Beginner’s Snorkeling Guide: Everything You Need to Know Not Only In Phu Quoc But All The World

If you’re new to the sport of snorkeling, there are a few important distinctions to understand before jumping in:

• How is swimming in open water (sea or river) different from swimming in a pool?

• How does snorkeling differ from open water swimming?

• A look at coral reef sites around Phu Quoc (based on data curated by OnBird)

• Essential skills and safety tips for your snorkeling experience

• Safety management for the open-water snorkeling

In this article, OnBird will walk you through what snorkeling really is and share key things every beginner should know before their first adventure beneath the surface.

What Is The Snorkeling?

1. Understand Snorkeling From Reality

Wikipedia definition: Snorkeling is the practice of swimming face down or a surface water activity where individuals swim with a mask and snorkel to observe the underwater world. The snorkel allows breathing through a tube while keeping the head submerged, and the mask provides clear visibility underwater. Fins are also typically used to aid propulsion and make swimming easier.

Definition from reality by Onbird Phu Quoc: Snorkeling is a water activity where individuals swim with a mask and snorkel to observe the underwater world. The snorkel allows breathing through a tube while keeping the head submerged, and the mask provides clear visibility underwater. Fins are also typically used to aid propulsion and make swimming easier. While snorkeling typically involves surface swimming, skilled snorkelers can dive to depths of 1 to 10 meters, and even as deep as 15 meters to see different coral floors, depending on their comfort and experience.

2. What Can You See When Do Snorkeling?

Snorkeling is the activity of exploring shallow waters, typically between 1 to 5 meters — and sometimes even up to 8 or 10 meters — which is the ideal depth range for vibrant coral growth. This makes snorkeling the perfect choice for those who want to admire the richness and beauty of coral reefs. Better than scuba diving to admire the richness of coral reefs.

It’s a common misconception that snorkeling is less exciting than scuba diving. Indeed, you see less coral on scuba diving than on snorkeling

3. Snorkeling Equipment

Snorkeling is a form of exploring coral reefs… that uses only snorkel equipment, diving mask, and fins instead of using complicated and cumbersome equipment like scuba diving. Snorkeling is suitable for both beginners and professionals to move on to a higher level of free-diving: holding your breath and diving deep. To gain a joyful and fascinating snorkeling experience, it is a must to equip yourself with high-quality snorkeling equipment.

• Anti-fog and prescription diving masks: Standard snorkeling or diving masks tend to fog up after just a few minutes in the water, which can significantly reduce visibility. Anti-fog masks are specially designed to prevent this, ensuring a consistently clear view underwater. For those with vision impairments, prescription masks are also available to enhance the experience. Prescription masks enhance underwater vision for nearsighted snorkelers. OnBird provides both anti-fog and prescription mask options to ensure a clear and comfortable experience for all guests (read more).

• Dry snorkel vs. Semi-Dry Snorkel: Not all snorkels are the same, and choosing the right type can greatly affect your comfort and safety. For beginners, a dry snorkel is recommended as it prevents water from entering the mouth, offering a safer and more comfortable experience at the surface. On the other hand, semi-dry snorkels are better suited for experienced snorkelers or freedivers, as they allow easier breathing and movement when diving below the surface.
• Snorkeling Fins: A safety equipment apart from life vest. Fins provide you with thrust underwater, allowing you to move easily and overcome weather conditions such as flowing water or large waves. (Sometimes, if you don’t have fins, it’s okay but just in safe water and short-distance snorkeling)
• Safety buoyancy devices: Safety buoyancy devices are indispensable when swimming/snorkeling in open waters, spaces. OnBird prepares various types of swimming buoys in case participants do not use life jackets for precautionary use on the water surface.

You are welcome to bring your own snorkeling gear to use at each diving site.
However, for a more comfortable and worry-free experience, all of OnBird’s professional coral exploration and discovery tours include specialized, high-quality, and hygienically maintained equipment for guests.

Note: If you are nearsighted by 2–3 diopters or more, OnBird provides prescription masks to enhance your underwater vision.

2. Swimming and snorkeling skills

Snorkeling is an accessible sport, chosen by both professionals and those who only have basic swimming skills or even do not know how to swim, they can still participate. For those who have no experience and basic to no swimming skills, they will need to be carefully instructed on skills: how to wear equipment, how to breathe, how to float, how to handle incidents in the water… Good preparation of skills and mentality will bring the best experience to visitors. OnBird spends a time of 30 – 40 minutes to instruct proper snorkeling skills and safety, simulate snorkeling spots for guests to get acquainted, even guests who do not know how to swim but are healthy enough can still have interesting experiences snorkeling to see coral.

