Why snorkelling is fun for all the family

On a camping trip in Pembrokeshire, Andy Torbet contemplates the pleasure of three generations snorkelling together.

Snorkelling is truly accessible. I’ve written before about its appeal from the point of view of its lightweight and flexible nature. I still keep some snorkel kit in my car for a cheeky snorkel when I’m on the road or after work. Its simplicity makes it ideal for the more remote dive locations: I’ve chosen to snorkel lochs at the top of mountains rather than dive for no other reason than my snorkel weighs a lot less than a 12-litre steel cylinder.

This innate accessibility not only applies to how we can use snorkelling to access dive sites, but who can access it. Snorkelling is normally much less physically demanding than even the simplest form of recreational scuba diving. This makes it an ideal place to start for for the young, old or physically impaired. Scuba diving has a legacy of helping disabled and injured people with organisations such as The SCUBA Trust or Deptherapy, or BSAC’s own Diving for All initiative. But snorkelling is a great first, or last, step in your journey of underwater exploration.

The Torbet-Biggins snorkel team prepare to head out | Wendy Biggins on shore cover

On a recent trip to Pembrokeshire, camping with not only my wife and kids but also my in-laws, the spectrum of ages that can get out and snorkel together was embodied as three generations took to the water together. The youngest of our snorkel team, being ten and eight, happily finned along next to their grandad of 73, with myself and Bex along to represent for Generation X.

Due to a few days of strong onshore winds, the sands had been churned up by the surf and it was hard to appreciate the underwater landscape. However, as we ferreted around in the sand, we found the large and remarkably undamaged carapace of a spider crab. Then, still joined, the twin halves of a razor clam, alongside other signs of life. Sometimes we can discern the biodiversity from the clues left behind, even if we don’t see the creatures themselves. The boys competed as to who could be the best snorkel-sleuth. Later than evening we pored over our collection of clues as we hung the wetsuits up to dry, solving the mysteries of which animals must inhabit this coastline.

The ‘boys’ trying and failing to use body boards as snorkelling platforms

Even Nanny joined in. Opting to stay on land, she operated as shore cover and photographer, while back on the beach Bex watched her dad and sons play in the surf together, snorkels flailing as they pitched about in the waves.

It’s like life goes full circle.” “Perhaps not,” I replied. “I think it’s more linear. I see this more as passing the baton to continue the story.

As the boys – all three of them – stumbled ashore laughing, it was, despite the atrocious visibility, one of the best ‘dives’ of the year. Something all three generations could share.

Photo by Becki Biggins

Clockwise: The younger generation strike a pose; Drying kit on the motor home;
Torbet and son, the not so old firm

 
There will come a time when I can no longer spend hours in deco in big swells, scooter kilometres underground at great depths or haul heavy dive kit through technical sections of dry caves. Even my climbing and skydiving, and the filming projects I do for work will, eventually, be beyond my physical capabilities. But snorkelling will still be there; the last to go.

And, since all this life of adventure began with me snorkelling off the Northeast coast of Scotland aged six, perhaps things do go full circle after all. 

If any of you have any suggestions, I’d love to hear them. Drop a note to me through the editor’s email at SCUBA or on my social media below:

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Article by Andy Torbet for SCUBA magazine, Issue 160, November 2025. For more membership benefits, visit bsac.com/benefits.

Images in this online version may have been substituted from the original images in SCUBA magazine due to usage rights.

Find out more about learning to snorkel or discover snorkelling in the UK.