Snorkel over a reef or kelp bed
A friend has invited you to do this with them.
With a mask, a snorkel and a pair of fins you can float over a kelp forest, a coral reef or a shallow shipwreck and watch what lives there. The British Sub-Aqua Club offers pool sessions to learn the basics, and NOAA lists snorkelling sites in America's national marine sanctuaries, from the Florida Keys to Monterey Bay.
ModerateUnder £100 / $130An afternoonOutdoorsWith othersUK and US
How to start
- Contact BSAC about an Experience Snorkelling pool session, or ask a local dive shop about a beginner lesson.
- Read NOAA's guide to snorkelling in national marine sanctuaries and pick a site suited to beginners.
- Go with a buddy or a guided group, and give wildlife plenty of space.
Where to go
- BSAC (British Sub-Aqua Club): try snorkelling UK
- NOAA National Marine Sanctuaries: snorkelling in the sanctuaries US
We opened these links on 8 October 2026 and found them to be what we say. Dates, places and prices are on the official page, where they stay up to date.
Plan this
Pick a day, or a month, and we will set out how to get ready, step by step, with a date and a reason for each. The hard part of a day out is the timing: the right season, tickets and getting there. The plan watches the calendar for you.
Read next
Six pairs of shoes and seven months on the Pacific Crest Trail took Nancy Zelick from Mexico to Canada
How a retired Intel researcher from Baker City, Oregon, walked the Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to Canada in about seven months: the snow, the gear, the food and why she thinks pace mattered more than youth. How to start multi-day hiking, or build towards a long trail if you already walk.
Stargazing for beginners: what to see, what to bring and where to look through a telescope
A beginner's guide to stargazing: letting your eyes adapt, the planets you can find without a telescope, why a red torch matters, the honest challenges of cloud and cold, and observatories and astronomy societies near you that will lend you a look through their telescopes.
More like this
Moderate · South West England
Find your own fossil on the Jurassic Coast
Moderate
Walk a geology trail in a UNESCO Global Geopark
Moderate
Go for your first wild swim
Moderate
Stand in the shadow of a total solar eclipse

