is not broken but a purge function kicks in, expelling water from within.

3. How to Clear Water from Your Snorkel

   Clearing, or purging, your snorkel is another thing that you will come up against as you learn how to snorkel. Try to buy a snorkel that has a purge valve. A purge valve snorkel will enable you to remove any water that enters your snorkel accidentally or as a result of a “duck dive” beneath the surface. If you are using a standard snorkel (non-purge valve), you just need to blow out through your mouth in a short but sharp fashion to make a “tuh” sound. This will drive unwanted water upwards out of the snorkel.

4. How to Use Fins

   You do not need to use fins when you snorkel… but how you snorkel will be affected hugely if you do not. Dive fins help to propel you through the water in a much less invasive way i.e. you will create less splashing and therefore not frighten off marine life so easily. This same propulsion makes your passage through water easier: your leg “kicks” will be more effective moving you further with less effort. In order to get the most from your fins, you should keep your legs straight, with your knees bent slightly, and move them in a scissoring motion. This is the most efficient way to move with fins.

5. How to Avoid Squeezes

   If you perform duck dives to descend underwater you may experience a sensation known as squeezing. Squeezing is the sensation of pressure beneath your mask and within your ears that occurs as pressure causes air spaces to shrink. Learning how to snorkel safely and comfortably is paramount and dealing with squeezes is very important in order to avoid discomfort and even damage to your ears.

6. How to Conserve Marine Life

   Learning how to snorkel includes learning how to take into account the impact that your actions has on the environment. You should remember how to behave when snorkelling and remember that you need to be extremely sensitive to the marine habitat you are lucky enough to be experiencing. Do not touch the creatures you encounter as you may harm them or actually end up the recipient of a nasty bite or sting.

   Take care that your snorkelling equipment (snorkel, fins etc.) are not accidentally brushing against corals and fauna causing accidental damage. Coral reefs are very delicately balanced ecosystems, so please do your utmost not to tip that balance in the wrong direction.

Summary of How to Snorkel Tips

Do yourself a favor and learn how to snorkel correctly: you will be able to get the most out of the snorkelling experiences you have and also learn how to appreciate more fully what you see.

SCUBA divers do not of course just SCUBA dive. Snorkelling is a great way to kill some time between dives, particulalrly on a liveaboard if you are out diving on a reef or such like. It is important to know how to snorkel safely in order that you can enjoy snorkelling properly without putting yourself and others at risk.

Below are our top tips for showing you how to snorkel safely.

13 Steps Showing How to Snorkel Safely

1. NEVER attempt to snorkel unless you know how to swim. You will never be able to learn how to snorkel safely unless you are a swimmer.
2. Do not dive into the water head first while you are wearing a dive mask. This is very dangerous as the glass in dive masks is not designed to take the impact of diving into water in such a way.
3. Never snorkel on your own. Just as with SCUBA diving, you should always buddy up with someone in case you get into difficulty.
4. Do not use ear-plugs when you are snorkelling underwater. Ear-plugs can get stuck in your ear and cause damage to your eardrums as the pressure underwater increases.
5. Never hold your breath for long periods under the surface. If you hold your breath for too long you could blackout and drown.
6. Never dive below any depth at which equalizing the pressure in your ears is not longer possible. If you cannot equalize, you can damage your eardrums and potentially cause permanent damage to your hearing.
7. Learning how to snorkel safely can often mean learning to snorkel comfortably. Always get out of the water if you start to feel tired or cold.
8. Never dive beneath the water if you have a cold or are congested. Colds and congestion can affect your ability to equalize and can lead to ear and hearing damage.
9. Relax. If you want to learn how to to snorkel correctly you should relax while you are doing it. Relaxing during your snorkelling will give you a greater appreciation of your experience and more awareness of potential danger.
10. Be sure to cover up to protect yourself from the sun. This includes slapping on sun protection cream so that you can snorkel safely and do not burn up.
11. Make sure that you drink plenty of water before you snorkel. The sun, salt water and the physical exertion of snorkelling can cause you to dehydrate quickly.
12. NEVER touch any marine creatures that you come into contact with. Aside from causing damage to or interfering with the creatures you meet, you could end up getting stung or bitten.
13. If you are snorkelling from a liveaboard or day boat, be certain that there is a diver’s flag flying to let other boats know there are snorkellers/divers in the area.

