Swimming with Sharks and Turtles: Snorkeling in Maldives

One of my first snorkels was a long time ago in the Riviera Maya, and I have a good memory (except for the burnt back). So, when we went to spend Christmas in the Maldives, there was not even a question about whether we would go snorkeling or not. It was a fact that we would.

Snorkeling equipment

Mask

There are two mask options to perform this activity:

• The mask with which you breathe through your mouth and your nose is covered: with this one I had truly been challenged, in addition to not being able to have good vision. The advantage of this type of mask is that it allows you to dive deeper in apnea, as it is easily removed from the mouth and the nose remains covered.
• Mask with which you breathe through the nose: this is a fairly new type of mask, and it is the one that I liked the most, the disadvantage is that it does not allow you to submerge much but since I do not do it I have no problem. The vision is much better, and I feel more comfortable, so it makes up for me, but if you like to do apnea it will not suit you.

Fins

The other element for snorkeling is the fins, for this occasion they were lent to us at the hotel. When we came back, we bought ours, so we no longer have to worry about finding the right size.

Clothes

As for clothes: in order not to worry about whether we last long in the water and the sun cream is no longer effective, we decided to equip ourselves with leggings for the sea, like those worn by surfers. As well as half or long sleeve shirts.

Capture images or videos underwater

We took a GoPro and an old cell phone, with a special bag to protect it. The truth is that for photos neither of them was excellent, but with the GoPro, the videos came out quite well, and you can take screenshots, so it works somewhat well.

I have to admit I struggled a lot to take video or photos but it was totally my fault, it was very difficult for me to keep the hand that was holding the camera without moving in order to get decent images. Vincent, at least, did succeed. You have to swim calmly and I think that also affected me in my shots because let’s say that in the sea I can swim but I struggle more than in a pool (on top of that there was a medium strong current).

In short: the only thing left is to practice, practice and practice. Of course, it is not mandatory to take video or photos when snorkeling 🙂 if you don’t do it, you already have something to do. But as a good blogger I can’t help but document my findings 😀

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Video of our snorkeling experience in Maldives

Here we leave you the images of our snorkeling sessions in the Maldives:

There were some days that we were unable to snorkel in the morning nor in the afternoon since the red flag showed up several times, which means you cannot go into the sea. In fact, the times that we did go into the sea, the current was somewhat strong (we are not expert swimmers) and in fact we prefer to use life jackets “just in case”.

Needle fish

In the video you can see the needle fish which caught my attention for being so thin, later I saw photos on the internet, and they can become much larger (always keeping that elongated figure). Those were the first fish as soon as I got into the water.

If I had to describe my experience in a few words, I would say that it seemed to be in a movie, everything seemed so beautiful and unreal. See all the fish that come and go, living their life.

Surgeon fish, black tip sharks

Another of the fish that I met every day was the surgeon fish, better known as Dory in the Finding Nemo movie. We also saw sharks, saying it like that sounds reckless, but it wasn’t so: they were black tip sharks from babies to youngsters. In fact, they were very close to the beach too, these were smaller, the ones we saw while snorkeling were larger, like the more they grow, the more they gain confidence to go deeper into the sea. We saw a scene in which a turtle crossed paths with a shark, and they ignored each other.

Turtles

And speaking of turtles, we saw quite a few. We had the opportunity to see them very closely since they need to stick their noses to the surface to breathe, and we came across two. In fact, one of the ones I crossed was “accidental”, I was looking down, and suddenly, I felt a slight shock. I raised my head ready to say “sorry” since I was sure it was another tourist, and what was my surprise when I noticed that it was the shell of a turtle that had come out to breathe. It very politely ignored me, went about his business, and then left to continue looking for food. Remember that they are omnivorous and feed on coral, which provides them with calcium, aquatic vegetation, algae, small invertebrates or octopuses and some even eat jellyfish.

Tiger fish

Vincent managed to take a video of a tiger fish while it devoured a coral, you could see how the other fish were around it, and later I learned that it is because these fish eat in a very messy way and throw a lot of waste around them. So, there are the others I ready to grab what the tiger fish didn’t eat.

Parrot fish… the sand creator

And we found several parrot fish, this fish is exceptional (besides being my favorite color ^^) it is a fish that eats dead coral and is responsible for that white sand that is so appreciated in tropical islands.

Yes, that’s right, that beautiful white sand is PARROT FISH POOP. It is said that a single parrot fish can produce up to 90 kilos of sand per year. Awesome.

And of course whoever thinks of the Maldives, in addition to its colorful fish and other wonderful marine inhabitants, thinks of its corals. At the hotel we were warned that in many parts of the country, due to global warming, the corals have bleached. But there are still some corals left and in the resorts, at least in the one we stayed at, conservation work is being done to regenerate the coral. Although this will take a long time, at least they are doing something because it is clear that if there are no corals, there are no fish and everything loses its charm.

I have to say that after these wonderful encounters, the only thing that happened is that I wanted to see more. I don’t know when I will go to the next level, which is diving, to be able to go further down. But I can already say that I am pleased with what I have seen so far.

In conclusion, snorkeling in the Maldives is an unforgettable experience. While the crystal clear waters and vibrant coral reefs are breathtaking, there is no better way to appreciate it than by seeing the colorful fish and other marine inhabitants that inhabit this paradise. If you’re planning your next holiday in the Maldives, make sure to take a snorkel trip. You won’t regret it!

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