Susan's Place Transgender Resources

Do you enjoy snorkeling?


Try to avoid the sharks!

I haven't snorkelled since I was a child.  At one of the places we lived, we spent much of our free time at beach clubs protected by shark nets.  My parents gave me flippers and goggles with a built-in snorkel.  I found it interesting and it felt like an adventure, like in the TV show Sea Hunt, although the goggles let in water and I had to empty them quite frequently. 

Inside the nets, there was rarely anything obviously harmful, although at one club, the open-air bar was decorated with shark jaws.  A puffer fish, inflated but possibly dead, floated on the surface once.  A stingray caused a temporary evacuation of the water.  We sipped our drinks and watched a spearfisherman on a li-lo patiently hunt the poor creature.  He speared it and it broke water spectacularly.  There were fascinatingly transparent jellyfish and occasional swarms of bluebottles, somestimes known by the more grandiose name Portuguese-Men-O'War but if I was ever stung, I don't remember it.

While walking the rocks outside of the nets, I saw small sharks when they were attracted by the bait of anglers.  Someone we knew saw a black-and-yellow sea snake.  During a neap tide, along with other children, I waded in the shallow water outside of the nets.  A boy picked up a piece of coral on which there was a small and exquisite octopus.  A club member walking past shouted intimidatingly at the boy and took the coral and the octopus to show to his friends.  I now realise that the adult was just a bully and a thief.  I don't know what happened to the octopus.  I expect it died of dehydration while the adult showed off his prize.  I am sure that the boy who found it would have returned it to the water.   

I did some snorkeling when I lived in Florida as a teen. We would camp on a bayou and spend a week fishing and swimming. We would see dolphins swim up the bayou and my brother and I would try to intercept them with a boat so we could swim with them. They kept their distance.

I was snorkeling in shallow water, about chest-deep, and watching crabs and fish. I wasn't paying attention and swam into the tentacles of a dead Man-O-War. Even though it was dead, it stung! It got me across my back. I raised up out of the water and got another one across my chest. I had fins on and was moving as fast as I could to get back to shore. I didn't know what had happened, but my brother was fishing nearby and saw the whole thing transpire and laughed at me. He said that even though the water was chest-deep, I did a great Jesus impersonation running on the surface to get back to shore.

My mom peeled the tentacles off of me and made a paste of meat tenderizer and water, which stopped the sting and relieved the itching. That was the end of my snorkeling career.

Snorkelling has been a huge part of my life. I had my first try at 6 years old and was hooked. I got seriously into it when I got a car and could get to the good places. When I was 30 I joined a Scuba Club and got my basic certification with them, and promptly got myself entered in their safety book for going down past the 60 ft limit for new divers. They had to overturn this as I didn't have an air tank, just breath hold.

I used to regularly breath hold to 80+ feet and late in life became a snorkel instructor, taking groups of school kids on educational tours. I built a house close to my favourite dive sites and ran a scuba club from home, for decades, taking divers out on my boat, Freediver. I spent thousands of hours underwater, taking photos and video, and it led me to contributing to books, magazines and documentaries.

Perhaps the pinnacle of my snorkelling came when swimming with whales at home and around the world. I made friends with a mother and calf Humpback in Tonga, and the calf would play with me.

Transition bought an unusual problem. As my breast buds developed, I experienced pain when descending. I had to cease diving for a couple of years until my development slowed. At times, when my E levels dropped, I could dive without pain, but when they rose, I had pain again. As I was very well known in my dive community, I had to come out to hundreds of people. Their support and acceptance was incredible. After coming out, I was voted in as Vice President of my dive club, and charter boat owners gave me free dives on their boats. Now I'm in my 70's my activity has slowed with age related health issues, but I still get out for a scuba dive or snorkel a few times a year, and I taught my grandkids to snorkel so we can enjoy my local reefs. As a matter of fact, we went snorkelling yesterday!

Hugs,

Allie

Quote from: Allie Jayne on March 09, 2025, 04:35:13 PMSnorkelling has been a huge part of my life. I had my first try at 6 years old and was hooked. I got seriously into it when I got a car and could get to the good places. When I was 30 I joined a Scuba Club and got my basic certification with them, and promptly got myself entered in their safety book for going down past the 60 ft limit for new divers. They had to overturn this as I didn't have an air tank, just breath hold.

I used to regularly breath hold to 80+ feet and late in life became a snorkel instructor, taking groups of school kids on educational tours. I built a house close to my favourite dive sites and ran a scuba club from home, for decades, taking divers out on my boat, Freediver. I spent thousands of hours underwater, taking photos and video, and it led me to contributing to books, magazines and documentaries.

Perhaps the pinnacle of my snorkelling came when swimming with whales at home and around the world. I made friends with a mother and calf Humpback in Tonga, and the calf would play with me.

Transition bought an unusual problem. As my breast buds developed, I experienced pain when descending. I had to cease diving for a couple of years until my development slowed. At times, when my E levels dropped, I could dive without pain, but when they rose, I had pain again. As I was very well known in my dive community, I had to come out to hundreds of people. Their support and acceptance was incredible. After coming out, I was voted in as Vice President of my dive club, and charter boat owners gave me free dives on their boats. Now I'm in my 70's my activity has slowed with age related health issues, but I still get out for a scuba dive or snorkel a few times a year, and I taught my grandkids to snorkel so we can enjoy my local reefs. As a matter of fact, we went snorkelling yesterday!

Hugs,

Allie

That sounds pretty good Allie!

Chrissy