A Guide To Enjoying Snorkeling by Learning To Overcome Common Fears
To share my love of the ocean with my family, we used an empathetic process to apply the principles of graded exposure
I love everything about the ocean. There is nothing more spectacular than the experience of snorkeling or diving surrounded by ancient and majestic sea creatures. The empathy and intelligence of whales and dolphins that is almost palpable. The hypnotic movements of sea turtles. The thrilling nonchalance of passing sharks. Darting reef fish, waving corals. It’s like entering a different universe.
There is one thing that I love more than the ocean. And that is having the chance to share these experiences with a loved one. Over the 12 years that I have lived on Costa Rica’s Osa Peninsula, I have worked with many tourists (adults and children alike) who have had various fears about snorkeling or swimming in the ocean. Some people have fears of being gobbled up by a shark. Some people are worried about their swimming prowess. Some people find snorkel masks to be truly panic-inducing. In fact, 46% of people in the United States are afraid of simply being in the deep end of a swimming pool.
Certainly, one of the most acute cases of this was my wife. For almost her entire life she was terrified of water. Diving into it, swimming in waves, putting on a snorkeling mask. Any of these activities would induce hyperventilation, panic, and an overall crummy day.
This is no longer the case. In around 15 sessions over the course of six months, we have gone on an amazing journey together in overcoming this fear. By taking small achievable steps, she has gone from someone who hated putting her head under the water, to someone who is now learning how to free dive. No matter your age or skill level, this method, based on a combination of psychology, snorkel teacher tips, and empathy, can help you to reach your goals, which can make snorkeling a healthy and educational life-long passion for you and your family.
Understanding Fear
One of the most frustrating things about most “Snorkeling tips for Beginners” articles is that they will inevitably include the phrases “don’t panic” or “relax.” For anyone who has ever been afraid of anything, or had experiences with anxiety, this advice is tantamount to telling you to “stop thinking.” For anyone with a spouse who has fears or anxieties, you probably know that using these phrases is an easy way to get your head bitten off.
Telling someone to stop being afraid is totally ineffective because it doesn’t offer any specific instructions on how to do this. It also often has the effect of making the person feel embarrassed or shameful of their fear, introducing yet another barrier to success.
Instead of just saying “don’t panic, now get in the water,” a more empathetic approach is required. Understanding why you are afraid of snorkeling or swimming really is the first step. Have a conversation with your snorkeling partner or children about what they are worried about. It could be getting water in their eyes, running out of energy and drowning, getting hit by waves, not being able to breathe with a mask on, getting water in their mouth, or many others.
From this conversation, you can create a series of baby steps that in psychology is referred to as Graded Exposure Therapy. Essentially, you are trying to create a hierarchy of specific fears and start with the easiest ones. An important thing that my wife and I found, was not to put any sort of timeline on these steps. Let yourself be in control of when you feel comfortable to go on to the next step. One of the most common reasons for fears and anxieties is related to a lack of control. Thus, any time you have an opportunity to introduce a feeling of control over the process will be a positive thing.
Another way to feel more in control when you are snorkeling or swimming is by understanding the mechanics of the ocean. This brings us to our next step.
What’s the Worst That Can Happen?
Practice getting water in your eyes
In past experiences, my wife would often panic when her mask started filling up with water. Thus, our very first baby step was getting into shallow, calm water and experimenting with putting her unmasked face under the water and opening her eyes.
It might sound outrageous to people who are more experienced with snorkeling and diving, and you might not need to begin with this basic step. But you don’t need to feel silly if this is where you need to start. Even if you are an adult from the supposedly water-loving country of Australia, such as my wife. If necessary, it might be preferable to find a secluded place to practice these first steps to eliminate any extra anxieties related to “people watching you.”
After a few tries, a small but important realization occurred. “Oh, if I get saltwater in my eyes, nothing really happens.” When using this approach to overcoming fears, you will find small realizations in safe environments that will begin to add together and snowball. The idea is to gradually understand that the worst-case scenario is nowhere near as bad as you imagine. As you accumulate experiences you can begin to feel in control, more confident, and less fearful.
Practice floating
The next baby step under this heading was to overcome the fear of not being a strong enough swimmer to snorkel. To accomplish this, my wife spent a lot of time just floating on her back.
