Getting Children Comfortable with Snorkeling

Most children who enjoy swimming love to go snorkeling and skin diving. Kids get tremendously excited when they see a fish, turtle, crab, or just about any marine creature. To them, diving represents a tremendous adventure that they can participate in, and this is a great family activity that everyone can enjoy.

Of course, as in any water based activity, you must take certain common sense precautions with children. They must be able to swim, and be comfortable swimming in a pool before you should ever consider taking them into open water. They also must understand that they must follow your directions explicitly at all times while in the water.

Although you might be tempted to get the least expensive equipment available for children because of the way they grow, think again. If you want children to enjoy the experience and you don't want to endanger them, they need good quality gear. It doesn't need to be as flashy as the equipment you might purchase for yourself, but it is essential that the gear fits them properly and is of a high enough quality that it will not break or otherwise fail to perform.

There are many good quality, smaller masks which are available for children today. Their mask must fit their face without leaking just as your mask should. Children will not usually outgrow a mask or snorkel for a few years.

Be sure the mask has a glass lens, which is more resistant to breakage. In addition, if a glass lens breaks it forms around "pebbles" of glass, rather than sharp shards.

Snorkels for children must be small enough to fit their mouths easily. It's especially important to make sure the snorkel is not too long. For a child, a snorkel should not be much longer than 12 inches.

It will generally be more economical to buy open heel adjustable fins for children than full foot fins. A child will outgrow a full foot fin very quickly, but an open heel adjustable fin will last for several seasons. Some open heel adjustable fins are available with padded inserts that can be removed as the child grows, allowing you to extend the useful life of the fin.

Before you take a child out into open water with mask, fins and snorkel, it's a good idea for them to learn how to use the equipment in a pool first. While using fins is very natural, you will need to show your children how to properly don and adjust the fins so they don't lose them. You will probably need to assist them until they can do this themselves. Even then you'll probably still want to check their gear, at which time you can reinforce the buddy system by having them "check" your gear.

You'll also need to attach the snorkel to the mask and adjust the mask strap for your child. Smaller children may not appreciate the importance of making sure there is no hair inside the mask. You may need to help them with this.

Although it is not difficult to breathe through a snorkel, small children may have a difficult time clearing a snorkel or dealing with the sudden influx of water that occurs when a wave laps water into it. If the child can't clear the snorkel, make sure they understand that they can remove it from their mouth to drain the water out.

Once a child is at ease with the snorkeling gear in a pool you can make the transition with them to the ocean or lake. Don't try to make this move until the child indicates that they are ready to do so.