To be certain that you know how to snorkel safely, it would be a good idea to find out about a training session with a certified diving instructor.

A suitably qualified diving instructor can teach you some techniques that can make your snorkelling experience safer and more enjoyable. An instructor can also teach you how to snorkel with less effort and at the same time what to look out for whilst you are in the water.

If you are new to recreational diving, nitrogen narcosis is a subject that you should be made very aware of.

What is Nitrogen Narcosis?

Nitrogen narcosis (also known as inert gas narcosis) is a condition that divers can begin to experience upon reaching a certain depth while breathing pressurized air. It usually occurs around the 30 meter mark but in truth can affect anyone to some degree at much shallower depths.

What are the Causes of Nitrogen Narcosis?

The exact causes of nitrogen narcosis are not totally understood at the present time. Having said this, we do know that it is related to the way in which nitrogen gas dissolves into the neural nerve membranes under pressure, disturbing nerve transmission in the process.

What are the Effects of Nitrogen Narcosis?

Nitrogen narcosis is extremely dangerous. Most people will discern no obious effect above 30 meters but around the 30 meter mark and below the effects become increasingly vivid.

As its name suggests, nitrogen narcosis has a narcotizing effect on the body. Divers suffering from the condition can experience the following conditions and/or sensations:

• Loss of decision making capability.
• Impaired judgment.
• Impaired coordination.
• Loss of focus.
• Vertigo.
• Panic.
• Anxiety.
• Euphoria.
• Hearing disturbance.
• Dizziness.
• Paranoia.
• Depression.
• Sensations of tingling and numbness in the body’s extremities.
• Feelings of over-confidence and invulnerability.
• Fatigue.

Around the 90 meters mark, the effects of nitrogen narcosis becomes more extreme:

• Visual and aural hallucination.
• Unconsciousness.

What Causes Nitrogen Narcosis to be so Dangerous?

Clearly any impairment in cognitive or perceptual function when you are underwater is dangerous and can lead to basic mistakes in safety practices… or even the complete disregard of them. The effects of nitrogen narcosis can ulitmatley be disastrous, indirectly or directly leading to death.

Nitrogen narcosis can affect any diver be they; experienced or inexperienced, fit or unfit, healthy or unhealthy, fat or thin, old or young. Everyone is susceptible to it but some are more tolerant to it than others. However, nitrogen narcosis tolerance is unpredictable and so those more susceptible to it cannot be identified. Notwithsatnding this, no-one is immune to it and this is why its effects are potentially life threatening for all divers.

Avoiding Nitrogen Narcosis

Nitrogen narcosis can be avoided by avoiding its causes while you are underwater, i.e. keep to recommended recreational diving limits. Be aware of your depth at all times and take particular care if you are approaching the 30 meter mark.

Another way that nitrogen narcosis is avoided underwater is to use a modified air mix to limit or remove nitrogen intake. Where the use of such gases is required though, specialized training would also be required. For recreational divers, nitrogen-free/reduced mixes (such as trimix and heliox) are unnecessary as most basic SCUBA diving courses certify divers for depths above 18 meters only (more advanced recreational diving courses can certify divers to 30 meters).

In order to combat the effects of nitrogen narcosis the diver should simply ascend to a shallower depth: dealing with the causes of nitrogen narcosis in such a way stops the effects very quickly (almost immediately). However, any ascent that you make to mitigate the effects of the narcosis should always be managed properly to avoid decompression sickness, especially in cases where you have been diving near to recommended recreational diving limits.

