Snorkeling 101

After our 1am start the previous morning, a day spent relaxing at the resort was definitely in order.  However, this was also our last ‘free’ day before our check-out on Wednesday, so it was our final opportunity to take advantage of some all-inclusive snorkeling.

So off to the water-sports centre we went, and signed up for the 2pm snorkeling trip.  As neither of us has snorkeled before, we were kitted out with masks and fins and escorted to the pool for a lesson.  I was pretty nervous, though soon discovered that there was no need to have been.  After a couple of seconds of mild anxiety, I was comfortable (as was Kit), and four widths of the pool were enough to convince the staff that we weren’t going to be a total liability out on the ocean.

A short while later, we were fitted with life-jackets (mandatory throughout the ‘dive’), and escorted to our boat which had approached within a metre of the waterline at the Club Med beach.  There were 15 of us heading out, half of whom were taking their maiden snorkeling voyage.

We didn’t head out far, and it was by no means an exceptional diving spot.  But we saw a few fish, and had 45 minutes getting comfortable with the currents and the fact that – with everyone swimming around in different directions – the biggest peril was in fact crashing into each other.  We were warned about the possibility of jellyfish but saw none.

Towards the end of our ‘dive’, I did begin to feel a bit tired, though I suspect our exertions the previous day had a lot to do with that.  I also got some foot cramps… an occupational hazard of swimming with fins?

I’m not sure we’ll be snorkeling during the Australian leg of our trip, but once we get to Tahiti we most certainly will.  Now I know how easy it is, I’m looking forward to it.

Later that day, we took a ‘cruise’ out on the same boat that we’d used for snorkeling earlier.  This proved to be a more practical opportunity for the inevitable selfie.