You’re in the Caribbean and have two options: snorkeling or diving. Which one would you choose?
You snorkel
Don’t need quite a lot of equipment: usually just your snorkel and fins.
You stay on the surface, need lots of sun protection (your back will be under the sun for a loooong time), it’s fun, can’t really explore for longer what you see below (a starfish, an angel fish, coral…)
It’s somehow easier to have a sense of orientation: stick your face off the water and look for landmarks.
You also experience more resistance: sun, wind, currents, more people snorkeling around. And depending of where you are, noise, more people trying to see the same thing, clutter. The fun can become boring or annoying.
You dive
To go below the surface, you need special gear —definitely more than just the snorkel and fins
It’s a different kind of fun, you can explore for longer what’s underwater. Even prepare to study things in their own environment.
Need trained skills to get oriented. Look for different landmarks: the coral reef, a slope, the boat’s shadow, the anchor line. Not your regular kind of landmark.
You can use the surroundings in your favor (a current, a surge, the depth…) to perform different actions.
You’re surrounded by other trained people. The fun is a more intentional one too. 🙂
Here’s the thing
One approach is of a generalist, the other of a specialist.
Depending on what you want to do, you’ll want to choose one over the other.
Just know what you need to take in any of those adventures. You don’t want to take a snorkel and fins down to 15 meters for 30 minutes… just as you don’t want to float with your diving equipment to explore over 2 meters of water. 🙂