A couple suggestions:
Right when you get your mask, fins, and snorkle ( I have no suggestions on brands, I am a no-brand kind of guy, if it fits good, its cool with me )
But, I right when you get your stuff, go into water a little deeper than your waste, just deep enough so that when you go down onto your knees, your head will be underwater, or at least most of it and play with your gear in the shallows for a little while, it will make it a lot easier to advance your abilities once you are in open water.
I would try the following exercises, or skills, or whatever you want to call them:
1) Practice plugging your nose and blowing through your ears underwater, I would only do it once or twice, just so you aren't doing it for the first time in open water. Remember as you dive down, do this before you feel a lot of pressure on your ears.
2) go ALL the way underwater, so that your snorkle fills with water, and then come up so just your snorkle is sticking out of the water, and use the air in your lungs to BLOW the water out of your snorkle.
Use your tongue as a "splash guard", in other words use your tongue as kind of a guard to make sure only air passes by it, and no water goes down your throght. You probably will swallow some water, probably a lot at first.
Remember before you go under to have air in your lungs, so you will have enough air to BLOW the water out of the snorkle. Once you are good at it, little kids should mistake you for a small whale.
If you are having trouble blowing all the water out, Take a DEEP, as DEEP as possible breath... Use your tongue to make sure no water goes in your lungs, and take this breath very slowly, SLOWLY AND DEEPLY BREATH in THEN BLOW SUPER HARD... WALLA no water.
2) Go under water, with just the snorkle sticking out, and blow air through your nose, don't just exhale, BLOW the air out of your nose (try to blow only air out, no bugers, but bugers can be useful, I will explain in a minute)
This will not only help you to know how to equalize your mask, but it helps with the next exercise too.
3) Go under water, and fill your mask with water (I would close my eyes if you aren't use to salt water) and then
With your index fingers pressed up against the top of your mask, Don't press hard, just enough so that the top doesn't come off your face,
AND
Use your thumbs to take your mask away from your face
While you LOOK UP.... AIR GOES UP IN WATER, SO LOOK UP or it won't work
And BLOW through your nose.
This is how you Clear your mask, if any water gets in it... It is easier than having to take your mask off.
4) The BUGERS; Actually SPIT, but spit with a good loogie in it works best, spit into the inside of your mask, whipe it around with your finger, and then dip it into the water, ONCE, then put it back on your face. This is how you de-fog your mask. You can buy de-fogger too, and use that instead, but it takes the fun out of the sport.
5) With your fins on, swim around in the shallows for a little while, focus on becoming STREAMLINED, in other words, you water to be as horizontal in the water as possible so you don't start breathing heavy, because breathing heavy through a snorkle sucks.
The horizontal thing obviously doesn't apply when you are in a dive.
To dive I always bend my upper body down, and then kick my feet up, my feet go up in the air, then my body shoots straight down head first... But I know people dive differently, so people feel more comfortable diagnoly, I even know a guy that dives butt first, don't ask...
But it is a good idea to practice these skills in the shallows, if you ever start Scuba diving you have to know them anyway.
Right when you get your mask, fins, and snorkle ( I have no suggestions on brands, I am a no-brand kind of guy, if it fits good, its cool with me )
But, I right when you get your stuff, go into water a little deeper than your waste, just deep enough so that when you go down onto your knees, your head will be underwater, or at least most of it and play with your gear in the shallows for a little while, it will make it a lot easier to advance your abilities once you are in open water.
I would try the following exercises, or skills, or whatever you want to call them:
1) Practice plugging your nose and blowing through your ears underwater, I would only do it once or twice, just so you aren't doing it for the first time in open water. Remember as you dive down, do this before you feel a lot of pressure on your ears.
2) go ALL the way underwater, so that your snorkle fills with water, and then come up so just your snorkle is sticking out of the water, and use the air in your lungs to BLOW the water out of your snorkle.
Use your tongue as a "splash guard", in other words use your tongue as kind of a guard to make sure only air passes by it, and no water goes down your throght. You probably will swallow some water, probably a lot at first.
Remember before you go under to have air in your lungs, so you will have enough air to BLOW the water out of the snorkle. Once you are good at it, little kids should mistake you for a small whale.
If you are having trouble blowing all the water out, Take a DEEP, as DEEP as possible breath... Use your tongue to make sure no water goes in your lungs, and take this breath very slowly, SLOWLY AND DEEPLY BREATH in THEN BLOW SUPER HARD... WALLA no water.
2) Go under water, with just the snorkle sticking out, and blow air through your nose, don't just exhale, BLOW the air out of your nose (try to blow only air out, no bugers, but bugers can be useful, I will explain in a minute)
This will not only help you to know how to equalize your mask, but it helps with the next exercise too.
3) Go under water, and fill your mask with water (I would close my eyes if you aren't use to salt water) and then
With your index fingers pressed up against the top of your mask, Don't press hard, just enough so that the top doesn't come off your face,
AND
Use your thumbs to take your mask away from your face
While you LOOK UP.... AIR GOES UP IN WATER, SO LOOK UP or it won't work
And BLOW through your nose.
This is how you Clear your mask, if any water gets in it... It is easier than having to take your mask off.
4) The BUGERS; Actually SPIT, but spit with a good loogie in it works best, spit into the inside of your mask, whipe it around with your finger, and then dip it into the water, ONCE, then put it back on your face. This is how you de-fog your mask. You can buy de-fogger too, and use that instead, but it takes the fun out of the sport.
5) With your fins on, swim around in the shallows for a little while, focus on becoming STREAMLINED, in other words, you water to be as horizontal in the water as possible so you don't start breathing heavy, because breathing heavy through a snorkle sucks.
The horizontal thing obviously doesn't apply when you are in a dive.
To dive I always bend my upper body down, and then kick my feet up, my feet go up in the air, then my body shoots straight down head first... But I know people dive differently, so people feel more comfortable diagnoly, I even know a guy that dives butt first, don't ask...
But it is a good idea to practice these skills in the shallows, if you ever start Scuba diving you have to know them anyway.
