My first reef snorkeling experience

Have you ever swam with a shark?

  • Yes - And it was awesome!

    Votes: 9 33.3%
  • Yes - And it made me nervous

    Votes: 1 3.7%
  • Yes - And I basically crapped my pants

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • No - But would love to

    Votes: 13 48.1%
  • No - and I basically crapped my pants thinking about the idea

    Votes: 4 14.8%

  • Total voters
    27

Andrew Schubert

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I wanted to take a break from the cold weather here in Illinois, and booked a weekend getaway to Key West.

Booked an afternoon trip with Sebago company that took myself and 26 others 6 miles south of the keys to Eastern Dry Rocks reef. It took us about an hour to get out to the reef where we were given an hour to snorkle around.

At first I didn't see much besides some sea fans, sponges, and a couple small tropical fishes. Then all of a sudden I came upon my first school of fish -- yellow snappers. As I swam near I quickly became engulfed in one school of fish after another to the point I was afraid to swim without hitting any of them. Of course this is just how it felt as they were very good at avoiding you when needed. From their I ran across some schools of bluish tangs, which I had to laugh at when. I saw some of them chasing each other around, and swinging their pectoral fins at each other just like my 3 tangs in my tank do. Guess these things are never satisfied no matter how much space they have to swim.

Moving on I spotted some beautiful parrot fish, and some butterfly fish. As I swam further and further away from our boat the larger the fish seemed to become. Then I spotted my first very big fish...until I realize the 10 foot fish I was starring at was indeed a shark! As my first adventure I decided to play it safe and swim in the opposite direction that he was going.

Seeing that shark diffinitelly made me a lot more aware of my surroundings. I could clearly see the bottom, and about 30 feet in any direction...however, you can rest assured the predators in the water had much better sense of me then I did of them.

Swimming in the opposite direction I came across a shallower area of the reef that was no more then 5 feet deep. There I was enjoying the beautiful fish and corals, when I another large fish emerged from behind me and right under me. It was another shark! This time within 3 feet...basically in arms reach. I just floated still, feeling he was so close even the flip of my fins might accidentally kick the beast. He soon moved on, thankfully leaving me intact :). Doing some research I'm 95% sure it was a Lemon Shark.

I always wondered how I would react being faced to face with a shark, and I am actually surprised how safe I still felt. Yea, it made me a little nervous, but never really made me panic. I just kepted telling myself, no one has ever been killed in Key West by a shark before. Then again, I always seem to be the exception with these things
.

in conclusion, it was a great experience that I would recommend to everyone to do in their life! I got cheap round trip tickets to Ft. Lauderdale, car rental for $15/day, hotel for $100, and snorkling charter for just $50. In all, anyone can have this same experience for less than $500...and lets face it, we've all spend more then that on our corals.
 

Bbfishb81

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I 'swam' with a 6 ft nurse shark in a closed off area in Mexico. It was amazing, my kids 8 and 5 did as well and it's a memory we will never forget. Always loved sharks, but you earn a whole new level of respect when you see one that big up close and in person.
 

krash7172

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I highly recommend trying SCUBA or at least snorkeling if you have the opportunity. It's not for everyone but many vacation destinations offer the experience for a reasonable price.
 

Tennyson

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Only 'swam' with a shark once while snorkeling in Aruba. It was a small Caribbean reef shark and it was coming right toward's me in shallow/cloudy water. It darted away before I could react, and it was absolutely beautiful! I'd swim with more in clearer conditions.
 
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Andrew Schubert

Andrew Schubert

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Only 'swam' with a shark once while snorkeling in Aruba. It was a small Caribbean reef shark and it was coming right toward's me in shallow/cloudy water. It darted away before I could react, and it was absolutely beautiful! I'd swim with more in clearer conditions.
Yea...I am actually glad it swam from behind me
instead of at me. Seeing a 10 foot beast coming at u at that close would have been so freaky. At least by the time it was past me I knew it wasn't coming for me.
 
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Andrew Schubert

Andrew Schubert

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I highly recommend trying SCUBA or at least snorkeling if you have the opportunity. It's not for everyone but many vacation destinations offer the experience for a reasonable price.
Yea...like I said, it was only 50 bucks. We spend more on that every month on our own reefs
 

dhof

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I wanted to take a break from the cold weather here in Illinois, and booked a weekend getaway to Key West.

