Snorkeling Question

I posted this in the "SCUBA & Snorkeling" forum but I haven't had any replies so I thought I'd ask my friends on the Carnival forum for input:

DH and I are getting ready to go on our fifth cruise but we have never snorkeled...sad, I know! We've wanted to on several occasions but it just hasn't worked out. This cruise will be different. We've researched and purchased our equipment which should arrive a day or two before we leave. Having said all of this, would it be to our advantage to book a snorkeling excursion since we've never even tried it or should we try to freestyle until we get the hang of it? I've looked at White Sands in Grand Turk and thought about booking both the shallow and the Wall but I'm just not sure. Any insight would be appreciated.

DW and I have done a lot of snorkeling over the years but doing the first one on an excursion was a good idea for her.

Do you have access to a swimming pool that you could practice before the cruise? Becoming comfortable with breathing is probably the most important and a swimming pool would be a nice controlled environment.

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We are booked with White Sands in Grand Turk due to the terrific reviews they get. Several reviews mention how well they do with novices. They have been very easy to deal with so far. They also limit the size of the group to no more than 10 or so while the Carnival excursions can have up to 40 on a boat.

Snorkeling itself is easy and fun. With that said, you could probably do it on your own without having any issues. However, many of the excursions take you to places where the you will see more fish and coral. For example, I have snorkeled in Grand Cayman at the reef with several different tour operators and seen quite a bit. The guides will even bring some fish food to get the fish all around you. I have also gone to 7 mile beach and tried it on my own, and seen some fish but not nearly as many. I know in Grand Turk, you can snorkel at the beach right off the ship. It is only a 5 minute walk. I did this last March, but the visability was not great and did not see nearly as much as I did the following day in La Romma on an excursion.

I hope this perspective helps.

I would NOT book one at the first port. Use your gear from the beach at the first port to get a feel for it.

You can swim at least right? If you have not, then starting from a boat, jumping into 20-30 feet of water can be intimidating.

All places give a life preserver you can fill up with a bit of air to keep you floating.

I was just at Grand Turk, the wall, Friday. We did the water scooter excursion where they give you a battery powered machine to move you around. It was a blast. You get into a boat, taken out 200-300 yards from the beach where the 7,000 foot drop is at the wall, then fall into the water and start swimming around looking. It was a tad windy so waves were around which can also be rough on new swimmers. When we were done, they had us all power/swim to shore.

They will have a spotter in the boat to observe and help you if needed, or assist you getting out if you are not comfortable.

Be careful, be smart....START from the shore, and NOT from a boat if you can not swim ...Once you get comfortable swimming and using your equipment, then is when I would book an excursion off a boat....

I also started by practicing in a swimming pool. That gave me a lot of confidence when I did it the first time in the Caribbean.

If you are a fine swimmer, then go for whichever you want. But if you aren't, practice first. It doesn't take long to get the hang of the breathing, but complicated by not being a good swimmer, and it could use up your entire excursion. Like others said if you can practice in a pool first, that would be ideal. Even if its a pool in a hotel you are staying in precruise, the day before. I love snorkeling, due to my waterphobias and my lack of ability to swim well, I have a hard time sometimes, but I don't let it stop me. I just know my limits. Cant wait to go again!!

You will be fine....in fact after 5 minutes you'll be a pro and kick yourselves for not having done it sooner. My mother tried snorkeling in Grand Turk for her first time and now for our Christmas cruise she want's to snorkel at each port. Practice in your bathtub or in the pool on your ship....Have fun and bring an underwater camera....you're going to be amazed!

We snorkeled from the shore at governors beach in Grand. Turk...I am not as strong a swimmer as hubby and doing a few shore morels has really helped me build confidence. It is not really hard to breathe through the snorkel but it does take some people longer than others.

