Snorkel Tips Correct Reef Etiquette - The Don't List
Reef Etiquette Snorkel Tips #1 - Don't Touch Coral! Coral is beautiful, and looks like rock, but it is actually a fragile living animal. And when you touch it with your fins or hands, you kill it. So don't do it! Coral is so wonderful to see and so important to our world that you should feel like you just ran over your kitten if you touch coral. Not to mention that coral is sharp and will often cut your hands, knees, and fins.
Now, everywhere you snorkel you are going to have people telling you not to touch the coral. But how do you avoid it?
We have seen that many people stand on coral when they get tired or want a break from swimming. It feels natural to them to try to stand up to relax and talk together, or to take off their mask.
But we have developed a skill of laying on our backs when we are needing a break from being face down. It is super easy to relax on your back in salt-water. We talk to each other this way, and look around this way. And when we are in shallow water we never, ever stand up on the coral. We just turn over on our backs. And as an alternative to laying on our backs, in shallow areas we will sometimes tread water with our knees bent up close to our bodies to avoid touching anything. We have gotten so that we can relax in either position, talk, and adjust our face masks.
Practice it, it is a great skill to learn, and it saves the reefs.
Reef Etiquette Snorkel Tip #2 - Don't Harass Sealife - Like Turtles, Fish & Dolphins Give the poor critters some space. Sure you can swim slowly towards turtles and fish, but don't try to get too close. And if they are resting, on the bottom or on shore, give them lots of space. The same goes for all sealife.
Reef Etiqueete Snorkel Tip #3 - Don't Feed Fish We know, you can buy fish food at most snorkel rental shops, but please don't do it. Feeding fish has been proven to really mess up the natural ecosystem in the area. And besides, there is a trick that we use that is just as good. If people have been feeding fish in an area, you can just pretend to feed them. Rub your fingers together and pull them across in front of you as though you were spreading fish food in the water. Fish will come for sure. It works great.
Reef Etiquette Snorkel Tip #4 - Watch Ziggy's Beautiful & Entertaining Underwater Video Here is a wonderful underwater video that is entertaining for adults and children alike about observing reef etiquette. This was produced by award winning underwater filmmaker Ziggy Livnat who we housesat for in Hawaii several years ago.
Reef Etiquette Snorkel Tip #5 - Get Educated Have you had enough don'ts about reef etiquette yet? Here is a quick reference PDF guide that you can view and print from our friends at the Kohala Center, an environmental education center in Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii. The guide also has a handy fish guide in it.
We have seen that many people stand on coral when they get tired or want a break from swimming. It feels natural to them to try to stand up to relax and talk together, or to take off their mask.