HATCH’S SNORKELING TIPS FOR BEGINNERS
(Geared towards snorkeling in Caribbean Costa Rica - but applies everywhere. Hatch is a U.S. expat who lives on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica)…
SNORKEL MASKS:
You know those diving masks that have transparent or translucent plastic or silicone skirts (casing)? They’re terrible. Sunlight reflects from the plastic lens rims into your eyes and reduces visibility drastically. You might as well just put a flashlight in your face. I really like the soft black rubber masks that have two lenses on them (sort of like goggles) - they have good visibility and there’s less surface pressure on the lenses than the bigger masks have because there’s less air in the chamber of the mask. They’re simple, inexpensive and they fit your face better than the “classic oval” style masks in my opinion and feel more secure. Make sure they are glass lenses and not plastic, which will scratch and get cloudy with age. It’s also good not to have any shiny metal objects on your mask and you should not wear any shiny jewelry which may glisten in the sun and look like a sardine to a barracuda (more on that later).
To see this article with images click here: Puerto Viejo Snorkeling Guide
HOW TO DE-FOG YOUR MASK:
Toothpaste works great! Just use a very tiny bit to make a very thin film on both sides of the lenses and rinse it off when you get in. It reduces the surface tension of water on the lenses so it doesn’t bead up or fog but rather spreads out. Works beautifully.
BUYING A SNORKEL:
Personally I don’t care for the snorkels that have float balls in them. I know they’re supposed to keep water from entering the tube, and it all sounds good in theory, but my own experience with them is that 1) they don’t do a very good job of it and 2) I don’t like the fact that I don’t have a completely obstruction free air tube. There is a slight delay created by the float which I find annoying and it just feels unreliable to me. I like a simple, comfortable snorkel with a little extra length than the standard fare and which has a larger diameter tube as opposed to the skinny ones that are available. It’s a simple matter to learn to blow the water out of the tube and it’s more dependable in my opinion. The snorkel should be black or dark colored with a fluorescent red stripe around the top so boaters, fishermen and others can see where you are.
ABOUT FINS
I know there’s all kinds of expensive professional fins out there that the sports stores will be happy to sell you, and I’ve tried a lot of them. I still like the simple, soft rubber ones. There’s no straps to mess with or to cause chafing and they have more response and act more like a fish’s tail.
SUNBLOCK, ETC.
Sometimes when there are a lot of people in the water it can get really loaded with all kinds of suntanning lotions and oils. The fish don’t like it and it’s not good for the reefs. Sunblock is essential here in Costa Rica - don’t ruin your vacation by becoming a red lobster - it’s not much fun and it’s bad for your skin. Also remember that we are only 9 degrees from the equator here in Caribbean Costa Rica. The sun at high noon is a real scorcher. But do try to find a sunblock product which is odorless and environmentally friendly and without all the unnecessary chemical additives. And be sure to check any swimsuit pockets for anything that might get lose or litter the reef on your journey. I recommend that if you’re a beginner that you go out early in the day to avoid the direct overhead sun which can take it’s toll on you and your energy level. The visibility is usually better in the morning anyway - colors are more vivid and they slowly wash out to dull greens and grays as the day wears on.
DON’T BE A DUCK:
Snorkeling is essentially a simple thing: mask, snorkel, and fins. However, it still takes a bit of finesse to do it in a simple, relaxed manner and without wearing yourself out. You don’t need to over complicate it. Stay focused and relaxed from the moment you go in to the moment you get out. I see a lot of beginners who sit on the beach, put their swim fins on and try to waddle lick a duck on their way out to sea. The fins get full of sand, and this will cause chafing and blisters while swimming. You will also quickly find out just how difficult it is for a fish to waddle on dry land. ;^)
If you have slip-on swim fins, they will go on much easier when they’re wet. If there are any waves at all, they will have the most force where they break at the beach. As people are getting in many lose their masks and swim fins because while they are struggling with the waves, and a wave can force things out of your hands and you will quickly lose sight of them in the churning sand. Beginner’s also many times struggle with mask adjustments while waves are breaking over them, and this causes them to get stressed and tired before they even begin to have any fun.
