Snorkel News

Snorkeling 101

 

We have been running our snorkeling tours to the jetties since 2008. With people visiting from all over the world, we realize snorkeling is an experience some people have never had. At Destin Snorkel you can be confident that our safe, family friendly snorkel excursions will be a highlight of your Destin, FL vacation.

Here, are a few tips and tricks that will help familiarize you with the beginners snorkeling experience at Destin Snorkel.

If you aren’t comfortable jumping right in to snorkeling, stand in the shallows and practice by putting your face down in the water. This way, you’ll be able to practice breathing out of your mouth and you can make sure you have a good seal on your mask. 

 

 

When you dive under the water with the snorkel in your mouth, you can get the water out of the snorkel by exhaling through your mouth with a strong “too” sound. Be aware: it may become muscle memory to breathe through the snorkel, so be careful not to inhale while the top of the snorkel is underwater. Salt water is not very refreshing…

On our snorkeling tour, you’ll be given fins before you get on the boat. The fins fit on either foot, there is no left and right foot. If they fit too loosely on your foot, they could fall off in the water, and if they’re too tight, that’ll be uncomfortable and no fun. The ideal set of fins should fit like a sock; pretty snug but not too tight.

 

When you’re swimming in the water with the fins on, you’ll want to move your legs up and down to propel yourself in the water. Keeping your legs straight will give you the best effect because most of the motion will come from your ankles, not from the bending of your knees.

The strap on the mask is best positioned towards the crown of your head. The same way the fins are supposed to be snug, you’d like your mask to fit similarly. Not too tight to where you’ll get a headache, and not too loose to where it falls off of your face. The mask and snorkel are in a big bucket full of a germ-killing solution on the boat. Once you have your fins, you can head down to the boat and wait to board. 

We do provide life jackets for people who aren’t too strong as swimmers as well as life jackets for the kiddos. Or your welcome to bring your own if you already have one you are comfortable in. The cool thing about snorkeling is that it takes place on the surface, so you can wear a life jacket and snorkel at the same time!

Of course, if you don’t want to snorkel on our tour, you don’t have to. Once you get to the snorkeling spot, you can kayak, swim, stay on the boat, or sun bathe on the beach. The captain will stay on the boat the whole time ready to provide you with complimentary bottled water and soda.

We hope you’ll come out with us and give snorkeling a try!

Author, Danielle Brown

This is a guest post we wanted to share with you written by a local blogger who recently tried our fireworks cruise and wrote about the experience. This excursion takes place every Thursday during the summer and a few other times throughout the year when they have fireworks on Destin Harbor. Enjoy and let us know if you have any questions about this excursion or any others! 

Fireworks Cruise with Destin Snorkel

by Sarah Noonan at The Good Life Destin

Recently I had the opportunity to go on a Fireworks Cruise with Destin Snorkel. It was a great experience and an amazing up-close view of the fireworks.

The Destin Snorkel fireworks cruise departs from the docks of Harborwalk Village every Thursday night from Memorial Day through Labor Day. They offer other excursions during the day such as sunset and dolphin tours, snorkeling, snuba, and shelling.

I wrote this post to tell you about my experience as well as everything I think you need to know to prepare for and enjoy your fireworks cruise.

Check-In

My tour started by checking in at the Destin Snorkel Hut which is located in a small alley of shops in the heart of Harborwalk Village.

The alley is located between Jackacudas restaurant and the main Harborwalk Marina building. If you walk down the stairs from the main parking lot, you will make a right in Harborwalk Village and it will be on your left across from the main events stage.

Once I got checked in, they gave me a ticket to hand to the captain and told me where to wait for the boat on the nearby docks close to Harry T’s Restaurant.

I waited for a few minutes with the other fireworks cruisers until Captain Andy came to greet us and help us board the boat. Each group had their picture taken by Rachel, his first mate, as they boarded. After the cruise, the photos were available for purchase for at the Destin Snorkel Hut.

About the Boat

Our group was cruising on the newest boat in the Destin Snorkel fleet– The Kokomo II. It holds 49 passengers with plenty of covered and uncovered seating as well as a bathroom on board.

There were 42 passengers on our cruise and it did not feel cramped or uncomfortable to me at all. There was plenty of space to comfortably move around and no one was fighting for the best spot as I was imagining.

