Water in Your Mask – How to Overcome the Fear Part - 1

Snorkeling reputedly is a safe sport, but when underwater there are some issues that can happen to cause discomfort. The most common concern is, water entering your mask. It happens to everyone, even the most experienced of snorkelers. While old hands deal with it as a matter of routine, it can be a cause of panic for the rookie. A snorkeling instructor will teach you how to clear water from inside your mask quickly and effectively. However, that does not mean that the fear and discomfort will immediately disappear when it does happens. There are some steps that you can take, by yourself, to help you overcome the groundless, but natural fear that comes when water gets into your mask.

Managing Your Fear

Practice without a mask:

The mask is not essential for breathing under water. You need to prove to yourself that you can breathe even with your nose surrounded by water. Get into shallow water where you feel safe. Without using a mask, but with a snorkel, put your face into the water and practice breathing through your mouth, using the snorkel. Carry out this exercise as slowly and as calmly, as possible. Initially, water may get into your nose, and you will have to surface, to clear it.  After a while, you will find that breathing underwater without a mask is easy. Keep doing this until it is routine. You can even practice this in the bathtub at home, if you feel more comfortable doing it, in the privacy of your home.

Put water in your mask: 

Once you feel comfortable breathing without a mask, the next step is to deliberately allow a small amount of water to enter your mask so you can practice mask clearing skills. To allow water to get in, pinch the top seal of the mask with 2 fingers to allow a few drops of water to trickle in. Then let go. Keep increasing the amount of water you allow in as your ability and confidence in your mask clearing skills increases. Keep doing this until you are able to clear a fully flooded mask.

How to actually clear water from your mask will be discussed in the next part of this blog.

Snorkel With Experts

The best way to overcome your fear of water entering your mask and overcoming any other apprehensions you may have, is to snorkel with experts. Going out to snorkeling locations on a charter boat with an experienced crew means that everything you do is carefully monitored and any mistakes you make will be spotted and corrected quickly. Even after a lot of practice, water entering your mask when in open water can still cause some fear. Knowing that help is at hand will enable you to stay calm and deal with the problem the right way so you can continue to snorkel comfortably and maximize your enjoyment. Hawaii is a great snorkeling destination and the charter boats with professional crews that are available there will ensure that you have a great vacation.