If you Haven't been in the Ocean before

First of all it is water but it is nothing like a lake or a river. I suppose in some ways swimming in a river is the most like the ocean if you can imagine the river changing directions without warning while your are swimming in it while you avoid any rocks or obstacles in it while there.

So, if you have snorkeled in a lake or on a river you might not be prepared to snorkel in the Ocean. When I was younger I used to Surf, SCUBA Dive and snorkel in California and Hawaii when I lived there. Actually, even now snorkeling in Hawaii is pretty much still my favorite thing to do there because you can see so many tropical fish even in some places just going in from the beach. But, even in Hawaii you have to choose very carefully both where and when and under what conditions you will choose to snorkel even if it is from the beach. It might be perfect one day and pretty scary or downright dangerous the next. It changes every day and if you aren't familiar with the ocean or all it's residents at different depths of water you might be in danger and not even know it. But, generally speaking the most dangerous thing in the ocean is "Some People". Sharks are only dangerous if they are really hungry. Also, people don't taste good to a shark unless it is really really hungry and desperate for food. So even if one bites you likely he will just spit out whatever he got because it doesn't taste good to him. He usually prefers seals or sea lions that also flop around on the surface a lot too because they are air breathers like us.

For example, if you are from the midwest and have never swum in the ocean ever it is likely not a really good idea just to book a boat dive from Maui to Lanai without first renting or using a mask and snorkel in the ocean from one of the beaches on Maui where you can swim out a little ways and see some fish and get the hang of it. So, last October 2012 when I went with my oldest daughter on a boat dive to Lanai for snorkeling I mostly felt sort of seasick which is sort of normal for me since I was about 30 or so (I'm presently 65). And when I finally got down into the water with my mask and snorkel at first I was scared because I knew I was going to throw up in the water and wondered if I might drown in that circumstance. As it was happening I realized I could manage it without drowning or being too embarrassed because the only one who noticed was the 1st mate of the ship whose duty was to act as a lifeguard for all of us divers. So this was her job. She said, "Oh. That beautiful school of fish there next to you just turned colors and the only do that if they are being fed.  Did you just feed them?" I nodded "yes" and she asked if I needed rescuing and I said I was okay because I am a very strong swimmer and have SCUBA dived since I was 12 at Catalina Island off of Long Beach and Los Angeles. And I started snorkeling by age 8 in pools and at La Jolla Cove near San Diego with my parents and friends. At one point I wanted to be an underwater photographer as a profession until I realized there was just too much competition for that already and so gave up the idea after wanting that from age 14 to 18. Next I wanted to be an airline pilot or bush pilot in Alaska. That idea went away when my Dad made me promise not to get a pilot's license until he was dead because he (lost his brother?) in 1942 likely in a plane crash or something like that.

So, finally I studied to be a computer programmer and I had already trained as an electrician's helper from age 12 to 17 during the summers. So, by my 20s I could build a whole house from plans from the ground up if I needed to.

The ocean was always a big part of my life and my parents lives as well. My father chartered a yacht from Canada and sailed from Vancouver through Seattle to Portland to San Francisco to Los Angeles to Catalina and then 40 days straight with no land and they made it to Tahiti Island and the Tuomoto Archipeligo of all the surrounding Islands. He and his first wife and brother Tommy did this in 1939 and they returned in I believe 1941 just before the war started in the Pacific. So, I was born in Seattle and the ocean was always a big part of both my parents lives. Even when we moved to San Diego when I was 4 we always lived near the ocean still whether it was near San Diego or the Los Angeles area in Tujunga and later in Glendale where I lived from 1956 until 1969. My first car was a 1956 Ford Stationwagon that I named my "Surf Wagon" for carrying the big 10 foot up to 10 foot 6 inch boards we surfed on back then. I surfed mainly in Malibu and Huntington Beach with my buddies. If we were in Huntington Beach and the surf wasn't up that day we just drove over to Knott's Berry Farm or Disneyland for the day which was always fun back then from about 1966 until around 1969. In 1969 I was 21 years old. 1969 was the craziest year I ever saw both for the world and for me too.
I'm really glad those days are over and the world is more stable than it was then even though it is equally crazy in new ways now. My theory is that the world always has been and always will be crazy in many different ways over time and our job as people is to just get out of the way of the craziness so each of us can just survive it.