The following is from Wikipedia:
“Ichthyophobia is the fear of fish. Although the term technically refers to a specific phobia, in many contexts it may refer to any kind of fear of fish, such as fear of eating fish, or fear of dead fish. Galeophobia is a subtype of ichthyophobia specifically focused on one species: sharks.”

Since “fear of eating fish” is mentioned fear of swimming with fish would fall into the same category. The article is fascinating and quite informative…if you want to read on Ichthyophobia.

I can more than understand that many not liking to swim with fish. It wasn’t until I became a scuba diver that I realized that it was more of a fear of not seeing them while swimming and having one nip at you. Now that I scuba dive I am no longer worrying about what’s below me because I can see them under the water on a more face to fish level. I also don’t eat fish and consider it as a sign of good faith that they won’t eat me LOL. To top it all off I have been teaching scuba and snorkeling for 25 years and currently work at a scuba diving facility, Visibility Unlimited and have come to appreciate the fish a lot more than I used to.

Another part of our job is to go on the internet and answer snorkeling questions that we find and we will now share some with you, as you may have the same questions.

What are the types of marine life i will see from swimming from shore on beaches on the Riviera Maya?

The most common thing will be Yellowtail Snapper, you might see Turtles, Sea Anemone, Corals, Squirrel Fish, Parrot Fish, and occasional Grouper or two, Eels (green moray and spotted), Sea Cucumber. There are a couple of excellent waterproof books by Paul Humann that list a lot of the fish and marine life that you will see in the area, Reef Fish in a Pocket Guide, Reef Creatures in a Pocket Guide and there is the new Fish Flips Snorkeling Wrist Books that are quite useful also.

What is skin diving that is a water sport?

Actually there is a difference between a snorkeling and a skin diving. Snorkeling remains at the surface the entire time. They remain a snorkeler until they submerge on a breath hold dive. Snorkelers that go below the surface of the water are called skin divers. There is also more of a distinction being made nowadays between skin diving and free diving. People are starting to consider free diving more of an extreme form of skin diving.

Going on vacation soon? For those who have little ones, here is a great site that is a snorkeling color page for the little snorkelers.

Well, the snorkeling coloring page is just not for the young, here is my page.