What can I expect on tour with Snorkel Venture?
Firstly – there is no typical day with Snorkel Venture, at least in terms of what you can expect to see below the surface.
But we can give you some insight into what you can expect from a day on tour with us, how our guides like to run their tours and some information about how ‘we do group travel’.
You can also make life easy and see the video below that our guide, Alex, has made about what to expect on tour. Just scroll down.
You might be wondering if you are the right fit for our tours. People come to us from all sorts of backgrounds and all sorts of experience levels – we can say with confidence you will feel just as at ease in our groups if you have only just started snorkeling or have thousands of hours under your suit. Most people surface snorkel, so if you don’t duck dive – don’t worry.
What about age? Well let’s just say we generally attract people who are young at heart on our tours and our age range is usually but not always between 50 – 70 years old. We usually have a good mix of couples and singles, around half the people on any group are singles. If you want to know how things are looking on the ratio – just ask, we don’t give out names but we can let you know how the group is mixed in terms of single vs doubles.
You do need to consider this.
One of our biggest challenges with guests is getting into and out of snorkel boats. Some boats are easier than others. We include information in the tour descriptions about the style of boat we are using for the tour. Please be honest with us about your ability and we can then advise you about the physicality involved for the tour you are interested in.
Ease & Flexibility, it’s how our day works. In terms of a daily schedule when snorkeling from a resort you can expect 2-3 boat sessions per day lasting between 60 and 90 minutes each. From a liveaboard it’s usually 3-4 sessions per day. There’s always boat support so if you want to finish sooner, or rest, just let you guide know. For those that want more snorkeling many of our resorts have house reefs and you can be sure your guide will want more time in the water, likewise from a liveaboard extra time in the water is not a problem.
Where we like to snorkel? In the shallows. We generally seek out pristine shallow reefs with lots of life, unless we are looking for bigger stuff in the blue that’s where we spend our time.
We like to take things slowly, generally drifting with the current rather than against it. Taking time over the reef, our guides will point out interesting marine life.
Safety in and out of the water. Safety is something we’ve put a lot of thought into and is of major importance to us. All of our Snorkel Venture guides are first-aid trained along with the guides from the resort or boat. Things like emergency oxygen, first aid kits, and life jackets are always pointed out at the beginning of the tour. Before jumping in the water we always do a head count, and once again back onboard. There are briefings about each site before we start our snorkels which will explain things like which direction the current is going, which way we will be going (always with the current if there is any), hand signals, and what we hope to see on that particular snorkel.
In the water we like to keep a loose group formation with one guide in the front of the group clearly marked with an orange life ring or float, and one in the rear as well. There will then be a couple more guides mixed within the group. We encourage you to spread out and snorkel at your own pace and style, but we do ask that you stay behind the lead guide and in front of the guide at the back. If you prefer to stay close to the guides they will go out of their way to point things out to you, and will of course hold your hand if you need it. We want to provide maximum safety and comfort at all times while still allowing those more confident in the water to explore at their leisure.
Meals
Expect a choice of local and international food options on tour, some resorts and liveaboards offer buffet, other times you’ll have the option to choose from a set menu. Pretty much all dietary requirements can be catered for providing we have prior knowledge. Likewise allergies can be taken care of.