Many people panic when they are snorkeling as they start to feel themselves get tired. Thus, it is important to understand and experience the fact that your body will naturally float as long as you have some air in your lungs. If you get tired or panicky, there is no reason to flail about or frantically try to swim to shore. All you need to do is stay still and float while you regain your strength. Even if you are an advanced snorkeler, it is always recommended to venture out with a partner. So what’s the worst that can happen? Stay still and float until your buddy comes to help you get to shore.
There’s a difference between knowing this and knowing you can do it, so you have to spend time in the water floating, with no other goal than to get comfortable with it. You can start by using a life jacket during this step to add a further sense of security.
Playing with waves
The last of these baby steps that my wife was particularly terrified of was waves. I venture to suggest that most of you will have a childhood memory of being dumped on by waves and losing your footing or sense of direction. Not at all pleasant.
What we found was that most online advice says that you should dive under waves by actively trying to swim underneath them. This actually turned out to be terrible advice. To state the painfully obvious, the wave is moving. A simpler technique for beginners is to dive under the water, remain as horizontal as possible, and just pop straight back up when the wave has passed over. No need for frantic swimming.
I will never forget the moment when my wife first accomplished this. She came out the other side and began jumping up and down and yelling with excitement. “That wasn’t even that difficult!” It was an amazing feeling for both of us.
Introduce Equipment One Step at a Time
There are essentially three components to snorkel equipment. The mask, the snorkel, and the fins. The first thing to tackle is the mask. Many people feel a bit strange with a snorkel mask covering up their nose. You might even feel as though you can’t breathe properly. Of course, you can breathe using your mouth, but it can feel odd when you are forced into this exclusively.
The Mask
Start with the mask only, without the snorkel attached. Prepare your mask by spitting into the goggles, rubbing the saliva over the lens surface, and then rinsing them. This will prevent them from fogging up.
Make sure the mask fits by placing it on your face without the strap and closing your nose. The mask fits if it sticks to your face.
Finally, when you put on your mask, make sure there is no hair caught in it which will break the seal. For men, shaving your mustache is a very good idea. If you are very attached to your mustache, I have heard of people having success by spreading Vaseline on the area.
With your mask on, sit out of the water for as long as necessary and breathe in and out through your mouth to get used to the feeling. Then, practice your original baby steps in the water with the mask on. You should find that they are even easier.
By gradually exposing yourself to each experience, the mask simply becomes a cool piece of equipment, not something to make you panic. You know you can accomplish these things without the mask, but having it on just makes it more fun because you can see clearly underwater.
The snorkel
Clipping the snorkel onto the mask is the next part. Put the mouthpiece in and use your lips (not your teeth) to create a seal. Don’t worry, everyone looks like they have a fish face when they are wearing a snorkel!
Again, practice breathing like this while you are out of the water. Then, practice simply floating face down in the water with the mask and snorkel and breathing calmly. Whether you are using a life jacket or not at this stage, remind yourself that you don’t need to go anywhere or do anything if you don’t want to. You can float.
The fins
The last piece in your snorkel kit is your fins. These are invaluable, especially if you are not the strongest swimmer. You can swim twice as far with half the effort when you are wearing them. You can test this by timing yourself in a swimming pool with and without fins.
The best way to get your fins on at a beach is to do it in the water. It is extremely awkward to walk in fins (think clown shoes), and you really don’t want to get sand or rocks stuck in them. At first, you might need your partner as a shoulder to lean on while you are putting them on.
When snorkeling with fins, it is not necessary (nor desirable) to frantically kick and splash around. A slow and steady movement of your legs will take you a lot further than you think, and you won’t tire out so quickly. Again, always remember that you can stop kicking and just float.
Take it slow
After many outings using the snorkel gear, my wife began to become more and more confident. She still didn’t like being far from shore, and she could usually only stay in for about 15 minutes, but it was a far cry from the beginning of our journey.
Then there was one day when she was passively floating around just off the shore of one of our local beaches. I turned around to see a very large wave coming towards her. I could see it wouldn’t break before reaching her, but it was definitely of a size that would normally freak her out.
I watched in amazement as she calmly and unknowingly snorkeled right over the top of the huge roll of water. As it passed, she realized what had happened and lifted her head out to look back to shore. “Oh my god!” She screamed. “That was a huge wave! Oh my god! I didn’t even notice it, I was looking at the fish!”.
