The Tide Is Out

Is Tide Pooling Better than Snorkeling

Short Answer:

It depends on what you want out of your experience and what you’re comfortable with.  If you’re more comfortable on the rocks than you are swimming and enjoy going on a “treasure hunt” for small animals, tide pooling is the way to go. But if you want to see large animals like fish and enjoy being in the water, you might try your hand at snorkeling. 

Long Answer:

Tide pooling and snorkeling have their pros and cons. Let’s break down some of the differences so you can pick the best activity for you. 

What you will see

Snorkeling allows you to see larger animals, like fish and sometimes sea turtles or sea lions, depending on your location. Floating at the surface, you won’t have to “look” very hard to find these animals; what you will see will more depend on where you decide to swim than how hard you look. Tide pooling, on the other hand, focuses on small, less well-known invertebrates like snails, crabs, sea slugs, and echinoderms. You will have to put some effort into looking for these animals. Tide pooling is more like a treasure hunt, while snorkeling is more like watching the animals at the zoo that aren’t hiding or sleeping. 

Necessary Ability

Both tide pooling and snorkeling require some skill, but of different kinds. Snorkeling requires the ability to swim, which rules it out for some. It’s unwise to snorkel or swim in the ocean even with floatation devices due to unexpected currents and waves. While tide pooling doesn’t require swimming, it does require some balance and the ability to crouch down to look at small animals. Think about your own comfort levels with these requirements when deciding which activity to try. 

Taking Photos

If you have an underwater camera or want to put your phone in a waterproof bag to, you’ll find that tide pooling animals stay still but are very small while animals you’ll see snorkeling in shallow waters to be faster and moving about, but are larger. 

Temperature and Weather

For some, being cold while swimming makes a big difference when snorkeling and makes tide pooling much more appealing. Even in tropical waters, if you get cold easily, you might think about prefer to stay on the shore exploring tide pools with only a short dip into the water every once in a while to stay cool. 

Overall, there isn’t one hobby that’s better than the other. Which one is better suited for you will depend on your expectations and what you’d like to get out of your ocean exploration.