Hopefully you purchased a breathing tube which closes when it gets submerged underwater otherwise you may be swallowing a lot of water. I would start by snorkeling from the beach until you get the hang of using the breathing tube. It will make the excursion more fun so your not spending the whole time adjusting your mask. If your not used to it and exhale too much out of your nose you'll fog the lens very often. If you spit on the lens and rub it around it prevent the lens from fogging (I'm not kidding).

I didn't try to snorkel until two years ago. The ship was in Half Moon Cay and we were at the Grand Cabana. I wanted to see if I could figure it. It took a few minutes to get the breath from the mouth figured out, but then I was off and checking out the fish--naturally I forgot to check to see if my underwater camera was charged (it wasn't and died 10 minutes in). I figured it out, so decided that for St. Thomas I was going to snorkel...and that was when they said we had one choice--JUMP from the boat...that was fun....

I knew I was going to be snorkeling at two of the three port stops, so I opted to buy my own snorkel gear. Although the attempt, after a year, wasn't so successful right off the bat. The water was rough and I think I swallowed far too much salt water...I should have gotten into the pool on the ship to reteach myself. The snorkeling two days later in Cozumel was much more successful...not rough, and start from a set of stairs into the shallow water

Have fun and bring an underwater camera....you're going to be amazed!

I actually gave DH a GoPro for Father's Day/birthday this year and he is SO excited about getting to use it!

Hopefully you purchased a breathing tube which closes when it gets submerged underwater otherwise you may be swallowing a lot of water. I would start by snorkeling from the beach until you get the hang of using the breathing tube. It will make the excursion more fun so your not spending the whole time adjusting your mask. If your not used to it and exhale too much out of your nose you'll fog the lens very often. If you spit on the lens and rub it around it prevent the lens from fogging (I'm not kidding).

After reading a lot of reviews, I did buy the set with a dry snorkel. Thanks so much for the input, PapaJason.

I posted this in the "SCUBA & Snorkeling" forum but I haven't had any replies so I thought I'd ask my friends on the Carnival forum for input:

 

DH and I are getting ready to go on our fifth cruise but we have never snorkeled...sad, I know! We've wanted to on several occasions but it just hasn't worked out. This cruise will be different. We've researched and purchased our equipment which should arrive a day or two before we leave. Having said all of this, would it be to our advantage to book a snorkeling excursion since we've never even tried it or should we try to freestyle until we get the hang of it? I've looked at White Sands in Grand Turk and thought about booking both the shallow and the Wall but I'm just not sure. Any insight would be appreciated.

DH loves to snorkel, but I had trouble with breathing through the snorkel. I would try to breathe through my nose and then panic because I felt like I could not breathe. I finally started using good quality goggles and a nose plug and then I had no problems using the snorkel to breathe. it looks a little strange, but it works for me and I could believe how fast the hour and a half snorkeling between the Pitons went in March. DH says I could probably go back to using the mask now that I have breathing through the snorkel mastered, but I am OK with what I do.

We are booked with White Sands in Grand Turk due to the terrific reviews they get. Several reviews mention how well they do with novices. They have been very easy to deal with so far. They also limit the size of the group to no more than 10 or so while the Carnival excursions can have up to 40 on a boat.

Hello cruzeluver!

We are going to Grand Turk in July. We want to see the most stingrays possible without a lot of people on board. How was your experience with White Sands? Would you recommend them?

Thank you!

Sam

DH and I are in our 60's and just started snorkeling a couple of years ago. We had only done this one time before in Grand Caymen and were hooked. We have snorkeled now at Trunk Bay St. Johns and Grand Turk. We di Power Snorkling at the wall in Grand Turk which was really fun and saw a lot of fish. The wall is a little freey the way it goes from seeing everything to seeing nothing but black...great exeriene and glad I got the corage up to do go there.

We heard from others on our cruise there that they snorkeled right off the beach and I believe there is a sunken boat out there that is suppose to hold a lot of fish. We are going back in Sept. ont he breeze and plan to stay in the port area to snorkel this time around. :D