Snorkelling: top tips, must-sees, best places
|10:00 UK time, Monday, 9 August 2010
Editor's note: Whilst Jeremy is away, researcher Emma Brennand explores the best UK snorkelling sites.
Snorkelling is a fantastic way to take a sneaky peek at the wildlife under the waves. Just meters from your beach towel is a watery world that can be easy to explore.
Top five snorkelling tips:
1. Get yourself started with the basic kit: a mask, a pair of fins (flippers) and a snorkel. (But if you want to go really basic, a pair of swimming goggles will do.)
2. During the summer the UK's coastal waters average at a very bracing 16C. So it's probably a good idea to wear a wetsuit. Not only to keep warm but also to protect you from the sun.
3. Drink lots of water and apply lots of suncream even on overcast days. Otherwise you'll turn a similar shade to the crabs you've just been spying on.
4. Check the weather forecast and the tides to make sure there are no nasty surprises in store.
5. Always tell someone where you're off to and follow the maritime and coastguard agency's guide to seaside safety.
Snorkeling.co.uk has more advice for getting started or you can check out the NatureUK's where to see marine wildlife article for more info.
Update - 10th August: The seas are teeming with wildlife and it is a remarkable place to explore but please remember to keep a respectful distance and if observing basking sharks follow the Shark Trust's code of conduct.
So what can you see once you've got going? Here are the top 10 must-sees:
2. Dolphins and basking sharks
3. Anemones
4. Cuttlefish
6. Spider crabs
9. Lobster
10. Peacock worm
You'll get something worthwhile wherever you go but these locations are hard to beat:
3. Martin's Haven, Pembrokeshire
4. Conger Alley, Argyll
5. Farne Islands, Northumberland
Download British Sub-Aqua Club's pdf for more snorkelling locations.
And if all of this sounds far too relaxing and gentile, why not have a go at bog snorkelling.
Comment number 1.
At 17:48 9th Aug 2010, Naturalist12 wrote:Thanks - I am going to try snorkelling on holiday now!
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Comment number 2.
At 20:43 12th Aug 2010, 122abcdefghi wrote:For (1.), some sort of footwear which you don’t mind getting sea salty in the ocean, too, maybe, if you’re talking about the very basic. There is so much glass everywhere nowadays. It’s a super article, though.
Here’s something else.
“An improbable idea...?
*How possible would it be for companies to get window boxes equivalent upon their miles of industrial fences, planted especially with wild flowers for the bees?*
...Or, in the right hands, with the proper thought/plans/actions behind it, doable?”
(Many are the times I have wished to see these barren spots hold something useful [to nature]).
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Comment number 3.
At 10:32 13th Aug 2010, 122abcdefghi wrote:An addition/ response to my previous blog - am horrified, as only remembered today - some footwear can be dangerous in water and has been known to cause accidental drowning. To all, - apologies.
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