Snorkeling Safety Tips for your Health and Enjoyment
by Snorkel Bob, Himself
Snorkeling (Boogie Boarding below)
1) Snorkeling is a buddy sport. You help your buddy. She helps you.
2) Never turn your back on the ocean, especially if a wave is cresting or crashing. Duck or dive under breaking waves to avoid their force. Don’t try to jump over them.
3) Snorkel meditation takes 5-10 minutes. Savor the moment. Watch surf, current & surge on reefs/rocks.
4) Avoid wana (VON•na)–black sea urchin. Your snorkel 1st aid kit is peroxide, antibiotic ointment & cigarettes–– tobacco stops most stings. So does making shishi on sting, but this can test a friendship.
5) Enter and exit from a sandy beach area.
6) Never swim against a current. Swim diagonally across it.
7) Avoid snorkeling at dusk or dawn (gray light). Avoid murky water.
8) Friends don’t let friends snorkel drunk or in strong wind.
9) Check with lifeguard on conditions before going in. “Everything cool?”
10) Persons with heart conditions should consult a physician prior to snorkeling or the luau buffet.
Snorkeling = Relaxation. Tension is dense & wants to sink; relaxation is buoyant. Breathe slow, deep & easy. Kicking is also relaxed, knees fairly straight. Your snorkel WILL FILL WITH WATER on a free dive, and you will burn far more calories & O2. Water will leave your snorkel as you surface & shoot the pea through the shooter. Ptooey! If you did it right, your inhale will be uneventful. If you did it wrong (choke, snuk, glug) you may want to try again.
Undertow, cross-current & tide-rip are EZ to avoid. IF you get caught: RELAX. They will tire & let you go, as your mother once did. If big waves come outa nowhere, don’t try to beat them in—stay outside until the set (of waves) runs its cycle. Ocean emotions soon return to peace & love. Most days are serene.
Boogie Boarding
1) Don’t body board close outs (waves that collapse).
2) Don’t body board shore break (waves that break close in, over shallow bottom.
3) Don’t body board unfamiliar areas. (Ask around.)
4) Don’t body board secluded areas. (Don’t ask.)
5) Don’t body board alone. (Use one buddy.)
6) Don’t watch small local children ride killer surf and say, Hey, if they can do it, I can do it, after all. Small local children surf first, crawl and walk later.
7) Don’t break your neck. (Or your back, usually from thrust into shallow bottom like one pogo stick—head where rubber bouncer used to be.)
8) Check with lifeguard about conditions before going into the water.
9) Don’t do this.
10) Don’t do that.