Try the easy way:
* First do a dry fit on your mask and the snorkel. Many people tend to over tighten them thinking it will make a better seal. It does just the opposite. It should just be snug. Check to see if your mask headband has locking clips and if it does make sure they’re snapped shut. If you have a moustache, putting a little Vaseline on it will help create a better seal.
* Put your mask on and pull it down around your neck. Now you don’t have to worry about losing it.
* Grab your fins in your hands tightly. I like to put my soft rubber fins on my hands as I go in and just use them as stabilizers as I wade out.
* Now just relax and walk out until the water is not quite chest high. You want to still have a good grip with your feet but also to be somewhat buoyant but without losing control to any waves.
* You should be able to easily slip your fins on now. Putting your fins on before you mess with the mask gives you an immediate edge for dealing with any waves now. Lift your foot well up out of the sand before putting the fin on. If you feel any sand at all now is the time to get rid of it. Just slip the fin off, swish it clean and put it back on.
* If you’re not bald, splash your head with water to get it wet, smooth your hair back with both hands.
* Now grab your mask and stretch it a little away from you and move it into position on your face. Do a final check to make sure you have a good fit. Make sure the snorkel is in proper position and put it in your mouth.*
* Give a forceful whale blow through the snorkel to make sure it’s clear.
* Now, if all this has been a little foreign to you, just take a moment to relax. You will see how easy it is to float in salt water. Get nice and calm at this point and put your head under the water and slowly start on out - doing one last “systems check” to make sure your swim suit, pocket knife (if you have one) and gear are all secure and ready to go. Take a look around to see what’s what around you, and head on out!
ENERGY:
A good rule of thumb is: be sure to save enough of your energy for the ride home. Don’t go manic on the way out, it will scare off the fish anyway. Also, if your’re a beginner it’s good to use the buddy system and go in a pair, but groups of snorkelers all huddled together will rarely see many fish, it looks like a gang of predators to them. Learn to hang. Don’t let your fins splash above the water. Keep them under the water. The slower you go, the more life you will see.
Work with the energy of the waves and the currents. It’s far easier than just trying to propel and churn steadily through them. Even smaller waves contain a great deal of energy. Use this kinetic energy to your advantage. You can do what motorized boat can’t: you can FEEL the water and the energy around you and respond to it. If just allow yourself to relax, you will start to become one with the rhythm of the waves, and will soon start to feel and understand how fish interact with the rhythm of the ocean. If you watch schools of fish while they are hovering on a reef, you will see that they use very little energy. They gracefully work with the current. When a wave pushes against you, use minimal energy, just enough to maintain what you just gained, and when the energy moves with you, work with it to propel you forward. If you do the opposite and work against the waves, you will soon see that a human being is no match against that amount of wave energy - but working WITH the energy is easy and will give you the confidence of knowing that you can use the waves as your source of energy. The good part is: it’s usually easier coming back than going out, and the waves will take you home to shore if you just let them.
It’s easier to swim out along the outside edge of a reef than to try to swim out in the middle of it. As the waves roll in they break on the reefs and the resulting pressure then dissipates outward from the sides of the reef. Take your time. Check your energy levels to be sure that you are keeping enough reserve for the return trip. If you’re just beginning, it’s easy to become more tired than you realize because you’re so buoyant
BE AWARE OF WHAT’S AROUND YOU
It’s good to get a little lost in exploring under the surface, but not so much that you are unaware of what’s above and around you on the surface. Be relaxed but alert. Be sure to check above the water regularly and study the reef ahead and how the waves are behaving. The waves are fairly predictable in that they always break in the same places based on the structure of the reef. You can use this to your advantage as you go out by staying to the side of the waves and working around the back side of them as you go. Floating in the ocean can be a bit trance-like at times so be sure you’re not “spacing out” to the point where you are disoriented or unaware of where you are or just how far out you are swimming. Also, if the waves are breaking rough at the shore, you will want to be sure you have plenty of reserve energy left in case you end up having to struggle to get on shore.
