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Posted: Sat Jan 29, 2011 6:10 pm
by Chicken
This may sound crazy, but there is so much salt in the water that you can float all day long with little to no effort. All you have to do is lay on your stomach, breathe through a tube and watch the world around you. You don't have to be a great swimmer to enjoy snorkeling. IMO, no noodle or vest needed!
Posted: Sun Jan 30, 2011 7:23 am
by Sharkbait
I'm like you Crd, I be a floater
. That's a good thing and a bad thing sometimes. Bad in it is serious effort for me stay down when swimming down to check something out. Also need 18lbs of weight for Diving and that is without a wetsuit.
That being said I think everybody's buoyancy is different. I know some long time snorkelers that are pretty strong swimmers that use a vest. It's easier for them not to have to think about staying afloat and they can concentrate on what's below.
St John IMHO is the perfect place for a beginner snorkeler to learn. Many easy entry sandy beaches to get into the water. My 1st time snorkeling we jumped off a boat into 30 feet of water. Add to that there were 2 sharks on that reef. Okay, they were just Nurse Sharks but I didn't know any better at the time.
Posted: Sun Jan 30, 2011 8:45 am
by cptnkirk
You will be just fine my wife could care less about snorkeling and she doesn't hike either. Actually all she needs to be in her happy place with a book and a beach chair and she's happy as a clam. I snorkel for hours she reads, different strokes different folks. We did a New Horizons trip and only about half snorkeled the other half had fun drinking on the boat.
As long as being in the most beautiful place in the world doesn't turn you off you'll be fine
cdickens wrote
This may sound crazy, but there is so much salt in the water that you can float all day long with little to no effort. All you have to do is lay on your stomach, breathe through a tube and watch the world around you. You don't have to be a great swimmer to enjoy snorkeling. IMO, no noodle or vest needed!
I thought the same thing as I am a floater. But as said, everyone has different bouyancy. When I was teaching my buddy to snorkel I told him just relax and you will float. Well he sunk like a lead ball. He appears to be about the same body fat as me he must have heavy bones. I think for a beginner a vest is a must just so they can relax and know they have the safety and security of a vest. That said I have never worn one and don't use flippers but then my wife says I should have been a fish.