Snorkeling into Another World

© Thaddeus Foote / Rumbum.com

Get a snorkel and a mask and gain a whole new perspective.

Even to the novice investor, a low cost, high yield investment sounds tempting. Add to that a magical sense of weightlessness in a world full of beautiful creatures, and this investment becomes too hard to pass up. The best part is that all you need to enter this world are a mask and a snorkel.

Mask + Snorkel = A World of Possibilities

Three thousand years before the birth of Christ, our distant Greek cousins, fascinated with what lived below the Aegean Sea, fashioned breathing tubes from reeds and headed for the bottom. What they found forever changed our perception of water. They discovered a world, previously known only to the fish and their friends.

Besides the advent of silicone rubber and tempered glass, snorkeling has changed very little in the past five millennia. The beauty of breathing underwater lies in the sheer simplicity of such a notion. Wrap ones lips around a tube, lower one's head below the surface and breathe.

"How cool that you can put on a mask and just like that, you're in a different world. There's fish, sharks, rays, seahorses all over. You never know what you'll see" South Florida outdoor enthusiast Sam Bronner explains. "I grew up snorkeling around Biscayne Bay. I love it because it's simple to do, you can do it anywhere there's water and all you need is a mask and snorkel."

My mask has opened underwater doors for me from Maine to Miami and Lake Michigan to San Diego. Harbors, bays, rivers and lakes all offer affordable and healthy opportunities. A simple $40 snorkel set will last years and the rest is free. 

How to Start Snorkeling

Here in Miami, dozens of perfect, beginner snorkel spots lie within fifteen minutes of downtown and are an easy swim or kayak from shore. Before you go, stop by Austin's Diving Center in Pinecrest, Grove SCUBA in Coconut Grove or Underwater Unlimited in Coral Gables and invest in gear and ask questions.

Then, you can drive to South Beach to snorkel over sand and rocks, Matheson Hammock to snorkel over mangroves and grass flats or Crandon Park, Key Biscayne to snorkel over shallow soft corals and sponges, wrecks and one of the world's only petrified mangrove reefs. For those who want a guided adventure, try EcoAdventures on Key Biscayne. For $70, guides will show you the skills, supply kayaks and snorkeling gear and lead the way.

Snorkeling lessons are always recommended, but once you master the basics, you will find snorkeling as easy as breathing. What's best, anyone can do it. The young and old, able-bodied and disabled alike can find freedom and endless happiness just inches inches below the water's surface.

Whether you're in Miami, Boston, Chicago, LA, or almost anywhere in between, snorkeling can bring you priceless adventures at an affordable cost. Pencil in a few hours next weekend, purchase gear and prepare to fall in love with the high yield investment that is snorkeling.