After you’ve swam out along the edge of the reef as far as you are comfortable and at your own pace, if the water is not too rough you can work your way gently back inside the reef. Go slow and just let the scenery come to you. You shouldn’t have to use hardly any energy at all, just drift while keeping a sharp eye all around you. Don’t get paranoid - there’s very little out there than can harm you if you’re in Punta Uva, Cahuita or Manzanillo area. And although there are few motorized boats on the Caribbean coast compared to the Pacific side of Costa Rica, there are still some motorized boats used by fishermen and tour guides in the area. You can usually hear the whirring sound of the motor being carried through the water so keep an ear out and always check above the water. If there’s a boat in the area, be sure you make yourself known to them.
SWIMMING, DIVING AND BREATH
While you swim, try to feel the rhythm of the ocean. The more relaxed you are, the less energy you will consume. Think about conserving your personal energy level- you never know when you may need it. Practice doing sharp, forceful whale blows through your snorkel to clear any water from it. Swim slowly and quietly without splashing your hands or your swim fins. The more you get in sync with the rhythm of the ocean, the less energy you will use and the more enjoyable it will be. Watch the seaweed beds for clues to this rhythm. Swim and breathe with these rhythms - you will reserve a storehouse of energy this way just in case you need it. If any water creeps into your mask and is settled around your nose, it’s easy to get rid of just by gently blowing out of your nose, which creates positive air pressure and will clear the water out.
Diving down to the reef allows you to get up close and personal with it. The closer you are, the more vivid the colors become, and depending on the visibility, you might only be able to see the colors by getting very close to the reef. You will also see many smaller species of fish and other forms of life which you would miss staying on the surface. Start with short practice dives, and if you feel uncomfotable pressure in your ears, equalize it by closing your mouth, holding your nose closed and blowing some pressure into your ears. If you do this, and dive a little deeper each time, you will slowly be able to dive deeper and deeper. As soon as your head surfaces do a whale blow to clear the snorkel.
“HANGING” ON THE REEF:
Aerobic swimming is a strenuous sport but snorkeling should not be. For the most part, every swimming motion you make is scaring something away. The small fish dart quickly out of sight, and in the blink of an eye this alerts the whole fish community around you that something big and menacing is churning above them. You will see much more life and activity, and see it behaving in it’s natural manner, if you just stop and hang out on the reef. Relax, quiet yourself and just observe. There’s so much happening on the reef that we miss the great majority of it simply by getting in a hurry. It’s truly fascinating down there, and the difference between what you will see when you are swimming and what you will see when you’re just hanging on the reef is tremendous.
TIPS ON SAFETY:
First and foremost: DON”T GO OUT if you’re not a decent swimmer and DON”T GO OUT if you’re a beginner and the water’s rough. Many people pressure themselves to get into the ocean simply because they’re on vacation and they’re bound and determined to get in the water. Many people get in trouble this way. Be sure you’re going out in an area that doesn’t have strong rip tides. Don’t try to snorkel on Playa Cocles if you’re a beginner - there can be very strong rips there and there are days when it may not look that bad from the shore but in reality it is a day for advanced surfers only. Just because you see someone out there does not mean it’s safe. That person you see out there may be an incredibly good swimmer and in top physical condition. If you are such a person or if it is a very calm day, there is excellent snorkeling along the submarine wall at the little island at Playa Cocles. The water stays shallow for most of the way and then drops off. It is also because of this lay of the sea floor that there can be strong rip tides when it’s not calm. When in doubt, ask the local surfers or fishermen about the conditions before going out.
The further out you swim along the reefs, the more life you will see as the water gets deeper and colder. Teh bigger fish rarely come into the warm shallow waters on the beach. But if you plan on going out any distance it’s a good idea to take along safety float and some fresh drinking water in bottles. The float can be a small tire inner tube or an empty 5 gallon plastic water bottle that has the neck sealed up securely. A large bottle will have less drag on the surface of the water than an inner tube will. Tie a thin nylon cord on it that’s longer than the maximum depth of water you plan to dive to, and tie the other end to your suit so that your hands are free for swimming. Let the bottle float behind you. Be sure that you tie a QUICK RELEASE KNOT on your suit in case you need to free it from yourself for any reason. Be aware of the line and make sure that you don’t dive under a reef ledge in such a way that the line gets tangled and caught on something. I carry a stainless steel pocket knife with me, secured in a velcroed pocket just in case. You can rig the bottle up with plastic coated coat hanger wire in such a way that allows you to hang a couple of bottles of fresh drinking water on it and perhaps a high energy electrolyte drink. I recommend that you bring plenty of drinking water - the salt water, hot sun and the swimming will demand more liquid for your body, and taking frequent breaks to drink fresh water will restore your energy. The safety float insures that, in the rare instance that you get hurt or simply run out of steam, you can use the float to hang onto.
