Snorkelling is a terrific way to enjoy the sights of flora and fauna of the marine environment.So tranquil and relaxing,
as you float on the surface drifting along taking in the sights underwater,only sound you hear is from breathing from your snorkelling tube.
submerged your face in the water wearing a mask and snorkel and you basically block out the entire world if only for the brief period,its so surreal ,the feeling ,looking down upon a realm you are totally alien to ,yet ,awe by the seeming tranquility as the creatures here just move about nonchalantly,graceful ,silent.
Yet , behind the seemingly tranquil appearance is a world fraught with mystery ,neverending wonder,with a cast of the very bizare to the violent,ugly to enchantingly beautiful.colours of which isnt match by anything on dry land.
We can only be a visitor here,never a participant ,and only for very short periods,
because we just dont belong.
With snorkelling , its observation and admiration from a distance.The cute damsel fishes ,will be bold enough to feed off your hands, cheeky clownfish dart out and back in to their host anemones to chase you off if you venture too close, Or if you are lucky ,a turtle will swim up close to you to take a breath. Even the not agressive reef sharks make an appearance now and then.These are what beckons in shallow areas.
Alternatively ,just float on the surface and admire the corals from your vantage point,if you look closely enough ,you may just spot activity going on in the coral heads.crabs ,shrimps,eels , or the very well camouflaged octopus .
Then you will start to have an urge to be closer to the action, have a closer more personal look at it to your hearts content.
Or if you are a good enough skin diver(breathhold diving)you can always venture out into the slightly deeper areas , and just free dive down swimming with whatever it is you encounter. It is a fantastic sensation ,because you feel so free ,even if it is for a brief period , the environment so quiet when you dive in,it will be the closest sensation you will have to whats its like to fly. Albeit its will last you just as long as your lungs can withstand.nonetheless ,if done right ,can repeat the experience again and again.
Curiousity will get to you ,if you have been avidly snorkelling ,you will be intrigue to know whats down in deeper water,not accessible by conventional free diving because its too deep and your lungs cannot hold out that long ,esp. in depths of more than 20 metres and evn if you can manage to swim down to the depth ,theres not enough time to take in the view .And it is a different view in deeper environments.
Corals are more diverse and beautiful ,not similar to their shallow water cousins,larger predatorial fishes lurk around in this environment, fishes and other creatures mainly can be observed in their more natural habitat.
In shallower water there are waves and currents to contend with for many sea creatures ,which is why in deeper water ,there is more variety of critters ,from the tiny , weird and wonderful all at this depth avoiding the shallows.,that can be rough and turbulent at times.
even corals have more colour,soft corals,known by all to be very beautifully coloured
thrive in the deeper waters because of the lack of waves,so they dont need to be sturdy like their hard coral cousins in shallower waters.
and of course ,access to this world can only be done with a scuba gear.
Main difference with using scuba of course is the ability to stay for a longer period and take you own time to observe the creatures and also be able to cover a larger area underwater,up close and personal feeling with the sea critters cannot be had with snorkelling.
plus the fact that you do get a kick out of the fact that you can actually breathe underwater.
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