Snorkeling is just ocean hiking.

By: Erin E. Wood, Ph.D

Growing up, I did not live in an outdoorsy family........ unless you consider softball tournaments, yardwork, and sitting by the pool in the summer “outdoorsy.”

While my family had mixed feelings on the outdoors, we loved the beach. Heck, I even learned how to walk on the beach.

As soon as I learned how to swim, my parents had me in a swim mask and snorkel and I was ready for adventure!

Baby Erin ready to snorkel circa 1998 -2000

Usually with my dad in tow, I would spend hours swimming in the ocean, diving to collect sea shells, and trying my best to find all of the fish on my plastic Fishwatcher’s Field Guide.

Fishwatcher’s Field Guide click HERE for link

My first few years snorkeling were probably the equivalent of a “green” hiking trail. Not too hard. Good for the whole family. A bit crowded with other fish watchers wanting to see fish, but scaring off most of the wildlife with their splashing and gurgled attempts at talking.

Baby Erin circa 2000 - there were probably no fish to be seen in this area

As I got older we got more adventurous with our snorkeling, sometimes swimming out of sight of the shore and in areas untouched by most casual snorkelers. We swam out until we were caught by currents that took us into shallow pools filled with sea urchins (hence my irrational fear or sea urchins). We would go on day trips to go see stingrays, sharks, and coral reefs still vibrant with color and life. I would drag my parents down hiking trails with 100 foot drop offs to get to more remote smirking areas.

Picture 1: Stingrays

Picture 2: Hiking to remote snorkeling spot

Picture : Sea Urchins 😖

But amidst all of these experiences, I still didn’t consider our family to be relatively “outdoorsy.” I thought that title was reserved for families that would go hiking on the weekends and use their family vacation to see national parks. We went to the beach to read books and make sand castles and play in the water. That’s not too outdoorsy.

My love for “real“ nature and the “real” outdoors is still relatively new. I had gone hiking a few times in high school in undergrad but it wasn’t until half-way through my graduate program when I truly fell in love with the “real” outdoors.

As I mentioned earlier, much of my earliest snorkeling experiences would probably translate to a “green” trail. The closest you could get to a paved walking trail in the ocean. However, the more time I spend in the “real” outdoors the more I realize how many similarities there are between what my mind had considered to be truly outdoorsy and my lived experience.

The coral reef are like beautiful rock formations.

The fish are like the birds and squirrels.

The water current can make things easier or harder, like going up or down a switchback.

The distance away from the shore determines whether you’re going for a easy morning hike or a “full day hike.”

Excursions out to the drop off are like multi-day backpacking trip.

They’re completely different, yet entirely the same. So, the more I think about it— I’ve been outdoorsy my whole life. Snorkeling is just ocean hiking.

Or maybe..... hiking is just land snorkeling?

All photos (minus the Fishwatcher’s Field Guide ) were taken and provided by the Wood family.