Snorkeling w/3yo?

[The Mister]

How does a 3yo join the family snorkeling?

 

I've seen some of mitsugirly's photos of her little one (thanks! :) ) and it looks like she just has a life vest and not much else (maybe goggles? Going by memory.)

 

We also have an 8yo who will probably take to it as well as he has to swimming in general (I.e., quite well).

[khm1]

The youngest that my kids were when they tried snorkeling was 5. Try a snorkeling raft. They sell them on Amazon and scuba websites.

[cb at sea]

It will really depend on how rough it is, and how comfortable the child is in the water. Most kids don't like to get their face wet....and that's really what snorkeling is....sticking your face in the water! Some snorkeling excursions will let the child go, but not participate, so parents will take turns watching the child while the other looks at the fish.

[tamsocal]

Our kids all swam by 2yrs & 3yrs old. We bought them snorkel & mask months in advance of our vacation & had them practice with them in the pool. Sometimes they just wanted their goggles but I convinced to use the mask instead the majority of the time as they needed to get used to the mask.

We always bring our own equipment. We have brought 2 types of flotation devices- a dolphin or turtle float- circle tube cut at 6 o'clock so they can slip it on- small turtle head at 12 oclock. the head was great for them to hold on to- they also could still have the ring on that wasnt too huge and could look over the side of the tube with their snorkel & mask on- the ring really helped when we had to adjust their snorkel & mask & also if it was a bit choppy. We have also taken a snorkel raft type device with the window on the bottom for fish viewing.

 

Our last trip I had myself & 3 kids out with me & I did regret not having life jackets on the kids ( 5 & 9). They kept wanting to go out a bit farther and then we were in a bit of a current. All was fine and they were all great about keeping on their flotation devices and swimming in but it just made me think had they not cooperated with swimming back in I should have had life jackets on them since I was out numbered. THey all know how to swim but that part didnt matter. We swam with life jackets & the flotation rings the rest of the trip.

 

We have also used goggles only for the kids with snorkeling-- but has worked much better for us when they wear mask & snorkel

 

on a boat snorkel trip- we have all went in together & have taken turns as well- depended on what the kids wanted & how much time we had at each stop

[Mack2]

Remind the kids to keep their heads looking mostly down. The first time my kids tried snorkeling, they would pop their heads up and try to look above the water, submerging the snorkel and sucking in water.

 

They didn't have a great time.

 

After reminding them to keep their heads straight, snorkeling became a lot easier for them... The whole "submerge the snorkel while trying to breath from it" thing doesn't make for an easy snorkeling trip.

 

My kids love snorkeling now. My eldest, who has macular degeneration and can only see peripherally, loves floating in the water while the fish swim up to him. Good times.

[Mistyhon]

On our recent excursion in Nassau I saw the company provided the floating raft with peephole window to a child. I thought it was a nice option and he seemed to do well. I'm thinking the child was 6 or 7.

[cruiseformel]

I would second the snorkel raft idea. It's basically a boogie board with a window cut in it. We tried getting my 4 year old to snorkel last year, and although he's a strong swimmer, he was happier on the raft.

 

Don't mean to hijack, but for the people that have gotten their 3-5 year old's snorkeling, what kind (brand) mask did you get for them? I can't seem to find one small enough to get a good seal on his face.

[Cshgrand]

My son is four and we got his mask from simplyscuba.com. It's a Mares brand one and fits him well. He is a strong swimmer already (25m plus when he first sea snorkelled at Christmas) so I was happy to take him in just a scuba vest bought from same website. Fins don't quite fit yet tho.

We practiced in the bath to help him with breathing as they don't allow snorkels in the local pool.

[mitsugirly]

LOL, I was browsing and this looked like an interesting subject to me, so I click on it and my name is here. :D :p

 

Ok, this is my opinion (and there was a LONG thread on this when others on here helped me out when our daughter was 3 and just started snorkeling)...DO NOT get a regular life vest. We had such a hard time with this...trying to find what would keep her safe and afloat without tipping her. We tried a life jacket that zipped up, we tried the regular orange boating jackets, we tried blow up rings around the waist and the arms...nothing worked.

 

GO GET A PUDDLE JUMPER!!! Seriously. The absolute BEST thing anyone in this world that has young children could have ever created. It will not put them on their back (making it impossible to turn back over), it will not dump them on their face (basically almost drowning them), it will not bust (in case of rubbing up against something in the ocean). THEY ARE HEAVEN!! Seriously. That's what our daughter started with before she learn how to swim. We still have it and I still take it on every cruise in case it's needed in the ocean (although our last cruise she swam on her own but it was calm and not too deep). I still take it though!

