Snorkeling & Diving the Reef

When we went to the Great Barrier Reef, I was fortunate enough to get the chance to both scuba dive and snorkel. The first thing I did was dive. In order to get ready for diving I put on a sting suit as well as a wet suit. We had to get weights put around our waists and then we had to get our oxygen tanks attached to us- they went on our backs. After that we had to put our flippers on and then walk to the edge of the boat. When we jumped into the water, one of the guys kind of gave us a push so that our tanks wouldn’t hit the side of the boat. Once we were in the water we had to hold onto a rope, put our faces in the water, and get used to breathing. Once we did that they lowered us to a different rope where we had to continue breathing, clear our masks of water, and be able to take out our mouth piece (so it filled with water) and clear it. When our instructor knew it was all okay we linked arms and were able to start our dive. If our instructor felt that we were comfortable, he let us go. When he let us go we were able to swim around and look at whatever we wanted. I really enjoyed the clams and messing around with them- if you waved your hand over them they would close. We didn’t see any sharks or turtles which was a little disappointing but it was still a great experience. Diving was a lot of fun and I’m so glad I got the opportunity to do it, but it is a little scary for a couple of reasons. For one, it’s hard to get used to the fact that you can actually breathe under the water. Also, breathing is a little bit different- you can’t take quick short breaths, you have to take deep long ones. However, once people get used to the breathing part, it’s a piece of cake from there. At our second stop, I got the chance to go snorkeling. In order to get ready for snorkeling all we had to do was put on our fins and face masks. Snorkeling is different from diving because when you snorkel, your body is pretty much at the top of the water. This is because your breathing piece has to stay sticking out of the water in order for you to get air. Snorkeling is fun because I feel it i easier to breathe. Also, I don’t think it is as scary as diving because you can lift your head out of the water at any time you please. Also, you can take deep breaths and be able to swim down to see certain fish or coral. Being able to do both diving and snorkeling, I really can’t say which one I liked more. However, I can say that I am so fortunate that we were given the chance to either dive, snorkel, or do both at the best reef in the entire world.