Explore9 min read
Snorkelling Gear for Cold Water: Stay Warm, Stay Longer
Cold-water snorkelling rewards the prepared. How to choose wetsuit thickness, hoods, gloves, boots, masks, snorkels and fins for water below 18 °C.
Tom Okafor ·
#snorkelling
27 articles
Atlas8 min read
The Coromandel Coast: Kelp, Snapper Nurseries and New Zealand's Marine Reserve Frontier
A Coastal Atlas guide to the Coromandel Peninsula — golden kelp reefs, the Cathedral Cove marine reserve, kina barren science, offshore islands, visibility seasons and access.
Tom Okafor ·
Atlas7 min read
Dive Guide: Rickett's Point — Melbourne's Pocket of Great Southern Reef
Ricketts Point Marine Sanctuary is Melbourne's easiest kelp-country snorkel and shore dive. A practical guide to the reefs, seasons and calm-water windows.
Tom Okafor ·
Field Notes8 min read
Field Notes: The School Group That Met a Forest
Twenty-four fourth-graders, forty masks, and one restored kelp bay. Field notes from a Tinderbox school snorkel day — and why it matters to the program.
Jack Callum ·
Explore9 min read
Equalization for Freedivers and Snorkellers: Frenzel Basics
Learn how to equalize your ears for freediving and snorkelling: Valsalva vs Frenzel, common mistakes, daily drills and when to call a dive short.
Tom Okafor ·
Atlas7 min read
The Isles of Scilly: Kelp, Seals and England's Atlantic Edge
Twenty-eight miles offshore of Land's End, the Scillies hold England's clearest water, warmest kelp reefs, great grey seal swims and some of British diving's classics.
Tom Okafor ·
Atlas8 min read
Montague Island (Barunguba): Seals, Seabirds and Kelp off the NSW South Coast
A region guide to Montague Island — Australia's fur seal snorkel capital, little penguin colonies, kelp-fringed granite and how to visit Barunguba from Narooma.
Tom Okafor ·
Explore9 min read
How to Read a Marine Forecast Before You Get In
Swell height is only a third of the story. Learn to read period, direction, wind, tide and sea state so you can judge a site before you pack the car.
Tom Okafor ·
Explore8 min read
Seals and Sea Lions in the Water With You: An Encounter Ethics Guide
Diving and snorkelling where seals and sea lions live: keeping legal distances, reading their body language, what to do when one approaches — and why the animal decides.
Tom Okafor ·
Explore10 min read
Taking Kids Snorkelling: A Parent's Guide to Safe Shore Sessions
How to introduce children to shore snorkelling safely: readiness signs, sheltered sites, kid-sized gear, signals, and the progression that builds confident young ocean people.
Tom Okafor ·
Atlas8 min read
Sicily: The Mediterranean's Great Algal Forests Around Volcanic Isles
Sicily's volcanic islands carry the Mediterranean's richest Cystoseira forests — brown canopies in coral-clear water. A coastal atlas guide to seeing them.
Dr. Mara Ellison ·
Explore9 min read
Snorkel Photography: Getting the Shot on One Breath
No scuba, no strobes, no choke of gear: how to shoot kelp forests on a single breath. Breath budgeting, surface light, composition and a minimal kit that works.
Tom Okafor ·
Atlas8 min read
Wellington's South Coast: Capital City Kelp at the Edge of Cook Strait
Taputeranga Marine Reserve, the Island Bay snorkel trail, orcas in the strait: a guide to Wellington's kelp-fringed south coast, ten minutes from the CBD.
Tom Okafor ·
Atlas8 min read
Port Phillip Bay: Melbourne's Giant Kelp Garden
Behind the treacherous Rip lies a 1,900 km² sunken valley of kelp beds and seagrass: Port Phillip Bay, the temperate reef at Melbourne's front door.
Dr. Mara Ellison ·
Atlas9 min read
Sydney's Crayweed Coast: The City That Planted a Forest Back
From Palm Beach to Kurnell, a snorkel-and-dive trail along Sydney's replanted crayweed reefs: what to see, when to go, and how a city regrew a forest.
Tom Okafor ·
Explore7 min read
Reading the Swell Forecast: A Diver's Plain-English Guide
Swell height, period and direction decide whether your dive happens. A plain-English guide to reading wave forecasts like a diver, not a surfer.
Tom Okafor ·
Explore8 min read
Underwater Photography with Just a Phone: Housings, Settings and Kelp-Forest Shots That Work
You don't need a camera rig to shoot the kelp forest. Phone housings that work, settings that matter, and the surface-level shots phones do beautifully.
Tom Okafor ·
Atlas9 min read
Snorkelling the Cape Kelp: Windmill Beach and Beyond
A snorkeller's guide to Simon's Town and False Bay — Windmill Beach, Boulders, kelp-fringe marine life, shark-smart safety, seasons and gear for Cape Town's east side.
Tom Okafor ·
Explore8 min read
Dive Flags Explained: Rules, Distances and What Boaters Actually Do
The two dive flags, what the law requires of divers and boaters, standoff distances, and how reality on the water differs from the textbook.
Tom Okafor ·
Atlas8 min read
Esperance and the Recherche: Granite Islands, White Sand, Golden Kelp
A coastal atlas guide to Esperance, Western Australia: kelp forests beneath the whitest beaches in the country, granite islands, seadragons and how to see them.
Dr. Mara Ellison ·
Explore9 min read
Kayak Snorkelling: Paddling Out to the Kelp and Slipping In
How to snorkel kelp beds from a kayak — anchoring without wrecking reef, entries and re-entries, drift management, and the safety spacing that matters.
Tom Okafor ·
Atlas8 min read
Scotland's Sea Lochs: Kelp Where the Mountains Meet the Tide
A coastal atlas guide to Scotland's west coast sea lochs: sheltered kelp forests, tidal rapids at loch mouths, maerl beds and how the voes shape what grows.
Jack Callum ·
Explore10 min read
Diving with Glasses or Contact Lenses: Your Real Options
You can't wear glasses under a dive mask — but you have better options. Prescription masks, contact lenses, drop-in lenses and surgery, compared honestly.
Tom Okafor ·
Atlas8 min read
La Jolla Cove and the San Diego Kelp Beds: Canopy Beside the Canyons
A guide to La Jolla's kelp forest, the underwater park that protects it, the leopard sharks of La Jolla Shores, and how to see it all from shore.
Dr. Mara Ellison ·
Explore8 min read
Snorkelling with Seals and Sea Lions: Wonder Without Harassment
How to snorkel with seals and sea lions on kelp coasts legally and kindly — reading haul-outs, letting them choose the encounter, and what to do when a pup swims to you.
Tom Okafor ·
Explore11 min read
Wetsuit Care and Repair: Make Your Neoprene Last
Neoprene dies from salt, sun, heat and rough handling — not from diving. A complete guide to rinsing, drying, storing and repairing a wetsuit properly.
Tom Okafor ·
Explore7 min read
Snorkelling in Swell: Technique for Moving Water
How to snorkel well when the water is moving — reading swell and surge, timing your entries, breathing through slosh, and knowing when to walk away.
Tom Okafor ·