If you've never been on a snorkel safari before, let alone the country the safari will be in, you may be wondering what to pack! While we offer safaris to a variety of locations all around the world, the vast majority of them will require a very similar packing list as most of them take place in resorts of a similar caliber and tropical climates. Clothes While we are staying at some of the nicest resorts in the area, these tours are very casual with t-shirts and shorts being the general ensemble for most guests. For all of our tropical snorkel safaris, the weather will most certainly be warm, but in some places, rain is possible so it's always a good idea to bring a sweater or rain jacket just in case. Also, there may be some internal flights or taxis where the AC is quite cold and a jumper will again come in very handy. Also, keep in mind most of the resorts will have a laundry service so no need to pack two weeks worth of clothes. No need to pack beach towels or anything like that, the resorts will provide all of that. Do keep in mind the social etiquettes of the country you are traveling to, for example, is the country Islamic or will we be visiting temples or other sacred places where I'll need to cover up a bit more? In all the resorts and liveaboards we use, no matter what country, you can pretty much dress as you please. Shoes For about 90% of the trip, you'll be comfortable in sandals or even barefoot. I'd a type of sandal that can get wet as there may be times you need to board a boat from the beach or something like that and leather sandals
If you’ve never been on a snorkel safari before, let alone the country the safari will be in, you may be wondering what to pack! While we offer safaris to a variety of locations all around the world, the vast majority of them will require a very similar packing list as most of them take
We get a lot of questions about the level of fitness required to join one of our snorkel safaris, and the truth of the matter is we can't really answer that question with a simple statement of “Guests need to be at this level of fitness to join the Komodo safari,” for example. Reason being is that there are certain fitness factors that will vary from person to person. Some people might have difficulty with walking or climbing steps but feel perfectly comfortable in the water, while others might be a bit of the opposite. Prior to booking or selling a tour, we do our absolute best to paint as clear of a picture as possible of the physical requirements of the tour so as to give you an idea of what the trip will look like so you can make an assessment for yourself. Something else we'd like to mention is that since we started running our snorkeling safaris in 2018, we've had people of all fitness levels on our tours, including people with limited mobility on land, and we've always been able to make sure every guest was as comfortable as possible on land, and in the water for the duration of the trip. We'll do whatever we can to make sure every guest is there to witness those magical moments. That being said, if you do have specific physical limitations it's always a good idea to let us know in advance so we can make the necessary arrangements for the tour. Common Questions and Concerns Will we be snorkeling in current? In just about all of our tours, particularly in Indonesia, there is a good chance we will see current, BUT we rarely encounter it unless we have a gentle drift snorkel planned. We are constantly monitoring
We get a lot of questions about the level of fitness required to join one of our snorkel safaris, and the truth of the matter is we can’t really answer that question with a simple statement of “Guests need to be at this level of fitness to join the Komodo safari,” for example. Reason being
Night snorkeling may sound a bit like a silly idea or maybe even a bit scary, but let me assure you that if you do it right it's neither, and it can in fact be a highly unique and extremely cool snorkeling experience! Best Strategies for Night Snorkeling The best places to do a night snorkel are on shallow reefs in a calm bay where you'll have constant protection from waves and current. On just about all of our tours we do our night snorkels on the resort's house reefs which work perfectly as we have the resort's pier to help us in and out of the water whenever we want. We usually plan for a couple group night snorkeling experiences on all of our tours. Just to make the whole experience a bit less scary for anyone who's never done it before we typically plan to start our snorkel just before the sun sets so there is still enough light in the water so that we can slowly accustom ourselves to the darker waters. By the time the last light has left the water people are so engrossed in the snorkel that they haven't even noticed that it's gone completely black. Lights? Of course, everyone will have their own underwater flashlight to take with them. For those that don't have their own the resorts will have one you can borrow or rent. One of the cool things about night snorkeling, aside from the amazing thing you'll see, is how your focus on the reef changes. During the day snorkeling sessions the ambient light from the sun illuminates the entire reef, but at night you are focused only on the small area that your hand-held light lights up. Most guests find that having a refined field of view of the
Night snorkeling may sound a bit like a silly idea or maybe even a bit scary, but let me assure you that if you do it right it’s neither, and it can in fact be a highly unique and extremely cool snorkeling experience! Best Strategies for Night Snorkeling The best places to do a night
There is nothing worse than an underwater camera housing that always fogs up. Luckily, there's a few quick and simple steps to consistently keep your camera housing from fogging up. 1. Keep the Housing Dry Keeping any amount of moisture out of your camera housing is the quickest and easiest way to maintaining a fog free underwater housing. Any time you are opening up or closing the housing, or even just cleaning the o-ring, you need to be particularly aware of every single drop of water. If you close the housing up with just a drop of water inside that water will quickly turn to into water vapor once the inside of the housing heats up as you being shooting underwater. 2. Keep the Housing Cool Since it is quite likely that there will be a small droplet of water hiding in the housing somewhere, it's always a good idea to keep the housing in a shady place any time your are in between snorkels. Also, any time you are aren't using it underwater, try and keep the camera turned off so that the heat the camera emits when it's constantly on wont' vaporize any water droplets inside. 3. Be Careful with Air Conditioning If you leave your housing sitting in an air conditioned environment, like your bungalow, then take it outside into the tropical heat, you are going to notice the housing will fog up immediately. It's always a good idea to give your camera and hosing a few minutes to acclimatize to the tropical heat before closing everything up. Of course, don't just hold it in the sun, but find a nice shady place for everything to adjust to the different temperatures. 4. Silica Packets These little silica packets are handy, but if you aren't following the first
There is nothing worse than an underwater camera housing that always fogs up. Luckily, there’s a few quick and simple steps to consistently keep your camera housing from fogging up. 1. Keep the Housing Dry Keeping any amount of moisture out of your camera housing is the quickest and easiest way to maintaining a fog
That one hour period or so where the sun seems to hover just a few inches above the horizon is an incredible time to go snorkeling. Not only does the sharp angle of the sun on the water's surface create a memorizing display of dappled light over the reef, but the marine life and it's behavior is in a transition period which is pretty amazing to witness! The Light While the available day light in the is significantly less than our morning and afternoon snorkel sessions, there is still enough natural light in the water—at least for the first half of the snorkel—for you to still see clearly without the use of an underwater flashlight/torch. This stunning and more dramatic lighting is my personal favorite thing about sunset snorkels. The sun's beams cut through the still water and just bathe the reef in this outstanding light which makes for some postcard perfect photos. As the light begins to fade toward the second half of the snorkel session it's a good time to turn on that underwater torch we've provided you with and start investigating the reef's inhabitants because you'll quickly see that a lot has changed. The Night Shift Just as the sun is starting to set, fish species like damsel fish and butterfly fish which were casually swimming about in the day time now have suddenly disappeared. Well, they haven't disappeared they've just gone into hiding as the larger predatory creatures like the lion fish, moray eels, sting rays, and especially cephalopods like cuttle fish, octopus, and squid all come out to hunt the smaller reef fish. The creatures which were more active in the day are now tucked into every hole and crevice while the creatures like octopus and moray eels are now out in full view as
That one hour period or so where the sun seems to hover just a few inches above the horizon is an incredible time to go snorkeling. Not only does the sharp angle of the sun on the water’s surface create a memorizing display of dappled light over the reef, but the marine life and it’s
