If you're in the process of booking a snorkeling safari with us you'll no doubt see that we constantly recommend that everyone wears some sort of thermal protection. This may seem confusing as the water temperature on the vast majority of our trips averages 28°C/82°F. That's nearly bath water! It's true, the water can be quite warm, particularly in our snorkeling safaris that take place in Northern Indonesia, Belize, and Cuba where water temperatures can reach as high as 32°C/90°F! With water temperatures so inviting for snorkelers, why are we constantly urging our guests to pack a wetsuit or some sort of thermal protection for the water? Well, as we are in the business of organizing snorkeling-specific tours, a typical day has us snorkeling up to four times a day. Each snorkel session will last anywhere from sixty to ninety minutes, depending on the site. The vast majority of our snorkeling safaris are two weeks long, with some running as long as three to four weeks. That's a lot of snorkeling, which is awesome! The big thing I think many people don't take into account on snorkeling safaris like this is our body's physiological response to being immersed in water for prolonged periods of time. Our body loses heat twenty-five percent faster in water than it does on land. Our bodies operate at 37°C/98.6°F, so, even in water temperatures reaching up to 32°C/90°F, that's a considerable difference in temperatures, and if you're spending three to four hours a day in the water your internal body temperature is going to be significantly lower than what it normally operates at. While there's nothing particularly dangerous about this bit of heat loss, it will however make you feel cold and you will no doubt be uncomfortable as the trip runs on. All that
If you’re in the process of booking a snorkeling safari with us you’ll no doubt see that we constantly recommend that everyone wears some sort of thermal protection. This may seem confusing as the water temperature on the vast majority of our trips averages 28°C/82°F. That’s nearly bath water! It’s true, the water can be
As snorkelers, we all want to swim with mantas. At least I assume everyone does. You should want to swim with mantas, it's super sweet! If you don't know why it's super sweet, here are three reasons why it is. If you already know why swimming with mantas is super sweet, you can just skip along to the next paragraph where I explain how to best swim with mantas. 3 Reasons why Swimming with Mantas is Super Sweet Mantas are highly intelligent, they possess the largest brains and the largest brain-to-body ratio of any fish. Their brains are even bigger than whale sharks! Why is this super sweet? Well, in a roundabout way, it means that interactions with mantas are genuine interactions. When they look at you they make eye contact, you can feel them really looking at you and sussing you out. Each manta will have its own personality. If they decide they like you they will seemingly seek you out to 'dance' with, and at times you can even feel them trying to communicate with you by bobbing their heads or furling and unfurling their cephalic lobes (the flappy scoopy things on the front of their face). Mantas are really really big, and really safe. The wingspan for a big oceanic manta, the larger of the two species, can reach up to seven meters, or about twenty-two feet! Not only that, but they are essentially harmless. That big mouth they have is not for swallowing up snorkelers, it's for hoovering up plankton, just like larger whales. Unlike just about all of the other ray species, mantas do not have a poisonous barb on their tail, so there's no need to fear being harpooned by these gentle giants. Little colorful reef fish are pretty, but swimming next to a
As snorkelers, we all want to swim with mantas. At least I assume everyone does. You should want to swim with mantas, it’s super sweet! If you don’t know why it’s super sweet, here are three reasons why it is. If you already know why swimming with mantas is super sweet, you can just skip
We regularly post photos and videos from our many different tours on our website or other social media platforms which are taken by our Snorkel Venture Snorkel Guides, and quite often this content prompts quite a few questions from our guests. The bulk of these questions centers around video lights or strobes/flashes. “I just saw the latest video on Facebook. What kind of lights were used for these shots? I don't have an underwater light but maybe I should get one. What would you recommend?” “I have a question about my Olympus TG 6 camera. Would it make sense to add a Backscatter TTL mini flash? I thought it might help on cloudy days or for dark settings and maybe murky waters if close enough to the subject. I would appreciate your advice.” A lot of people think, and rightfully so, that adding a video light or an external flash to their current camera setup that it will yield photos or videos with more true-to-life colors. In the simplest of terms, they are not wrong. More light underwater does equal more color. However, light doesn't work the same way underwater as it does on land and there are quite a few variables we need to take into account for this to be true. First of all, water is significantly more dense than air is, around 840 times more to be roughly precise. What does this mean? Well, it basically means that your light, whether it's a strobe or a constant video light, just won't travel very far. Second, we need to take consider the sun's power versus the power of our light. If you walk around your garden or a park on a bright sunny day and shine a flashlight on the different flowers, you're really not going to
