A snorkel is a breathing tube mostly worn by snorkelers when on the surface of the water before experiencing underwater life and is sometimes used in scuba diving.
A snorkel is usually shaped in form of a long tube usually accompanied by snorkel masks, swimming goggles, and sometimes swim fins, the complete set is mainly worn by professional divers or snorkelers.
A snorkel provides wonderful health benefits and it allows us to experience the beauty of the underwater world without fully submerging ourselves in the water.
Using a snorkel tube with the complete snorkel gear helps to improve your snorkeling and diving experience, allows for clear in-water vision, and helps you to breathe properly while your face is submerged in water.
And with the help of snorkeling fins, you can move around with ease and good control.
While it does not look like you would need special training to know how to use a snorkel tube or a complete snorkel gear, there are a few rules you have to follow to be safe in the water.
Some of these rules include not diving into the water with a snorkel in your mouth and you will find out why as you continue reading.
Why Don’t You Dive With A Snorkel In Your Mouth?
The short answer is that diving with a snorkel in your mouth is not safe; a scuba regulator works best for diving since you are going to be spending more time fully submerged in the water as opposed to regular snorkeling.
While you can jump into the water with a snorkel tube in your mouth during snorkeling, this action is not advised when diving.
This is because diving is a more extreme water sport that requires you to be a professional first of all, your equipment secondly has to be more advanced hence the scuba regulator instead of a snorkel tube.
You do not need to have any special training to engage in snorkeling asides from being able to swim that is, you do not need to get any special equipment to also engage in snorkeling, unlike scuba diving.
Diving too allows you to even take pictures of the water life as you get to see and feel them up close; you can also do the same while snorkeling just get a waterproof camera and you are good to go.
Conclusion
When you dive with the snorkel in your mouth, water fills up the snorkel then you have to stop it from entering your mouth with your tongue allowing you to hold your breath still like you do when diving.
On the way back to the surface of the water you push out the water in the snorkel by breathing out, this would come out in form of water bubbles filled with air from the top of the snorkel.
Then you get to the surface and take a clean breath of air before returning to your diving with the same technique.
Even with this technique diving instructors would always advise you not to dive with a snorkel and to opt for a scuba regulator.
Asides from the fact that it isn’t easy to plug the snorkel with your tongue while carrying out whatever it is you are diving for, not everyone would remember to plug the snorkel at all times.
There is also the case of blacking out while deep in water, maybe due to the water’s high current or some other unforeseen reason.
If a diver manages to pass out they can no longer plug the snorkel with their tongue and the snorkel becomes a funnel for all the water in the ocean to find its way into your lungs, which in so doing leads to death of the diver.