If you enjoy diving, you owe it to yourself and others to act responsibly in the water. Below are 19 practices to make sure you are a safe diver:

• Make sure that you plan all your dives before you get into the water.
• Make sure that your deepest dive of the day is also your first dive of the day.
• The deepest part of each dive that you plan should be reached at the beginning of your dive.
• Try to avoid exerting yourself during your dive. You should also avoid physical activity for half an hour after your dive has finished.
• Check your dive computer and/or guages often throughout your dive.
• If you are diving in cold water or after strenuous activity, make sure that you begin your ascent before you reach your no-decompression limit.
• Always act in compliance with the ascent rate that is indicated by your dive computer.
• Always carry out a 3-minute safety stop between 20 feet (6 meters) and 10 feet (3 meters).
• Try to avoid decompression stop dives and be absolutely certain not to dive deeper than 130 feet (40 meters) unless you are a specially trained deep diver.
• When you are doing a decompression dive, prolong the decompression stop nearest to the surface.
• After all of your decompression stops, ascend to the surface very slowly.
• Always make sure that you are not “yo-yo” diving (repetitively ascending and descending under the water).
• Do not carry out any dive until the desaturation time, as dictated by your previous dive, has passed.
• Avoid repeatedly diving to a single depth deeper than 60 feet (18 meters). N.B. Repeated diving to the same depth is known as “square diving”.
• Be sure to separate any repetitive dives by at least a 2 hour surface interval.
• If you are planning repetitive dives for a number of consecutive days, be sure to take at least one day off from diving each week. The recommended number of consecutive time diving should not exceed 3 days i.e. take 1 day off every 3 days.
• Be certain that you do not go mountain climbing or take a plane flight for at least 12 hours (preferably 24 hours) after a dive.
• Finally, never try to exceed the limits of your experience and skill.

Is near sightedness causing you problems when diving?

Do not suffer in a blurry silence. SCUBA divers today have several options available to them if they are near sighted.

• SCUBA diving masks with pop-out lenses are available. Check with your local SCUBA gear store to see whether they carry replacement near sight lenses (some will carry common sizes for near sightedness). For a more precise fit you should take a prescription from your GP or doctor. Try to avoid "testing" lenses for yourself in a shop: remember that the properties of what you look through on dry land will almost certainly change underwater.
• Disposable contact lenses can be used… under your dive mask of course! If you do wear disposable lenses on your dives be sure to dispose of them every time you dive to minimize the risk of contamination: aquatic microorganisms can cause some nasty ailments to your eyes if given the opportunity.
• Check out the masks available from HydroOptix. HydroOptix make a range of "bug eyed" masks for near sighted SCUBA enthusiasts that are hard to beat. Although quite costly, HydroOptix dive lenses can give you almost perfect underwater vision.

It should not surprise you that an extremely important part of being a diver is ensuring that your diving equipment is in full working order; after all it is designed to keep you safe underwater and to facilitate an enjoyable marine experience.

If you dive with any frequency and either own or intend to own your own SCUBA diving equipment, you must understand the importance of keeping your dive gear clean.

How do you do this? Simply by washing it.

Why Wash Your Diving Gear?

You have to recognize and embrace the fact that washing your diving gear is one of the primary responsibilities of being a diver. Washing your equipment can help to prolong its life giving you safe divetime in the process.

How Often Should You Wash Your Dive Equipment?

You should wash your dive kit at the end of every day of diving. The most favoured technique is to put your gear into a large tub or sink full of clean, fresh water (not sea water). If you have the space you should consider two tubs: one containing water and detergent for your wetsuit, boots and gloves and another containing just fresh water for any other diving gear you have been using. Make sure that you wash away any dirt or sand before you put your kit into the tubs for their scrub and rinse.

Looking after your dive equipment can save you money and help to eliminate the chances of encountering an equipment problem during your dives.