Snorkeling is chosen by professional freedivers to freely explore the ocean world without having to rely on oxygen tanks. This experience is truly wonderful when immersing yourself in the clear water and watching the corals, fish and algae blooming on the seabed, a feeling that OnBird is sure will be unforgettable. Therefore, this type of diving is suitable for most of people, diving/snorkeling levels and different exploration needs of tourists.

The Sea Turtles of Vietnam | A Rare Encounter in Phu Quoc’s Coral Reefs

3. Appropriate time and depth underwater

As mentioned above, Snorkeling is also known as snorkeling, suitable water areas for snorkeling are from 2 – 5m and at higher levels are 7 – 9m or even deeper is skin-dive.

For visitors who cannot swim or have low swimming ability, to ensure that they can observe the marine ecosystem, you will be taken to coral reefs that are not too deep but can still explore shallow water areas (0.5 – 2m) with the guidance of a snorkeling & diving instructor. However, shallow water coral reefs will be more difficult than deep water and require more caution when experiencing to avoid accidentally damaging or breaking corals.

In Phu Quoc, apart from popular snorkeling spots on regular island hopping & snorkeling tours, Onbird have chosen out the best snorkeling & diving spots suitable for different levels and forms such as Half-moon Reef (1 – 10m), U-Turn Reef (1 – 12m), Northeast Reef (1 – 9m), Coral Slope, Coral Hill, Shallow Coral Reef (0.5 – 5m) or Coral Mountain (0.2 – 4m), Coral Garden.

4. Level of danger and risks encountered

Snorkeling is generally relatively safe, but risks are always present, especially if participants or organizers are not aware of the potential risks. Risk factors for this sport include:

• Hydrological conditions: rough seas, strong currents at different time frames will affect the safety and experience of tourists. In order to minimize risks, OnBird builds a model to forecast seawater conditions 7-10 days in advance for tourists to choose the appropriate departure date and time frame, choose suitable and safe coral reefs according to the skills of the tourists as well as notify tourists in advance to cancel the experience due to unfavorable conditions. In addition, OnBird provides early forecasts within 1 year for days and time frames with strong currents to customize the itinerary appropriately, ensuring safety.

• Health, pathology: Which groups of potentially high-risk pathologies, which can occur in the water when swimming and diving to see corals, should be warned or prevented from participating in the experience? Please contact OnBird for advanced advice.

• Swimming and snorkeling skills, ability to handle situations: Understanding the swimming and snorkeling skills (if any) of the guests is very important to prepare and choose the appropriate coral reef because each coral reef has different hydrological conditions and experience levels. Therefore, OnBird always has a section on skills instructions, getting used to the water, handling incidents, swimming safety, mental preparation, and introducing simulated coral reefs during the journey instead of going straight to the coral reef directly.

• Geographical characteristics of coral reefs: Thanks to the construction of Phu Quoc coral data set, OnBird clearly understands the location as well as the ecological characteristics, hydrological characteristics, underwater geography of each reef, so it can provide safe coral options suitable for hydrological conditions, tourist skills as well as minimize damage to coral reefs.

• Underwater snorkeling & diving instructor and coaches: If you have never seen corals and swimming in the open waters at the coral reefs and do not know the underwater terrain of the coral reef, going underwater alone or with a group of friends is extremely risky not only for tourists but also for the coral reef. Underwater incidents can happen suddenly or there are tourists who get stranded in the coral reef and break the coral… OnBird’s coral reef explorers experiences always have professional guides accompanying underwater with protective gear ready to guide and assist tourists at any time.

FOR NEWBIES, WHAT SHOULD BE NOTED TO PRACTICE AND MENTAL PREPARATION?

1. Exercise regularly to increase endurance

Many people have a subjective mentality, swimming in lakes and rivers is good so they think that snorkeling in the sea is easy. However, swimming in the sea with the influence of weather and waves, currents and large spaces can quickly make you exhausted and encounter dangerous incidents. Therefore, before snorkeling, you should spend time practicing to be able to swim continuously for about 1 – 2 hours. Swimming skills must be suitable for cases with or without fins. The sea is a world much larger than swimming pools or lakes.

2. Get your equipment ready

Hygienic, qualified, specially designed equipment will help you limit risks and problems when experiencing. Adjust the snorkeling strap appropriately, not too loose and not too tight. If this is your first time snorkeling, you can practice breathing with the snorkel and goggles on land before going underwater.