We regularly post photos and videos from our many different tours on our website or other social media platforms which are taken by our Snorkel Venture Snorkel Guides, and quite often this content prompts quite a few questions from our guests. The bulk of these questions centers around video lights or strobes/flashes. “I just saw
If you Google “snorkeling fins” you are likely to notice a vast array of options from long fins, short fins, medium fins, some that require you to wear a neoprene bootie, and some very complicated ones with what appear to be hinges or big splits in the fins. If you are new to the snorkeling game, you may not really know what's what when it comes to snorkeling fins and why there are so many different styles and options. The way I see it, there is no real need for so many options. There are, of course, a reason for a few different variations in fin structures, such as full foot vs. open heel or long fins vs. short fins, but a lot of it comes down to marketing, I think, particularly when the fins look like something you'd take to the moon. So, with that in mind. Lets dive (pun absolutely intended) right into the different types of fins so you can choose the best fit for you. Full Foot and Open Heel Fins This is one of the first decisions you need to make when you're buying fins. Do you want an open feel fin, the ones with the straps that generally require you to wear a neoprene bootie? Or, do you want a full foot fin where you either wear the fin without anything or maybe a pair or lycra socks for added comfort? The open heel option, particularly when it's the kind that requires a neoprene bootie, are aimed at people who do a lot of snorkeling from shorelines where you'd need to walk over uncomfortable terrain before you could put your fins on. The full foot option is aimed more at those that spend their time snorkeling from a boat or a pier. Since nearly
If you Google “snorkeling fins” you are likely to notice a vast array of options from long fins, short fins, medium fins, some that require you to wear a neoprene bootie, and some very complicated ones with what appear to be hinges or big splits in the fins. If you are new to the snorkeling
Traveling to Indonesia—especially from the U.S. & Canada—is the opposite of a quick trip. As an American who lives in Indonesia and travels back to the states several times a year to visit family and also to lead snorkeling safaris in places like Cuba, Belize, and Mexico, this is something we are very familiar with. In light of the significant travel time from the Americas to Indonesia, we've started running a variety of combo snorkel safaris that are not only longer but make stops in at least two different snorkeling destinations! Our Alor-Komodo snorkel safari is arguably our most popular tour and we run a ton each year. Other popular two-stop tours include Misool-Wakatobi (18 nights), North Sulawesi-Raja Ampat (14 nights), and Triton Bay-Raja Ampat (12 nights). If you want something longer that includes more destinations, we also offer the newly launched North Indonesia Snorkeling Safari (20 nights), which makes stops in Bunaken National Park, Halmahera, and finishes in Raja Ampat. If that's still not enough snorkeling for you, then you might want to check out our nearly month-long Epic Indonesia Snorkeling Safari (27 nights) which pretty much stops in every major snorkeling destination Indonesia offers! Something else we've just started doing by request from a number of our die-hard snorkeling guests is combining several trips that have dates that line up well together. Here are just a few tour combinations we've put together for clients recently for the upcoming 2024 snorkeling season. April: North Sulawesi - Raja Ampat + 14 Night Misool Resort Snorkel Safari April: North Sulawesi - Raja Ampat + Alor - Komodo Safari September: Alor - Komodo Safari + Wakatobi Snorkel Week October: North Sulawesi - Raja Ampat + Coralia Liveaboard in Raja Ampat October: North Sulawesi - Raja Ampat + 11 Night Misool Resort Snorkel Safari
Traveling to Indonesia—especially from the U.S. & Canada—is the opposite of a quick trip. As an American who lives in Indonesia and travels back to the states several times a year to visit family and also to lead snorkeling safaris in places like Cuba, Belize, and Mexico, this is something we are very familiar with.
