HIKING PALM: A SHARED ACTIVITY

What if from time to time you dropped your bottles? Snorkeling is another way to discover the shallows, and there are plenty of reasons to get started: sharing with the family even with the little ones, an unexpected opportunity to dive into the water, exhausted diving budget or desire to travel light! It is a real activity, to discover or rediscover.

EXTEND THE SEASONS

If the activity initially developed in the tropics, conducive to surface walks where multicolored fish are already crowding in crystal-clear water, underwater hiking can be practiced anywhere, a matter of curiosity! And it's a nice way to take advantage of the last summer weekends or to get in the water in early spring: by the sea of ​​course, but also in rivers, in a pond, wherever there is. has water, some life, and at least one mask lying around!

BOX OR NOT

More and more diving clubs offer a hiking activity. It is mainly aimed at a public who for various reasons will not pass the course of scuba diving. Since 2007, within the Federation, any initiator or dive guide is in fact an “underwater hiking guide”. But if you're already a diver, you don't need a guide to indulge yourself. However, the advice that applies to the public is suitable for everyone.

MASK AND PALMS ADAPTED

We do not necessarily use the same equipment in diving. The mask, in the first place, will not necessarily be the same as the one you use in diving. If a transparent skirt reassures the neophyte, the very strong luminosity on the surface may hinder you. So prefer a mask with black skirt. If you are taking a beginner, child or adult, with you, pay particular attention to the proper fit and the tracking of the fog that could prevent him from enjoying the ride. The fins, too, can be shorter, more compact, which will avoid embarrassing your teammates, possibly your children who hang on more or less to you.

CHANGE CLOTHING

As for the clothing, it must be light and particularly flexible, simply to protect you from the cold during a long walk, and from the bite of the sun but without getting in the way. The ideal, for this activity, being to give up the balaclava which makes you half deaf: when hiking, we get our heads out of the water, we talk to each other, we are together and often with little ones who have things to say and sometimes the need to be reassured. No lead, or at least not a lot, you have to keep positive buoyancy

THINK A SURFACE SUPPORT

And if you are out for a walk with the family, a board with handles or a small inflatable kayak will be of great interest: they allow you to take a break by hanging on quietly, to get out of the water for a while a little tired without having to go back. , to carry water bottles or a welcome snack when the batteries are flat. The simple inflatable boat of the youngest can also do the trick. It also allows you to discover the other side of the surface to a small (or large) who is not really comfortable with a snorkel and can hang on to put their nose in the water safely. .

STAY CAREFUL

And if the activity does not seem to present any danger, nevertheless remember to respect a few common sense rules: always start against the current to be able to ensure the return, do not leave at nightfall, find out about the presence of currents, tides, or particular dangers. Of course, avoid areas where motor boats or jetski pass. And prefer hiking in a group.

THE CHOICE OF THE SITE

Ideally, you need to find a site where the depths do not exceed three to five meters, which allows you to take advantage of everything "visually" but also to be able to make small forays under the surface to go and observe a species more closely without having to worry. you might as well be a great freediver. Ideally again, the site should be as varied as possible, with for example a herbarium, then a rocky area, finally a sandy expanse, which will give your hike all its flavor by emphasizing the diversity of species encountered.

THE SUBMARINE TRAILS

If the park of Port-Cros created in 1979 the first path in the Bay of Palud, it has since largely school, and the number of underwater trails continues to increase, on the Mediterranean coasts but also in the West even if the climatic conditions s 'lend less. There are today in France a good number of underwater trails, and overseas departments and territories are also involved.

THEMES WALKS

If the classic trails seem too “mainstream” for the diver that you are, there are also some more original initiatives that can make you happy and transform your underwater excursion into a real new experience. In Hyères, for example, you can discover the submarine remains of ancient Olbia: in a few meters of water, the 60-meter-long Roman quay built in the middle of the 2st century BC. J.-C, but also a Tartane wreck from the 5th century and its cargo, huge limestone blocks XNUMX meters long aligned on a XNUMX meter bottom.