This, I believe was a true turning point. The joy and adrenaline of this day is something we will both always remember.
A Quick Note Overcoming Problems in the Water
As you become more confident with your snorkeling skills, there are two important things to practice. The more you practice them, the more in control you will feel, and thus be less likely to panic.
1. Clearing Your Mask of Water
Remembering that it’s not the end of the world if you get saltwater in your eyes—you can easily clear your mask without removing it.
Press on your mask frame just between the eyes. Then blow out somewhat firmly through your nose. This action should cause any water that may have been inside to be ejected out from the bottom of the mask.
Unless you’ve got short hair, removing one’s mask while snorkeling can become cumbersome because of getting hair inside the mask or just hair tangling issues in general. Once your mask is in place, it’s much easier to just leave it that way until you’re finished snorkeling altogether.
2. Clearing Your Snorkel of Water
Getting water in your mouth can be a huge fear for beginner snorkelers. My wife still clears her snorkel by taking her head out of the water, and the snorkel out of her mouth to drain it.
However, a really good thing to practice is blowing the water out like a whale. Not only is it infinitely cooler to breathe like a whale, but it is also much more practical in choppy water.
Practice breathing in all the way and out only half the way when you are snorkeling. This method allows you to always have half of your lung capacity available to blow the water out from the top of your snorkel.
There Is No Greater Motivation Than Learning About Animals
If you are lucky enough to live near the ocean, or you have the opportunity to holiday in these locations, snorkeling is one of the most accessible and satisfying of all wildlife activities. A good quality set of snorkel gear can last you your whole life. It is great for people who have trouble with hiking or high-impact activities. Above all, the animals you can experience are like no others on planet earth.
When my wife first exclaimed, “I didn’t even notice the wave; I was looking at the fish!” It really hit home how powerfully fascinating these creatures can be.
In my other lifetime, when I worked at a bank, I had a saltwater aquarium in my house. I remember it being the most relaxing and therapeutic thing just to sit and stare at it. The miniature ecosystem moving and changing and growing.
Now, my wife and I make an effort to learn as much as we can about all the different species that we see. And we are constantly learning new things, both from books and from our experiences together.
Did you know that the crackling sound you hear on a coral reef is the sound of hoards of tiny snapping shrimp? Did you know that dolphins mate face to face? Did you know that lobe-finned fish are more closely related to humans than they are to other fish?
The more you learn to appreciate the wonders of aquatic environments, the more motivated you will be to get better at snorkeling. The process of learning and writing down new species and experiences can also be a wonderful activity for the whole family.
Last, but certainly not least, learning about the animals you are swimming with can help to reduce your fear of the animals themselves. For example, worldwide there were only 57 unprovoked shark attacks last year. You are about 32,000 times more likely to be in a fatal car crash. Another example, in the last 100 years there have only been 25 cases of barracuda biting people and all of these are thought to have been provoked. Even with these highly feared animals, incidents are so low because sea creatures are largely uninterested in you unless you intentionally bother them. Knowledge is power.
Taking the Training Wheels Off
After three years of gradually introducing new steps, my wife and I have shared some incredible experiences in the ocean together. She now feels comfortable being at least 150 meters from the shore or the boat. We have even begun practicing how to free dive (swimming underwater with snorkel gear on). She even no longer uses a life jacket when snorkeling.
As for me, I have learned so much about helping people cope with their fears throughout this process. Having empathy for your spouse or children is absolutely key. If you’re like me and have been swimming for your entire life, these fears might seem totally bamboozling. But by following this method of Graded Exposure, I have seen that it really is the best way to help someone overcome their anxieties about the ocean.
You can tailor this approach to anyone by simply identifying the things that they find most scary and creating gradual steps to achieving your collective goal. For example, if fear of fish or other sea creatures is the main issue, you might make one of your baby steps be putting your hand into a fishbowl.
Don’t worry if it sounds silly. Remember that 46% of people are afraid of being at the deep end of a swimming pool. You and your family are not alone. Motivate yourself by learning about all the amazing things that you will be able to see together. Whether you are the learner or the teacher, having the ability to share a love of the ocean will be one of the most rewarding experiences of your life.
