Snorkeling with snorkelinfo.net ( British spelling: snorkelling )

Naar de Nederlandse site

Welcome at snorkelinfo.net. This site aims to bring information on snorkeling and, especially, snorkeling spots.
We welcome new information and new links. Of course we will always mention our 'source of information"!

So, what's snorkeling (UK: snorkelling)


Snorkeling is fun !

First of all: snorkeling is fun !
Snorkeling is easy. Even children of some 6 years old can do it, when they can swim properly and are accompanied by an adult.

Snorkeling brings you to a brand new world. Just put your face in the water and you'll feel like finding the fourth dimension.
You may find fish, sea-anemones, heremit lobsters, crabs and so on.
All you have to look for is clear water and a rocky/stony coast. Sandy beaches are generally speaking not exciting since they do not provide many different habitats.

Snorkelinfo.net presents useful information on snorkeling, focusing on the description of the snorkeling possibilities of beaches, bays and lakes.

What do you need for snorkeling?

You don't need expensive material. All you really need is a good snorkeling glass and a suitable tube. Be sure not to buy toy-stuff, they won't last very long.
Good shops have material for kids and adults. Kids get smaller glasses and, perhaps not expected, tubes with special mouth-ends. A well known and good available brand is Cressi-sub. The prices of good sets of snorkeltube + glass are some 25 Euro / 25 US Dollar for kids-sets and some 50 Euro / 50 US Dollar for adults.

Flippers are useful when you want to see a large area, and thus need to swim a lot. They also come in handy when you want to dive to the bottom every now and then. But you should not try this without a proper training!

A wet suit is needed when you want to stay in the water for a long time and when the water is cold.


What do you need to learn for snorkeling?

You may want to learn the basics in a swimming pool when you're still at home. Many diving groups organise special snorkeling courses in swimming pools.
An essential thing to learn is to lay still and horizontal while breathing. You'll be surprised how easy this really is, but you won't learn it unless you really try.
When you're able to do that, fish will start moving when you're still and you will see much more details below you. It will also enable you to snorkel in shallow water.
Another useful thing is to learn some 'hand signals'. Of course you can talk with each other when you raise your head. But it is very convenient to comunicate through some important signals. The hand signals from diving are good for use in snorkeling too. But the most important thing is to talk on signaling before entering the water!
On the picture you see here, the snorkler is asking the photographer: "everything okay?". When it is, the other should respond with the same sign, saying "okay". So one sign for both the question and the answer. Other useful signs: "I'm cold", "shall we return", "stay still", "stay closer to me", "I'd like to dive down, okay?".


Risks during snorkeling

Of course snorkeling is not without risks. As with scuba diving, it is best to always go in pairs. You can help each other and one sees things the other does not.
Waves may cause water to enter your tube.
The most important risk is panic. When you panic, your behaviour changes unpredictably, causing danger for yourself and others. Being with two will help a lot in reducing changes of panic. Moving easily and breathing restfull is another.

Best is to stay out of the surf, the area where the waves 'brake'. Here the water will not lift you while it 'washes' you.
The combination of surf (waves) and sudden and large depth differences can be very dangerous. You may get swapped onto a rock, or pushed from a rock while you are standing on your feet.
An important thing to realise is that stones can hurt you dramatically. Try to keep clear from them. Remember that you hardly notice a wound when you are in the water, even when the wound is deep and large ! !

And then of course there are biological dangers, like jelly-fish, sharks and so on. About the picture: please don't try this yourself! Jelly fish can be nasty. The sting of the species in the picture (box jelly fish) is good enough for five days in the hospital!

Hopefully this description of the dangers did not scare you off.

Taking pictures

Of course is is great to take pictures while you are snorkeling. It allows you to even enjoy it when you're at home again, and you can share the things you saw with the people who were foolish enough to stay on the beach.
The 'digital camera era' has brought a lot of new possibilities. Nowadays firms like Canon and Olympus sell water proof cases suitable for many of their digital cameras. In Europe you can buy a complete set for some four hundred euros.
Be sure the camera and case combination will float. It is very difficult to follow a sinking camera! Canon has useful weights with which you can trim the weight of a floating combination in such way that the combination will only just float. This will allow you to hold the camera below the water without too much effort and still be sure the camera will come up when you accidentaly let go of the camera.

Finding the camera best for you is a very difficult job. There are very many different (digital) cameras and the models change every six months or so. And of course the regular photo shop does not have a line up of water proof cases. Nor do they know the typical and crucial differences of the cameras for under water use.

Visiting a diving shop might help, or try to find a specialized shop. It might mean you will need to travel, but it will be worth the trouble.

Although we do not include advertisements on snorkelinfo.net, we can tell you we have some good experience with the Canon S1 IS. Packed in the water proof case, you can still use the viewfinder. This viewfinder is in fact a mini LDC screen. For snorkeling this can be better than the regular LCD screen on the back of a digital camera, since you will be in high light conditions. We expect the normal LCD screen will be perfect when you're diving.
The picture beside this text has been taken with the S1 (no picture manipulation afterwards!) in the Grevelingen, a unique salt water lake in The Netherlands.

Described spots



Snorkeling in Corfu

  • Starting page Corfu
  • Port Timone, Cape Arilla at Afionas (West coast)
  • Paleokastritsa (West coast, several spots)
  • Issos Beach (South West)
  • Agni (East coast)

    Snorkeling in South West Ireland

    In the South West of Ireland, the coast is very rocky. That is why you may find good places for snorkeling in this part of Ireland. We describe two places: the Pollock holes in Kilkee and a beach close to Dingle

    Snorkeling in Corsica

  • Starting page Corsica
  • Golf van Saint Florent (North)
  • Sagone, at the Genevian tower (West)
  • West of Ajaccio (West)
  • Portigliolo (West)
  • Tizzano (West)
  • Tonnara Plage (West)
  • Golfu di Rondinara (East)
  • Capu d'Acciaju, Palombaggia (East)
  • Punta Capicciola (East)
  • Pinarellu (East)
  • Vardiola Plage, Testa (East)
  • Canella (East)
  • Lavasina (Cap Corse)

    Snorkeling in Tuscany

  • Starting page Tuscany
  • Cala Violina
  • Punta Ala
  • Porto santo Stefano

    Some scattered snorkeling sites

    These snorkelinfo.net pages present some scattered snorkeling places which are worth visiting.

    The Grevelingen, unique salt water lake in The Netherlands.

    Internetsites with useful information on snorkeling locations

    Good internetsites with information on snorkeling locations are hard to find. Some we like (last date the links were tested: 23 December 2014):
  • Shorediving.com: locations which are good for shore diving are often good snorkeling locations too. Shorediving.com supplies information on snorkeling ánd scuba diving conditions of over 300 locations. Hawaii Islands (The Big Island, Maui, Oahu, Kauai), over 80 locations, the ABC's (Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao), over 100 sites, more than 100 locations in West USA (Washington, Oregon, California), over 100 on the east coast of the USA (Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire), and locations at the Virgin Eilanden and in Honduras (Roatan). A must when you want to explore these regions.
  • Information on snorkeling at the Florida Keys
  • Snorkeling information of about.com, a portal, "place on the Web where you'll find passionate people with practical advice and solutions for almost any problem"
  • Snorkeling pages of the the British Sub-Aqua Club (BSAC), the National Governing Body for underwater sports in the UK
  • Snorkeling page of Turquois.net, guide to the Caribbean and beyond.
  • tosnorkel.com, an ambitious website that wants to offer information on good snorkeling spots around the globe.

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