Well check out this new tool! How cool is this…. It is from WeatherUnderground.com and it is a site that shows to the day, what the water temperature is.

Do you see the bright red? That is water temperatures from 85 to 90 degrees, so it looks like if you want to snorkel in the warm waters, you better head to the South Pacific, Central America or South Africa.

Send me a postcard!

U.S. Divers is a reputable brand for snorkel gear and they continue to rejuvenate their snorkel gear including their snorkeling fins. This video shows the Midwest Regional Sales Manager for Aqualung, U.S. Divers & Deep See, Jeff Wandschneider explain the difference of their most popular snorkeling fins, U.S. Divers Travel Trek Fins and the U.S. Divers Blast II Fins.  Enjoy!

We often get asked a lot of questions and quite intelligent ones. How can I stay underwater longer was the most recent and so I went to go and research the answer.

I found a website about How to Hold to Hold Your Breath Longer that incorporates breathing exercises. You can also hold your breath longer by a process called hyperventilation. This involves taking 3 or 4 quick breaths in succession immediately before you go underwater. Place emphasis on your exhales by blowing as much air out of your lungs as possible. The last inhale before descending should be as deep as possible.

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the gas that we need in order to trigger the brain to initiate the response to inhale. CO2 is the byproduct that results when the body metabolizes the Oxygen (O2) The body needs the CO2 to reach a certain level before it is triggered. Doing the forceful exhalations you are trying to get as much CO2 out of your lungs as possible. This extends the breath- hold by tricking the brain into thinking it doesn’t need to breathe.

I learned it eons ago and have taught it to a countless number of Scuba Divers and Snorkelers. I teach for Visibility Unlimited and it is extremely important that no more than 4 breaths be used because excess hyperventilation can cause you to pass out or experience what is called “Shallow Water Blackout“. Here is a link to an article I found on shallow water blackout. Being able to hold your breath longer in warm water than in cold water, is because your body works harder in colder water.

I received a very nice email from a fellow snorkeler, Amalia and she told me about how you (we) can go diving with the sharks in Maui, at the Maui Ocean Center.

Years ago, I have had the pleasure to visit the beautiful islands of Hawaii many times and I was totally unaware of this wonderful experience. (though this program might have just started in the last few years).

If you know scuba diving, you will know that the diving in Maui is not inexpensive. You will pay an average of $125.00 for 2 tanks and there is no guarantee what you will see. Here at the Maui Ocean Center, you will be in the water up to 2.5 hours for $199.00. You will experience in the 750,000 gallon tank, sharks stingrays and thousands of tropical reef fish.

Though the Maui Ocean Center only offers the experience of scuba diving, we hope that one day they will realize that us snorkelers would love to experience this adventure also.

Thank you Amalia for the information!