Snorkel Alternatives...???

[SURFFOILS]

Hi, I’ve been in and out of diving for decades so I’m experienced but also completely new to whats available now.
I’m looking for a SCUBA type experience but without the tanks and weights so I’m leaning towards snorkelling but it doesn’t seem to have advanced much, still a mask and pipe deal.
I’ve recently seen the mini hookah systems which are cool but still complex, heavy, not really suitable for kids.
Is there anything that allows a diver to stay submerged just a few feet but doesn’t have a motor/ pump ?

Just thinking of something where I can clean the hull of a boat or scrounge a reef a few feet deep, maybe something that the kids can use to float and dive down around the rocks without the surfacing every 10 seconds and constant snorkel spitting. I’d really like the kids to just hang quietly underwater and take in the marine environment to see what really happens.
Seems like a big ask but apart from the snorkel, the next step is a motorised hookah or small pressurised tank which is too complex.
Anyone seen something or have any ideas ?

 

[Blasto]

Is there anything that allows a diver to stay submerged just a few feet but doesn’t have a motor/ pump ?

Well, maybe freediving. Otherwise, your lungs just don't have the power to suck in air in against more than a couple feet of water pressure.

Just thinking of something where I can clean the hull of a boat or scrounge a reef a few feet deep, maybe something that the kids can use to float and dive down around the rocks without the surfacing every 10 seconds and constant snorkel spitting. I’d really like the kids to just hang quietly underwater and take in the marine environment to see what really happens.
Seems like a big ask but apart from the snorkel, the next step is a motorised hookah or small pressurised tank which is too complex.

For diving down around the rocks, a basic freediving course is by far the most effective option - gives you a couple minutes underwater, no extra equipment you won't have for snorkeling.

Hookah systems are dangerous. What's complex about a small pressurized tank, though? You don't need a BC, since there's little air inside and suit compression is minimal or nonexistent, just a backpack or a basic strap. One reg since you're so close to the surface, SM style short SPG hose or even just a button.

 

[aquacat8]

Don’t forget the biggest pressure changes happen near the surface: if you kids dive down even shallow and hold their breath coming up fast on compressed air an AGE lung embolism is possible, and even in the shallows so is DCS. I would teach kids snorkeling first and read up on Freediving before you go there, make sure they have proper training for Freediving or Scuba!

 

[aquacat8]

This
Freediving Safety Tips

 

[SURFFOILS]

Thanks guys, I appreciate the input.
I’ve never enjoyed the snorkel, the whole spitting froth out after each dive and then if the spit doesn’t work then you have to get your face out of the water and clear the snorkel and frankly, that can be annoying after several dozens times. I wish there was a snorkel that kept the end above the water, so I could dive down a few feet and keep breathing and then not have to do ‘the spit’ over and over again. And a half blocked snorkel is as comfortable as a fully blocked snorkel.
In a funny way I feel a bit vulnerable taking the mouthpiece out repeatedly when I should be looking at what’s happening beneath me.
It’s like a day of snorkelling is ruined by snorkel itself.
I think I just want to have a better experience with snorkelling to recreate the fun I had with diving but I don’t want to get fully back into diving. Lazy ? Yeah probably.

 

[Blasto]

Not to sound critical, but are you sure your snorkeling technique is well-developed? Divers despise dorkels because modern BC and all-boat diving make them unnecessary. But using one isn't in my experience anywhere as torturous as you describe. Blast clearing is quite easy with the air you keep in your lungs upon surfacing, and if not, a displacement clear still doesn't involve removing the mouthpiece.


Personally, I don't snorkel, but mainly to avoid digesting the matter dissolved in the water near most snorkeling sites (they contain sanitary facilities and increasingly often hotels, but not any kind of treatment facilities, and the sea does not take care of it all; that rashguard odor isn't salt or sweat).

 

[scrane]

The air that remains in the tube contains less O2 and more CO2 be cause it is made up of your previous exhale. The longer the snorkel the more dead air. If used properly, breathing through a snorkel is easy and efficient. If you have to pull your face out of the water to get a breath you're doing something wrong. Practice makes perfect.

 

[SURFFOILS]

Blasto, you’ve opened my eyes about holiday resorts !
I’m getting older and while the flesh is willing it’s not always as responsive as it once was.
For such a relaxing sport, Diving takes some skill and effort I may not have anymore. I see a lot of kids with snorkels but they also don’t seem to enjoy it for a long time.
I loved diving years ago but it’s such a hassle to get it all organised so now I’m looking for a hybrid experience.... the ability to snorkel without the constraints of the snorkel.
Something more than snorkelling...something less than diving.
The pleasure of diving for me is the calm of submersion into the weightless world, the surface sucks with the chop and wind and weight of equipment but the depths require so much technical equipment, knowledge and expense to get there safely.
A cheaper option to lurk even a few feet submerged where it’s calm and beautiful and warmer but without the expense and rigmarole of equipment.
If I had a bigger brain I’d invent something !
Alas, it’s not to be unless anyone’s got a good idea ??

 

[SURFFOILS]

The air that remains in the tube contains less O2 and more CO2 be cause it is made up of your previous exhale. The longer the snorkel the more dead air. If used properly, breathing through a snorkel is easy and efficient. If you have to pull your face out of the water to get a breath you're doing something wrong. Practice makes perfect.

Scrane, I’m sure it’s my skill level but I’m thinking of the many people who are similarly afflicted with poor skills that would enjoy the experience if it was a bit easier.

 

[Blasto]

A cheaper option to lurk even a few feet submerged where it’s calm and beautiful and warmer but without the expense and rigmarole of equipment.

There is the option of using a pony as micro-SCUBA, with a very simple mount. No BC, no weights, just a bottle, some webbing, a valve-integrated first, a conventional second.

But it's still equipment, and you can't rent the tank, you have to own it, and need a way to refill it. Don't try to use spare airs as such, though, it's unreasonably hard to hold them with your teeth while moving.
Other than that, freediving is a very strong option. It's more physical, but less so than people think; not smoking is usually enough.

How about if there was a valve in the tube so it only drew fresh air in and you only exhaled through another valve into the water. Kinda like any stage 2 regulator but with a defined In valve and defined Out valve ?

That's a self-clearing snorkel.
Most big snorkeling-oriented snorkels work that way.

The in/out airways can't be completely separated like in a diving regulator, because you need air to clear the tube, and the only place it comes from is your lungs.