Snorkeling in Alaska
 

Has anyone ever done this? We are thinking about snorkeling there just because it seems like such a bizarre thing to do. This is offered through a shore excursion on our cruise and just wanted to find opinions from anyone who had done it.

Brrrrrrrr.

I know, they give you a hooded wetsuit and everything. Anyone??

I agree with the first post. The water would be FREEZING. The wetsuit won't protect your face.

kikahead, wetsuit, schmetsuit. How thick? People do dive in colder waters than that, but I sincerely hope I will never be one of them.

So is this really weird then? We are taking the cruise with Holland America which everyone says caters to a mature crowd. If they offer it as an excursion someone must do it....right?

Great, I can see it now. Ado and I snorkeling past a glacier while all the people on the boat laugh at us!!!

Do you have to sign up in advance? Because once you are on the cruise you can probably get a lot more information. For one thing, how thick are the wetsuits? For another, is there some great stuff to see? 'Cause it would take some really great stuff to get me into such cold water.

I wonder how our germophobes would feel about getting into a wetsuit that's been worn by other people. :-D

Marilyn, especially if everyone spits in their mask :)

Hah, Scarlett! It's a triple threat: the mask, the snorkel (that goes in your MOUTH!), and the wetsuit. And you know what people do in wetsuits -- they release the body's most sterile fluid.

LOL Ladies, ladies!! You're right though Marilyn...as well as being sterile and thirst quenching, it's fabulous for diving warmth....hee hee. She probably douses her 3 times before use.

http://www.alaskadeepsix.com/


Here is the company that runs the tours. There have been a few very supportive reviews.

How clear is really cold ocean water? I thought warm water was more dependably clear? I mean, I never liked going in the "cold" Pacific in L.A. or Santa Cruz because, well, it was cold, but more because it's pretty murky. But warm Florida and Hawaii are so clear. What's the deal??

love
roxy

Well I know that some people love to dive in Monterey Bay (which is very cold water). There are kelp forests, and all sorts of other things that you do not see in warmer waters.

I have dived in clear cold water - 'murkiness' has nothing to do with temperature, and everything to do with suspended sediment. If there is a source of fine-grained sediment nearby (eroding cliffs, rivers, etc.), you are going to see decreased visibility. Low-lying tropical locations (Florida, Bahamas, Fiji, Australia GBR, French Poly) have few rivers dumping sediment into the ocean, and few cliffs to erode. The sandier sediments are too large to stay suspended in the water column.

Having said all that, I am still not sure that I'm interested in snorkeling in AK, even if I had a dry suit.

It sounds cold, but maybe with the 40 pounds of equipment on your back you won't feel it as much. If it interests you, I would do it. It sounds interesting and how many people can say they've done it!

lenleigh, it's a snorkel excursion, not a diving excursion. So she won't have 40 lbs of gear, although lord knows what a wetsuit weighs that will keep you warm in such cold water.

Marilyn, thanks for pointing out my mistake.

Well I guess we're gonna sign up to do it. If you guys never see me post after May, it means I am frozen at the bottom of the ocean off of Alaska.

For some reason I got the biggest laugh out of your last remark, Kikahead. This will be one trip report I can't wait to read.

Oh come on people. Where's your sense of adventure. My wife and I did this trip last year and it was great. When we went in July the water was about 60 degrees. We weren't cold at all. I guess even in May when the water is closer to 50, you only feel the water for a minute or two and then you don't even notice. The wetsuits were 1/4 inch thick and there's just a tiny part of your face that isn't covered. As far as the germs and everything, we asked the same questions. They told us they wash the wetsuits after every use in a disinfectant and soak the the masks and snorkels in a bleach solution.
They gave us defog to spray in the masks instead of spitting in them. The guides were great, they brought up all kinds of creatures and gave us a little marine-biology lesson on them. The website listed above is a local dive shop, not the one that sells the tour onboard the ship. Their website is
www.snorkelalaska.com. I highly recommend this to anyone with even a tiny sense of adventure.