Pre-Fireworks Cruise

The boat departed at 8:30pm and went east down the harbor for a brief tour before heading to the fireworks spot. Rachel offered everyone drinks as the boat departed. They have water and soda on board but you are allowed to bring your own alcoholic beverages as long as there is no glass.

During the tour, Captain Andy gave us general information about the harbor and about some of the restaurants we passed such as Harbor Docks, Boshamps, and the Boathouse Oyster Bar.

At about 8:45 the boat turned around and headed west toward the Destin bridge passing Harborwalk Village on the right.

The fireworks are set off from a barge located in the water between Norriego Point and the west jetties beach area. Our boat stopped in that area along with several other boats. We waited about 5 minutes for fireworks to start. The fireworks go off at 9:00pm and last about 5-6 minutes.

We had a great view–directly facing them. When the fireworks ended we went back and docked on the harbor.

Additional Information:

Cost

*Adults: $20
*Children(4-12): $13
*Toddlers(3 and under): $1
**price includes tax

Tipping

Anyone on a deck crew or taking people out on a water excursion in Destin works for tips so remember to bring some cash. At the end of the cruise, you can thank your captain and first mate by giving them a tip as you exit the boat.

Parking

Trying to park at Harborwalk Village at this time of the evening (when everyone is going there for dinner and fireworks) will probably take at least 30-60 minutes longer than you think it should. I’m not telling you this to deter you from the excursion, but just want you to plan realistically for it so you don’t miss the boat.

The best parking strategy is to arrive earlier in the day. Arriving before 5 or 6pm is the best way to get a parking spot. You can spend the extra time before your cruise watching the charter boats clean their fresh catches from the day, enjoying the sunset on the harbor, doing some shopping or grabbing dinner and drinks at one of the many nearby restaurants.

I very much enjoyed the Fireworks cruise and highly recommend it if you are in Destin on a Thursday night this summer.

You can book your Fireworks cruise online here or by calling 850-269-2329

This is a perfect week to tackle this subject!

Our summers in Destin, FL are normally sunny, humid and beautiful. This and our clear gulf waters help to  make it so fabulous for all of our water activities, but also a perfect recipe for pop up summer storms or showers.

There is one thing to keep in mind 40% chance of rain here all summer long. Yep, you read that right, normal for us, 40% chance of rain. 

Here is what it means for us; somewhere in a 15 mile radius it will probably rain. We will be able to see that storm in the distance, usually across the Choctawhatchee Bay. 

Our Booth Staff, Captains, Mates and Owners (even old Snorkel Mom) keeps a close eye on the radar.  We are all in contact to stay updated on the storms that pop up. Last summer we delayed about 5 or 6 of our Snorkel or Shelling Tours by about 15 to 20 minutes to let a storm pass through. Then the Snorkel boats were off and our guests had a beautiful Snorkel Tour! Though are a few tours we had to cancel, most were easily rescheduled for another day. There are those weeks that the rain hangs around for a few days, however, we are always hopeful they don’t happen very often!

A light rain does not affect our tours at all. We had an old Captain who once said,  “Those fish don’t care about the rain! They are already wet!” I love this saying! Captain Challis our Snuba Captain Says ” The rain is gorgeous below the surface; it looks just like diamonds.” 

So, our best advice is to have a look at your 10 day forecast on your way into town. Then “try” to choose the best day to book your Snuba, Snorkel or Shelling tour. However, the weather here is constantly changing.

Destin Snorkel’s goals and guest commitments

1. Your trip is a safe trip
2. You and your family have a great and memorable experience

If we see something on radar we will call and give you a heads up as soon as we know.  Or, if you are concerned, you are welcome to give us a call. It may be raining “Cats and Dogs” in Miramar Beach or Ft. Walton, but where we are and go out to, it is sunny. Mother Nature is a fickle gal, so don’t let her make you worry. 

Love, 
Snorkel Mom

Destin Snorkel is happy to announce we received another Trip Advisor Certificate of Excellence Award, this will be the 3rd year in a row!!!

Customer service is very important to each and every one of our team members at Destin Snorkel.  We appreciate our guests giving us an opportunity to make memories during your family vacation.  Many of our guests have been with us for years, we thank you for being a large part of making Destin Snorkel the leader in snorkeling, SNUBA, shelling and dolphin/sunset tours in Destin!

Thank you from our team at Destin Snorkel!

Have a safe and enjoyable Memorial Day weekend.