 

You can find the puddle jumper online or at places like Target or Walmart. They come in different colors and some even have animals on it.

 

I was just trying to find a picture of her on some previous cruises with it on.

 

 

 

You can normally find them for less than $20...and worth every penny.

 

[mitsugirly]

Oh I almost forgot...as for her goggles, she just has a pair of purple (because it's her favorite color just ask her) Speedo goggles. She does not like to wear the full mask (she has one) and she would rather hold her breath. She can actually hold her breath for a pretty long time now. :D She practices a lot in the water. She has tried one of our snorkels, but it didn't last long before she said she would rather hold her breath. That was last year. I am going to try again this year and see how it goes.

 

 

Yea, she was talking under the water and saying "I love you mommy". I happen to snap this picture at the same time...it looks like a heart bubble coming out of her mouth. LOL :p

 

She does have a pair of fins too. They are not the starter kid ones. They are the normal sized children fins in the smallest size I could find at the local dive store. They look huge on her, but they do fit and she has learn to use them (the proper way with the straight legs and smooth, even flow kicking). It does take practice though. Most kids want to just kick at the knees like when they are learning to swim and you have to teach them the correct way. She can swim all the way across a 30' pool using them without coming up for air. It just takes practice.

 

These are her fins

 

[The Mister]

Excellent information as usual! I knew you would eventually find your way here. :)

[Nebr.cruiser]

With kids that young, just be prepared that it may or may not work out. We've taken kids 3-5 cruising (grandkids) who were quite good swimmers for their age and very comfortable around water and had used snorkeling equipment at home. (We live on a lake so they basically swim all summer.)

 

But, snorkeling off the boat in Grand Cayman didn't work out, because the day was coolish (about 70) and the water was a little choppy. Even with one adult per child it not fun for them and none stayed in the water more than a couple of minutes.

 

And, only one (we had a 3, 4 and two 5's) would pet a stingray!

[mitsugirly]

Excellent information as usual! I knew you would eventually find your way here. :)

 

LOL, glad you had faith in me. :D

 

With kids that young, just be prepared that it may or may not work out. We've taken kids 3-5 cruising (grandkids) who were quite good swimmers for their age and very comfortable around water and had used snorkeling equipment at home. (We live on a lake so they basically swim all summer.)

 

But, snorkeling off the boat in Grand Cayman didn't work out, because the day was coolish (about 70) and the water was a little choppy. Even with one adult per child it not fun for them and none stayed in the water more than a couple of minutes.

 

And, only one (we had a 3, 4 and two 5's) would pet a stingray!

 

So very true. We have had a few moments of snorkeling out and then all of a sudden she wanted to turn around and go back. So sometimes you have to compromise and turn around, or send 1 parent back and take turns. She has also been known to "hitch a ride" on our backs when snorkeling. Of course these few times I'm thinking about was back when she was 3 years old. So far since then, she' done pretty good. Of course the weather plays a big part of it too and the comfort of allowing them to go in the water on a choppy day.

 

Oh Grand Cayman and the stingrays...my little one loved it so much but mommy messed up this time and forgot the puddle jumper on the ship. We spent the day having to hold her in the choppy water because the life vest tipped her. :rolleyes: So, we are going again in 6 months to try out the stingrays again.

 

Her giving it a kiss for "good luck"

 

[Nebr.cruiser]

LOL, glad you had faith in me. :D

 

 

 

So very true. We have had a few moments of snorkeling out and then all of a sudden she wanted to turn around and go back. So sometimes you have to compromise and turn around, or send 1 parent back and take turns. She has also been known to "hitch a ride" on our backs when snorkeling. Of course these few times I'm thinking about was back when she was 3 years old. So far since then, she' done pretty good. Of course the weather plays a big part of it too and the comfort of allowing them to go in the water on a choppy day.

 

Oh Grand Cayman and the stingrays...my little one loved it so much but mommy messed up this time and forgot the puddle jumper on the ship. We spent the day having to hold her in the choppy water because the life vest tipped her. :rolleyes: So, we are going again in 6 months to try out the stingrays again.

 

Her giving it a kiss for "good luck"

 

 

Only the 5-year-old girl would even get in the water with the sting rays--totally surprising to me because they are all the dare-devil type.

 

We brought their own swim vests they were used to--they are not certified life jackets, but work much better for swimming than most life vests, which they uniformly hated. Since they could all keep themselves upright, these worked well.

 

The oldest of these sweet kids is now turning 14; still sweet but a very fun teen! (We have a total of 9 kids--seven 13-14's--staying the night!)