ABOUT BARRACUDAS:
Yes, there are barracudas out there at times. They spawn throughout the dry season here and feed on the massive schools of sardines that move through the shoreline. It’s extremely rare that one bites a human. Millions of divers swim among them unharmed, so don’t panic if you see one. I have seen them many times out there and been surrounded by them - they’ve never bothered me but they do warn you if you get near their territory. The mothers protect their young and hang in the reefs. If you see one she will usually swim very fast up to you and flash you a warning with a quick approach and then just as quickly snap back away from you to let you know that you’re in her territory. Just be respectful and make it known that you are swimming in a calm, steady direction away from her. Sometimes you can tell if there are sardines running if there’s pelicans diving and fishing them. Pelicans = sardines = probably barracudas where the pelicans are.
BE RESPECTFUL:
The coral takes time to grow. It provides protection for many species of fish, helps to keep shorlines from eroding, and is very fragile. The reefs are protected from fishing by tourists and are already in trouble from bleaching, higher ocean temperatures and other factors - so please don’t stand on the reefs! Don’t break it and don’t take home souvenirs because it’s illegal and you want your children and their children to hopefully see in their lifetimes what you have seen out there in yours! (for more into see: Concensus Report on Coral Reef Futures) Also bear in mind that fishing on the reefs is allowed by locals, and many depend on it for their families’ food supply. If you see fishermen, please give them plenty of berth and don’t intrude on their fishing spots - there’s plenty of fish out there to see in other spots. Likewise, if there are surfers in the area try to find another area to snorkel in because the two just don’t mix. There are some times of the year when snorkeling and surfing tend to overlap, but usually surf season is poor snorkeling and vice versa.
HOW TO GET OUT OF THE WATER:
If the water is calm, just stay relaxed, swim to your exit point and when the water is shallow enough just reverse what you did getting in - slip your mask down around your neck, slip off your fins, and slowly walk out of the water, getting your land legs back as you go.
Usually if the waves are breaking on the shore, it’s not very rough at all just a short back behind the waves where the ocean is calmer. Just do what the surfer’s do - hang back behind the waves where they are gently rolling and watch the behavior of the waves on the shore. Look along the shore to see if there’s any sandy areas where waves are not breaking. Locate the calmest spot you can to exit. Take your time and determine how the current is moving. If you hold still for a minute you’ll be able to tell if you are drifting with a current. Before you start swimming towards the shore, swim laterally and parallel to the shore along the back of the breaks and get into position directly in front of your exit point. It’s much easier to swim sideways and get into position first than it is trying to navigate into position in the breaking waves. Once you are in position, look ahead to make sure there are aren’t any large rocks or coral there. Also take a peek under the water with your mask and look ahead and around for any coral formation or obstacles so you know what’s what. When you’ve found the best exit point just swim in with the waves. If they are curling, they can be deceptively powerful and you want to make sure that they don’t cause you to tumble under with them. If you have no other choice, ride a wave in, making sure you stay on top of the wave by making rapid climbing strokes with your hands and arms. Timing is everything here. Right at the point when the wave is starting to toss you out, shoot your arms straight out in front of you and pretend that you are a rigid surf board. This will keep you from tumbling and if you do it right the wave will shoot you right onto the shore! Quickly crawl up to the dry part of the beach before the next wave breaks over you.
Be sure to rinse yourself and your gear off with fresh water to remove all salt residues which will deteriorate your gear and chafe your skin.
CAHUITA NATIONAL PARK:
Please note that according to environmental protection law you are required to snorkel with a guide in Cahuita National Park. There is no such requirement for Playa Negra, Playa Cocles, Punta Uva or Manzanillo.
HAPPY SNORKELING, and my sincerest hope that you have a thoroughly wonderful, exciting and enjoyable time exploring the wonderful coral worlds under the sea!
-Hatch
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