Eric Sedletzky
Contributor
I do, I beach dive with kelp.
I snorkel out to the drop zone and can navigate through the kelp much easier whilst snorkeling looking down and forward. I’ll pick a path through clearings or push the kelp aside and move on. It’s a lot easier and less entanglement than laying on my back and having kelp wrap around my tank valve. Having kelp wrapped around your tank valve is a total pain in the ass, you should try it one time and it will make perfect sense why people in my area still use snorkels. I’ve had one attached to my mask now for so long I don’t even notice it.
Yes, read - IN MY AREA. If I was diving in a quarry, lake, cave, off a boat, tropics, etc. then no I would not use a snorkel.
“Save that precious air for diving, not surface swimming”, said my favorite instructor.
I see no need to detach it and stow it.
One thing about where I dive, if anything is loose or could come loose the ocean will take it. Everything is set up the way it’s set up for a reason. The ocean has claimed computers, more dive knives than I care to remember, compasses, slates, lights, spear guns, fins, you name it. It has never claimed a snorkel that was securely attached to my mask.
I snorkel out to the drop zone and can navigate through the kelp much easier whilst snorkeling looking down and forward. I’ll pick a path through clearings or push the kelp aside and move on. It’s a lot easier and less entanglement than laying on my back and having kelp wrap around my tank valve. Having kelp wrapped around your tank valve is a total pain in the ass, you should try it one time and it will make perfect sense why people in my area still use snorkels. I’ve had one attached to my mask now for so long I don’t even notice it.
Yes, read - IN MY AREA. If I was diving in a quarry, lake, cave, off a boat, tropics, etc. then no I would not use a snorkel.
“Save that precious air for diving, not surface swimming”, said my favorite instructor.
I see no need to detach it and stow it.
One thing about where I dive, if anything is loose or could come loose the ocean will take it. Everything is set up the way it’s set up for a reason. The ocean has claimed computers, more dive knives than I care to remember, compasses, slates, lights, spear guns, fins, you name it. It has never claimed a snorkel that was securely attached to my mask.