Snorkeling, join us for a fantastic experience.

Cairns-based liveaboard Reef Encounter offers outstanding snorkelling packages.

The beauty of  Reef Encounter is that it is a small ship built for comfort at sea yet small enough to position herself close to the coral, ideal for her passengers.

Reef Encounter has 21 staterooms, private bathrooms and large picture windows overlooking the Great Barrier Reef.

Serviced daily by her sister boat, Reef Experience, Reef Encounter

Reef Encounter offers excellent flexibility for her clients, allowing them to join her trip on the day that suits them best and stay for as long as they like

Two great accommodation options onboard Stateroom packages or upgrade to one of the VIP packages Top Deck Club for guests who enjoy a bit more pampering.

There are so many great benefits of doing a liveaboard for snorkelers.  Snorkelers can jump in for a snorkel several times a day, and there is always lots of marine life activity for you to watch. Before entering the water, It is a great idea to make sure you slip, slap on some sunscreen or, better still, wear a wetsuit. It is effortless to plan to jump in for a quick snorkel and find a giant blue-spotted lagoon ray that is mesmerising, and before you know it, you are burnt to a crisp.

About Snorkeling

Snorkeling as a sport or even a physical exercise gets very little notice in many parts of the world. Part of the reason is that it is easy to learn the basics.

Our liveaboards offer outstanding snorkeling experiences. Our crew is happy to assist all passengers, even those with little or no swimming ability.

Companies around the Great Barrier Reef take a different approach to snorkeling and recognise many advantages to learning how to snorkel.

What Is Snorkeling

You can look at snorkeling as you would most other sports. Different skills can be learned, each additional one enhancing and building upon the others.

The equipment is simple and easy to use. There are five essential pieces of gear for the snorkeler: a swimsuit, mask, snorkel with a keeper, fins, fins and floatation vest.

Swimsuit is self-explanatory. However, it would be best if you also considered the force of the sun. Adding a t-shirt is an excellent suggestion to reduce the risk of a severe sunburn on your back. Some more serious snorkelers will wear a dive skin. A dive skin is a lightweight suit to protect against minor scrapes. Many also come with an SPF rating. Using the same scales as sunscreen, the higher the SPF, the fewer UV rays hit your covered skin.

Snorkeling Equipment

Mask

Mask the purpose of the mask is to provide an air pocket in front of your eyes. Diving masks are made to perform well under pressures that snorkels usually do not experience.

The Snorkel

Snorkels are simple devices; most on the market are simple tubes with curves. They are called a “J” tube because of the shape they allow snorkelers to breathe while remaining face down. A keeper is a small band that attaches the snorkel to the mask.

Fins

Fins come in three types: snorkeling, scuba diving and free diving. They are also available in two designs open heel and closed-heel. A snorkeler’s fins are the simplest of the three types and are designed for easy movement at and near the surface.
Free diving fins are very powerful and long, making them difficult to use at the surface and in shallow waters.
The Diving fin is shorter and broader than the snorkeling fins, snorkelers may use them for snorkeling, but many will find that it takes more effort to use them. Open-heel fins require the user to wear booties, while the close-heel, also called slipper type, users slide their barefoot in.

Floatation Devices

Flotation devise. Most advanced snorkelers wear an inflatable snorkeling vest that allows them to add buoyancy while at the surface but does not interfere when empty and the snorkeler wants to go underwater.

Beginners and not strong swimmers often wear a flotation device that keeps them on the surface. Many snorkelers consider this an option.

During most snorkelers learned by laying flat at the surface, many advanced to more involved methods.

With some training and practice, a snorkeler can drop a few metres under the surface and explore a Reef as easily as a scuba diver.

It just takes some basic skills and some practice.