Booked an afternoon trip with Sebago company that took myself and 26 others 6 miles south of the keys to Eastern Dry Rocks reef. It took us about an hour to get out to the reef where we were given an hour to snorkle around.

At first I didn't see much besides some sea fans, sponges, and a couple small tropical fishes. Then all of a sudden I came upon my first school of fish -- yellow snappers. As I swam near I quickly became engulfed in one school of fish after another to the point I was afraid to swim without hitting any of them. Of course this is just how it felt as they were very good at avoiding you when needed. From their I ran across some schools of bluish tangs, which I had to laugh at when. I saw some of them chasing each other around, and swinging their pectoral fins at each other just like my 3 tangs in my tank do. Guess these things are never satisfied no matter how much space they have to swim.

Moving on I spotted some beautiful parrot fish, and some butterfly fish. As I swam further and further away from our boat the larger the fish seemed to become. Then I spotted my first very big fish...until I realize the 10 foot fish I was starring at was indeed a shark! As my first adventure I decided to play it safe and swim in the opposite direction that he was going.

Seeing that shark diffinitelly made me a lot more aware of my surroundings. I could clearly see the bottom, and about 30 feet in any direction...however, you can rest assured the predators in the water had much better sense of me then I did of them.

Swimming in the opposite direction I came across a shallower area of the reef that was no more then 5 feet deep. There I was enjoying the beautiful fish and corals, when I another large fish emerged from behind me and right under me. It was another shark! This time within 3 feet...basically in arms reach. I just floated still, feeling he was so close even the flip of my fins might accidentally kick the beast. He soon moved on, thankfully leaving me intact :). Doing some research I'm 95% sure it was a Lemon Shark.

I always wondered how I would react being faced to face with a shark, and I am actually surprised how safe I still felt. Yea, it made me a little nervous, but never really made me panic. I just kepted telling myself, no one has ever been killed in Key West by a shark before. Then again, I always seem to be the exception with these things
.

in conclusion, it was a great experience that I would recommend to everyone to do in their life! I got cheap round trip tickets to Ft. Lauderdale, car rental for $15/day, hotel for $100, and snorkling charter for just $50. In all, anyone can have this same experience for less than $500...and lets face it, we've all spend more then that on our corals.
If u get scuba certified I highly recommend the shark feeding dive with Stuart coves in the Bahamas. Here’s a video I took where you can see I held the tail of a shark while the dive master put him to sleep

Shark whisperer video
 

dhof

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What kind of sharks are those in the video?
Caribbean reef sharks. They were 8-10 foot long. Not the most dangerous sharks but in this feeding frenzy they are dangerous enough that his chainmail was a bit tattered.

I see these all the time when I dive but always at a distance and they don’t approach scuba divers at all. Occasionally a dive master will spear a lionfish and a shark will come over to eat it off of his spear, which is really fun to watch because the shark is stung by the lionfish but still eats the free meal.
 
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Andrew Schubert

Andrew Schubert

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Caribbean reef sharks. They were 8-10 foot long. Not the most dangerous sharks but in this feeding frenzy they are dangerous enough that his chainmail was a bit tattered.

I see these all the time when I dive but always at a distance and they don’t approach scuba divers at all. Occasionally a dive master will spear a lionfish and a shark will come over to eat it off of his spear, which is really fun to watch because the shark is stung by the lionfish but still eats the free meal.
Interesting....after seeing that video, now I'm second guessing what kind of shark it was I saw. It kind of looked like those Caribbean reef sharks as well. So either that or the Lemon Shark. Guess it doesn't matter, as it was still a 10 foot shark..lol
 

sfin52

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One of the reasons I started a reef. The other was dates with heather( wife ) before we where married. I was a broke airman.
First time snorkling Cozumel
 

A worm with high fashion and practical utility: Have you ever kept feather dusters in your reef aquarium?

  • I currently have feather dusters in my tank.

    Votes: 70 37.8%
  • Not currently, but I have had feather dusters in my tank in the past.

    Votes: 62 33.5%
  • I have not had feather dusters, but I hope to in the future.

    Votes: 25 13.5%
  • I have no plans to have feather dusters in my tank.

    Votes: 28 15.1%
  • Other.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
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