Scary First Time Snorkeling Experience :(
by Marie
(New York)
I was with friends in the Florida Keys who asked me to try snorkeling off their boat with them, it was my first time. They made sure my mask was fitted correctly, and told me to hold onto it as I jumped off the boat.
The water was about 20 feet deep, I had no flotation device on (I should have known better) and it was a choppy ocean. When I jumped in, water got in my tube and I couldn't breathe through it. I had trouble trying to stay afloat as I was trying to get the mask off. And when I grabbed onto the side of the boat, the water was going in the direction of the boat and the rest of my body was being pulled under it.
So I tried to make my way around to the other side so I could climb into the boat. I lost my grip on the boat and started to drift away from it and someone threw me a line so I could stay near the boat and eventually climb back in. I found that hard to do also, the boat had no ladder.
I feel bad that I couldn't snorkel with them. They asked me to try again but I was really quite shaken up. Oh well, very disappointing.
On a happier note, I waded into the very shallow shoreline when we got back and was able to use the mask and snorkel in about four feet of water.