How do you get started with snorkelling?

Snorkelling is the cheapest ticket to another world. Put your face in the water off a rocky Mediterranean cove and suddenly there are fish in neat stripes, sea urchins in the cracks and light dancing on the sand. You don't need to be a strong swimmer to enjoy it, but you do need to be comfortable in the water and sensible about where you go.

The kit

The mask

The mask matters most. To check fit, hold it to your face without the strap, breathe in gently through your nose, and let go. A mask that fits will stay on by suction. Hawaii's state ocean safety service puts it simply: make sure your mask fits properly and does not leak.

Push hair away from the seal. Like swimming goggles, masks fog; our guide to stopping goggles fogging applies here too.

The snorkel

A plain J-shaped tube with a comfortable mouthpiece is all a beginner needs. Some have a splash guard on top or a purge valve at the bottom to help clear water.

Full-face masks

These look easy, but Hawaii's ocean safety service notes that officials are still studying concerns including carbon dioxide build-up, difficulty removing the mask and poor seals. If you use one, it advises breathing slowly and only through your nose, and practising taking it off before you get in. Many beginners are better off with a classic mask and snorkel.

Fins

Fins should be snug without pinching. They let you move with slow, relaxed kicks rather than splashing about.

Learning to breathe through the tube

This is the part that feels strange at first: your face is underwater and yet you are breathing. Practise in stages.

1. Stand in waist-deep, calm water. Put the mask on, snorkel in, and breathe through it with your face out of the water.
2. Bend forward and put your face in. Breathe slowly and deliberately, longer out-breaths than in-breaths.
3. When you are comfortable, float face down and let the water hold you.

If water gets in the tube, a sharp puff clears it. If that feels like a lot, simply lift your head, take the snorkel out, breathe, and start again. If putting your face in the water at all feels uncomfortable, start with our guide to getting comfortable with your face in the water.

Where and when to go

• Calm water, close to shore. Sheltered coves and bays on still mornings are ideal for learning.
• Check conditions and ask. The Hawaii guidance advises talking to lifeguards where there are some, and that high surf, strong winds, heavy shorebreak and strong currents make snorkelling unsafe. If conditions look dangerous, don't go.
• Go with a buddy. The same guidance recommends always snorkelling with a partner, who can fetch help in an emergency.
• Watch for boats. In busy Mediterranean bays, stay inside swimming areas and away from boat channels. A brightly coloured cap or float makes you easier to spot.
• Know when to stop. Hawaii's guidance warns that dizziness, disorientation or a headache may be a sign of carbon dioxide build-up in your gear: remove it calmly and leave the water. Get out too if you are cold or tired.

Follow local rules and lifeguards wherever you are; protected marine areas often have their own.

Look, don't touch

Snorkelling's golden rule. The Hawaii guidance says touching coral or sea creatures harms them and can also injure you, and that you should never stand on a coral reef or feed fish or turtles. In the Mediterranean, the same respect applies to seagrass meadows, sea urchins and rock life.

In practice that means:

• staying horizontal and floating over the reef rather than standing up in the shallows;
• keeping fins up and away from the bottom;
• avoiding very shallow reef and rocky areas where it's hard to float or rest;
• taking only photos.