Snorkel Shore: Recap How I Got Into Snorkeling

Me at Doheny Beach at low tide looking at tidepools

Hello, my name is Nicole! In the last year (2019-2020), I have become an active snorkeler. It was April 2019 when I went snorkeling for the first time as an adult. I had snorkeled before as a kid in Maui but I can not remember seeing anything particularly interesting. In the last year, as I have been scouting out accessible snorkeling spots (meaning easy to get to, usually without a boat), it has become easy for me to conclude, good snorkeling spots are hit and miss. Originally, it was a miss for me and for almost 30 years it was not something I cared about. My experience in Maui was too long ago and would be impossible to know where I was exactly as a child. All I remember was light-colored sand which actually does narrow it down since Maui has very few light sand beaches. I remember a shallow bottom and sparse hard coral formations in the same sand color which may have just been dead or bleached, and periodically I would see very small fish, again sand color. In hindsight, I realize the activity itself even if a miss is still good for the body and mind but I did not appreciate it then.

Sergeant Major fish living right off the backside of Coral Princess Hotel

Fast-forward to April 2019 my sister and I vacationed to Cancun, Mexico where my sister wanted to spend a day on Cozumel which I protested originally to avoid the logistics of getting there from Cancun over an hour away and then across the water, though it turns out to be quite easy. She bought us a hotel room for one night at the Coral Princess Dive & Golf Resort on the northwest side of Cozumel island. This place helped me trade my indifferent attitude for a set of fins, a snorkel, and a UV protection mask. 

Me living the good life by the pool at Coral Princess Hotel, CZM

The Coral Princess Dive & Golf Resort website claims it is a “Natural Sacred Sanctuary” this statement could not be truer. Why? Coral Princess offers its guests a deluxe pool area with plenty of space, lounges, bean bags, a full bar, and restaurant but beyond the posh pool area lies a protected shoreline, only accessible to those who can swim to it or to those who stay at the hotel. Because of this limited access, away from the crowds and big boats, the reef is healthy and alive. It also helps that the maximum depth in this area tops out at 20 ft. It’s a dream to wake up to for the avid snorkeler and the best place to hook the novice.

Sea fan coral, branching coral, soft coral, off the backside of Coral Princess Hotel

The surface of the rock which lies just under the foundation of the hotel is alive and covered by colorful soft coral formations mimicking bushes, cones, mushrooms, feathers, and candelabras that move with the ebb and flow of the tide. It is a dancing home for marine creatures that weave themselves throughout nature's architecture adding more brilliance and movement to an already ostentatious display.

Hawkbill sea turtle at the surface of in Columbia Reef, Cozumel

We’ve all seen amazing images of this type of underwater world, so it’s not anything new but my previous experience with snorkeling lead me to assume these scenes were solely for experienced scuba divers. Not true, they are for the surface-dwelling beginner snorkelers as well.

Cozumel sits on the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System (MBRS) in the Caribbean Sea and is the second-largest reef in the world after the Great Barrier Reef. So, it should not come as a surprise to find the variety of marine life right of the poolside of Coral Princess Hotel. See various damselfish, grunts, parrotfish, pudding wife, remora, needlefish, grouper, tomate, and on and on. Even phantasmal eagle rays, docile green turtles, and shy moray eels are not uncommon. Coral Princess Reef is a hit.

The area between the cruise ship port and the ferry port is not the best snorkeling, best to avoid this area.

The next day my sister and I went for a snorkeling tour we had purchased from a vendor right off the ferry port. It was a 3 hour and $45 boat snorkeling tour that took us to three spots between the ferry boats and the cruise ships. It was our first time to the island, we didn’t know what we were doing and I would not recommend that tour. My advice to anyone looking to buy a boat snorkeling tour on Cozumel is to ask for the vendor to show you a map of the spots they plan to take you to, if it is anywhere in between the ferry port and the cruise port, decline their offer. You either want them to take you north or south of the ports, more on that later. In between most everything is dead, and unless you bring fish food, you might not see anything.

Me in my mask and snorkel at La Jolla Cove, California

This post is not about Cozumel, this post is an introduction to my blog about snorkeling as a pastime. We left Cozumel only after one night since all our stuff was still in our Sol y Mar Cancun hotel room but as I flew back home to southern California in April 2019 I could not ignore this strong desire to see more of that world. Late spring and summer of 2019 had me saving money to buy my own snorkel gear and scouting places in cold California water to explore.

Orange garibaldi fish swaying in the seagrass

 Since then, I have found a few places worth noting and I am growing more knowledge with every trip I make whether at home or abroad.  I didn’t know there were any snorkeling spots in California since we don’t have coral. However, we have kelp and seagrass which bring in all kinds of life, including our state fish the poppy orange garibaldi, harmless leopard sharks, harbor seals, and sea turtles. Yes, sea turtles in California.

5 ft leopard shark in the shallows of La Jolla Shores, California

This blog is about my snorkeling journey, the underwater life I encounter, my experiences, it is my personal snorkeling journal, my tips, my mistakes, screenshots and the footage I've managed to capture, sustainability to become a steward of the reef, gradual upgrades to my gear, and all things pertaining to snorkeling the places I find.