3. Practice underwater breathing skills with equipment

Once you have your goggles, diving & snorkeling mask and snorkel on, choose a shallow area, stand up straight and bend down, face down in the water to practice breathing. If water gets into the snorkel, you can release it from the snorkel by blowing hard into the tube, all the water will be released. In OnBird’s professional marine life snorkeling trips, we always have a checkpoint, instruct on skills, safety, how to handle incidents, and simulate snorkeling spots for visitors to have the most enjoyable and safest open-water snorkeling experience.

4. Làm quen với nước biển trước khi lặn

Trong mỗi hành trình lặn biển, chúng tôi thường sắp xếp để khách có sự làm quen với nước biển và thiết bị trước tại khu vực nước êm và độ sâu vừa phải.

Sau quá trình làm quen, khách cảm thấy thoải mái và tự tin hơn ở khu vực nước sâu. Lúc này mới chính thức là thời gian bạn thực sự vượt qua chính mình để khám phá sinh vật biển.
Tất nhiên, ở môi trường mà bạn chưa quen, bạn luôn cần đồng hành với người dẫn đường chuyên nghiệp và thông thạo địa hình biển để đưa bạn tới những khu vực lặn ngắm san hô đẹp nhất và hỗ trợ bạn trong các tình huống không lường trước.
 
Nắm rõ được các lưu ý trên, bạn sẽ cần tìm hiểu về địa điểm lặn ngắm san hô (snorkeling) đẹp nhất ở Phú Quốc và thời gian phù hợp nhất để lặn tại các điểm.

5. Trang bị thiết bị lặn ống thở (snorkeling) chuyên nghiệp và cao cấp chính là tiết kiệm chi phí và thời gian, tăng cao giá trị trải nghiệm 

OnBird Phú Quốc là đơn vị phân phối chính hãng ủy quyền cho 2 thương hiệu uy tín trong lĩnh vực thiết bị lặn biển là: IST và GULL JAPAN. Tùy vào nhu cầu cũng như ngân sách và kích cỡ khuôn mặt, OnBird đưa ra các tư vấn để chọn lựa bộ thiết bị phù hợp, chất lượng tốt với du khách. OnBird cung cấp các thiết bị: kính lặn biển chuyên nghiệp, với kính lặn biển chống mờ, kính lặn biển cho người bị cận thị, kính lặn chống tia UV, ống thở lặn biển cao cấp và các dòng chân nhái của IST và GULL.

Mời quý khách ghé thăm văn phòng và gian hàng của chúng tôi tại khu nghỉ dưỡng Valley Village Phú Quốc (Chùa Ông, Cửa Lấp, Dương Đông, Phú Quốc), chỉ dẫn bản đồ.

CÔNG TY PHÂN PHỐI THIẾT BỊ LẶN BIỂN CHUYÊN NGHIỆP CHÍNH HÃNG TẠI PHÚ QUỐC

TRẢI NGHIỆM LẶN BIỂN ỐNG THỞ BỀN VỮNG, ÍT TÁC ĐỘNG TỚI RẠN SAN HÔ

OnBird Phú Quốc tự hào là đơn vị tổ chức hoạt động lặn biển ống thở & bình khí chuyên nghiệp hàng đầu Phú Quốc, chúng tôi cũng là công ty tiên phong trong việc hướng tới các trải nghiệm du lịch bền vững, ít tác động tới môi trường và đặc biệt rạn san hô tự nhiên. Các trải nghiệm của OnBird được thiết kế và thực hiện một cách khắt khe với các tiêu chuẩn về an toàn và yếu tố bền vững đối với hệ sinh thái biển:

• Đối với trải nghiệm ghép nhóm: tối đa 8 du khách trên mỗi trải nghiệm
• Tối đa 2 huấn luyện viên chuyên nghiệp dưới nước (kèm, hướng dẫn, đảm bảo an toàn cho du khách và san hô)
• Luôn xác định khu vực bãi cát để thả neo, tránh xa khỏi rạn san hô
• Cung cấp các thông tin về sinh vật biển, san hô giúp tăng cường nhận thức của du khách
• Không cho các hoạt động cho cá ăn, câu cá nhỏ – OnBird là hoạt động khám phá rạn san hô tự nhiên chân thực

Mời tham khảo thêm ở đây hoặc hành trình trải nghiệm lặn ống thở chuyên nghiệp & bền vững với rạn san hô do OnBird tổ chức.

Tìm Hiểu Phương Pháp Cấy Ghép San Hô Từ Cành San Hô Gãy Do OnBird Phát Triển

ONBIRD- DEVELOPED BIOROCK – An Effective And Natural Solution For Coral Reef Restoration In Phu Quoc