In terms of sea conditions, there is very little difference between the snorkeling trips we would recommend for beginners and the snorkeling trips we would recommend for more advanced snorkelers. Regardless of if we are snorkeling in the Caribbean where the currents are mild to none, or Indonesia's Alor where the currents can rip like a river, the areas where we snorkel are essentially the same. Yes, in very specific sites there could be some current, but it's never the main current, we brief you fully before it, and we always drift with it. Any site we are taking you to, on any of our snorkeling safaris around the world can easily and safely be snorkeled by someone who's never snorkeled before. The biggest reason why the following list of snorkel safaris have received the “Advanced” rating has more to do with overall trip logistics than anything else. These trips are longer, might require a bit more domestic travel, and a few have slightly more basic accommodation as a result of their remoteness. While these tours are amazing, and we want everyone to join them, we just want to make sure that you don't bite off a bit more than you can chew, so to speak. Basically, the hardest part of these specific snorkeling tours are the flights. Alor & Komodo Safari | 14 Nights This is not a particularly difficult snorkeling trip, it's actually our most popular snorkel safari by far. We run anywhere from six to ten of these each year and have run these tours with everyone from advanced freediving folks to beginners without any issues whatsoever. The big reason why I say it's advanced is that it requires quite a bit of flying at uncomfortable hours. The snorkeling is as good as it gets in both
In terms of sea conditions, there is very little difference between the snorkeling trips we would recommend for beginners and the snorkeling trips we would recommend for more advanced snorkelers. Regardless of if we are snorkeling in the Caribbean where the currents are mild to none, or Indonesia’s Alor where the currents can rip like
While snorkeling is an activity that can be enjoyed by people of all ages and skill levels, when choosing a snorkel vacation, it's a good idea to choose one that is more suited to your own particular skill level. As you may have seen on our site or in our newsletter, we offer a ton of different options and destinations for snorkeling safaris. If you are new to snorkeling or have never been on a snorkeling safari before there are a few things to look out for. For example, if you have never been on a multi-day snorkel-specific trip before, or really have not spent much time on or around the water, I wouldn't suggest a liveaboard or a multi-destination snorkel safari, no matter how easy the conditions may be. Second, I wouldn't go for a snorkel safari that involves a lot of travel logistics or is overly remote. We have plenty of great snorkeling trips that offer fantastic accommodation on solid ground, easy travel logistics, and world-class snorkeling, that don't involve overly strenuous conditions—not that many of our tours do. Here is a list of snorkeling trips we recommend for those that would consider themselves to be beginner snorkelers. Resort Based Belize Snorkel Week – Turneffe Island Resort | 8 Nights The Caribbean in general is a great place to start out if you are new to snorkeling. Travel is easy, and the sea conditions—current—are very very mild to none at all. Our Belize Snorkel week is all about relaxation, great snorkeling, and just enjoying being on your own private island in the middle of the Caribbean. This tour is based on the fantastic Turneffe Island Resort located in the south of the Turneffe Atoll where some of the best snorkeling is found. Reefs are easily accessed from the
While snorkeling is an activity that can be enjoyed by people of all ages and skill levels, when choosing a snorkel vacation, it’s a good idea to choose one that is more suited to your own particular skill level. As you may have seen on our site or in our newsletter, we offer a ton
If you've looked through our website or seen our newsletter you'll notice that we have a pretty extensive inventory of snorkeling safaris available all over the world. Not only that, but the snorkeling safaris range in length from one week to one month. We know, based on inquiries and guest feedback, that many of you are interested in longer trips, or even combining multiple snorkeling trips together to make one long snorkeling adventure. However, we also know there are a good number of you who are more interested in quick snorkeling trips that don't involve a ton of travel logistics or planning. Here are our recommendations for quick snorkeling safaris to world-class destinations that are one week to ten days in length. Shorter Flights (from The States) Mexico Mobula Expedition | 6 Nights This is the shortest snorkel safari that we currently offer, and also one of our most unique. This tour is all about finding fleets of mobula rays as they congregate in the Sea of Cortez during their bi-annual migration. This is a fantastic adrenaline-pumping snorkel safari that is unlike any other snorkel safari out there. Belize by Liveaboard - Belize Aggressor IV | Length – 7 Nights This fantastic liveaboard snorkel safari is one of our easiest trips when it comes to travel time, while still delivering some outstanding snorkeling. Basically, arrive at the airport, board the vessel, and you're off on an extraordinary snorkeling adventure around some of the best reefs in Belize. Belize Photography Workshop – Belize Aggressor IV | Length – 7 Nights This tour runs nearly identical to our Belize by Liveaboard snorkeling safari, same easy logistics, the same great snorkeling, same great liveaboard. The only difference about this tour is that it's aimed at those interested in improving their underwater photo skills
If you’ve looked through our website or seen our newsletter you’ll notice that we have a pretty extensive inventory of snorkeling safaris available all over the world. Not only that, but the snorkeling safaris range in length from one week to one month. We know, based on inquiries and guest feedback, that many of you
Every year we run several snorkeling photography workshops in different destinations around the world. Currently, we have our Belize Liveaboard Photo Safari and our Alor-Komodo Snorkeling Photography Workshop. As the Snorkel Venture Photo Pros, Duxy and I started running these different tours in 2022 and we had a blast, and the guests, ahem, I mean students, were able to improve their underwater images significantly over the course of the workshop. We cover a number of topics in these workshops, from light, composition, and subject selection, to editing. One of the main principles that we really hone in on is wide-angle photography. You can find out why we spend so much time covering wide-angle photography here. Basically, it's the best, most practical tool for the job. Unless you are using a GoPro, the lens on a compact camera, even at its widest, is not a true wide-angle lens. The field of view on a TG-6 at its widest is around 60°. A true wide-angle lens will have a minimum FOV of around 100°, with most being 120° and wider. In the eyes of most underwater photographers wider is better. Now, if you just purchased an Olympus TG series camera or any other compact camera for that matter in preparation for your snorkeling trip or underwater photography workshop, don't panic, there are some fantastic wide-angle lens adapters for the TG series and just about any other camera model out there. While you by no means need to have a wide-angle lens to join or to get great results from a snorkeling photography workshop, it would be very useful, and practical since it is sort of the focus of the workshop. In the past, we never urged guests to purchase any aftermarket camera accessories as we didn't want them to feel they needed
Every year we run several snorkeling photography workshops in different destinations around the world. Currently, we have our Belize Liveaboard Photo Safari and our Alor-Komodo Snorkeling Photography Workshop. As the Snorkel Venture Photo Pros, Duxy and I started running these different tours in 2022 and we had a blast, and the guests, ahem, I mean
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.
