How to Snorkel Underwater - Blog - Macedonian Honey

Probably the best place to learn how to snorkel is in the controlled environment of a swimming pool. It takes a while to train your body into becoming comfortable breathing through a snorkel with your face in the water. The main trick is relaxing.

Make sure your mask strap is properly adusted. To prevent mask fogging, you can use a commercial solution for that purpose, or simply do what almost every diver has done, and spit in your mask, covering the interior of the lenses with your saliva. Then, slightly rinse out the mask, but don't rinse it too much or you'll wash away all the saliva.

Don't even think about not having fins. They are essential for safety. They give you a tremendous amount of swimming force and will save you a ton of energy.

Some people like a safety vest that can be inflated by mouth if necessary. With no air in it, you can dive underwater. But if you get tired, or otherwise have a problem that prevents you from swimming, you can blow air in your vest and float.

A thin-skin wet suit can protect you from exposure to sun, cold, jellyfish, rocks, and other things.

A dive flag lets boaters know to keep a safe distance.

Snorkel breathing techniques for beginners can seem overwhelming and create anxiety the first few times - as well as the fear factor. The mouthpiece can feel a little strange if you are not familiar with the proper technique of breathing through the barrel of a plastic snorkel tube.

Generally, you should try to breathe slowly and a little deeper than normal when you are snorkel breathing to ensure that carbon dioxide is exhaled from the lungs. Clearing dead air spaces inside the tube help you avoid the feeling of air starvation.

Once you learn how to snorkel on the water's surface, you'll probably want to dive down underwater, either just for the fun of it, or to check out something below. As you swim towards the surface, face upwards, and with snorkel barrel pointing somewhat downward, blow air into the snorkel. A fairly gentle blast may do it. Then as you continue to surface, the air in the snorkel will expand, causing the snorkel to clear.

As you dive down underwater, the surrounding pressure builds up because now not only do you have the weight of air in the atmosphere pressing against you, you also have the weight of whatever water is above you pressing against you. Where you can have a problem, however, is with rigid air spaces inside your body, like your inner ears and sinuses. The only way to solve the problem is to equalize the pressure inside your ears and sinuses. You can often equalize the pressure in your inner ears by swallowing, or holding your nose and swallowing. If it doesn't work, try wiggling your jaw while blowing gently through your nose and swallowing. Also, try ascending a few feet to let some pressure off your ears, then try to equalize.