I wasn't literally swept away at sea, don't worry. I recently received a message to my blog's Facebook page from Mark at Wave Sweeper inviting me to come on an adventure. I could choose from snorkelling, kayaking or coasteering. The choice was an obvious one for me - it had to be snorkelling!
Me and mum headed up to Mullaghmore on a rainy, dreary Friday to dive straight in (excuse the pun). Mark met us down by the water and complimented my clever idea of wearing eye makeup to go snorkelling - I'd forgotten my makeup wipes, alright - before setting us up with wetsuits and snorkelling gear. Initially I was more afraid of the thoughts of attempting to get into a wetsuit than I was of the various creatures in the sea but after lepping around in the trailer (changing room) like a deranged kangaroo I eventually got the damn thing on. I felt like a pork sausage trying to wiggle into it. Word of advice, don't wear a wetsuit if you're having a fat day. EVERY. SINGLE. BUMP.
I snapped on my uber sexy gloves, hood and wetsuit socks and we headed down to the water (after going flying on some slippery seaweed-y rocks - not even in the water yet and I nearly die, typical). Mark explained the process, a few signals we had to do and how to work the snorkel. He made me try to breathe with it in my mouth and then shove my head under the water to test it out. When we decided we were good to go we popped on our flippers and had a little swim to get us started. I kept forgetting to stand up you have to roll onto your back and not literally stand because the flippers won't allow you to do that, but I sussed it in the end.
We swam together while mum took some pics on an underwater camera (no one looks attractive in snorkelling garb, alright), looking out for fish and other sealife. I will admit for the first 10 minutes I started feeling extremely panicky and breathing very quickly and heavily and I wasn't sure if I could do it. I don't like feeling a loss of control and it was a bit claustrophobic with all the gear on and it did take a while to adjust to this, so bear this in mind if you're anxious.
After a while I relaxed and concentrated on admiring the seaweed, starfish and shoals of fish we swum amongst. It was like something out of the Little Mermaid - absolutely magical - apart from when I got seaweed all up in my face. Mark dived down to pick up sea urchins, starfish and a sea cucumber (yes, that's a thing) to show us. I got well excited when I picked up a whelk! We also saw various types of fish and even some crabs, one of which Mark put on mum's head causing her to freak out. Too funny.
Mark and I embracing (ha!)
We swam a kilometre in total and we were out at sea for around an hour and a half. Everything was going swimmingly (heh) until I suddenly got leg cramp and Mark had to swoop in and literally scoop me up so I could get rid of it. Proper damsel in distress, me.
It's funny swimming with low visibility. I kept accidentally grabbing someone's arse or face or nearly getting knocked out by a flipper. At one point we sat up against some rocks and waves kept flinging us off which me and mum thought was the funniest thing ever. Mark swore we were high off seaweed or something.
We eventually got washed up ashore and after waddling up the ladder to the pier it was time for a sit down and to inspect the various beasts that had clung onto Mark's sleeve. It was time to head back to the trailer and try and peel our wetsuits off and put our clothes back on, during which time I nearly fell over and mum yelled 'I CAN'T FIND ME KNICKERS'. So eloquent.
After the struggle of getting dressed again we decided to head for a drink to warm the cockles. We sat and chatted for a while about the other activities run by Wave Sweeper and I've decided I might bite the bullet and try coasteering sometime. Next up though is surfing and I can't wait to blog about that!
Thanks a million to Mark for inviting us along. It was truly one of the best experiences of my life and I loved every second of it that I wasn't having a panic attack. I'll tell you what though, my jaws are aching and I can barely walk today. Get your minds out of the gutter! Check Mark out on Facebook here - and go snorkelling, it's incredible!
Me and mum headed up to Mullaghmore on a rainy, dreary Friday to dive straight in (excuse the pun). Mark met us down by the water and complimented my clever idea of wearing eye makeup to go snorkelling - I'd forgotten my makeup wipes, alright - before setting us up with wetsuits and snorkelling gear. Initially I was more afraid of the thoughts of attempting to get into a wetsuit than I was of the various creatures in the sea but after lepping around in the trailer (changing room) like a deranged kangaroo I eventually got the damn thing on. I felt like a pork sausage trying to wiggle into it. Word of advice, don't wear a wetsuit if you're having a fat day. EVERY. SINGLE. BUMP.
I snapped on my uber sexy gloves, hood and wetsuit socks and we headed down to the water (after going flying on some slippery seaweed-y rocks - not even in the water yet and I nearly die, typical). Mark explained the process, a few signals we had to do and how to work the snorkel. He made me try to breathe with it in my mouth and then shove my head under the water to test it out. When we decided we were good to go we popped on our flippers and had a little swim to get us started. I kept forgetting to stand up you have to roll onto your back and not literally stand because the flippers won't allow you to do that, but I sussed it in the end.
We swam together while mum took some pics on an underwater camera (no one looks attractive in snorkelling garb, alright), looking out for fish and other sealife. I will admit for the first 10 minutes I started feeling extremely panicky and breathing very quickly and heavily and I wasn't sure if I could do it. I don't like feeling a loss of control and it was a bit claustrophobic with all the gear on and it did take a while to adjust to this, so bear this in mind if you're anxious.
After a while I relaxed and concentrated on admiring the seaweed, starfish and shoals of fish we swum amongst. It was like something out of the Little Mermaid - absolutely magical - apart from when I got seaweed all up in my face. Mark dived down to pick up sea urchins, starfish and a sea cucumber (yes, that's a thing) to show us. I got well excited when I picked up a whelk! We also saw various types of fish and even some crabs, one of which Mark put on mum's head causing her to freak out. Too funny.
We swam a kilometre in total and we were out at sea for around an hour and a half. Everything was going swimmingly (heh) until I suddenly got leg cramp and Mark had to swoop in and literally scoop me up so I could get rid of it. Proper damsel in distress, me.
It's funny swimming with low visibility. I kept accidentally grabbing someone's arse or face or nearly getting knocked out by a flipper. At one point we sat up against some rocks and waves kept flinging us off which me and mum thought was the funniest thing ever. Mark swore we were high off seaweed or something.
We eventually got washed up ashore and after waddling up the ladder to the pier it was time for a sit down and to inspect the various beasts that had clung onto Mark's sleeve. It was time to head back to the trailer and try and peel our wetsuits off and put our clothes back on, during which time I nearly fell over and mum yelled 'I CAN'T FIND ME KNICKERS'. So eloquent.
After the struggle of getting dressed again we decided to head for a drink to warm the cockles. We sat and chatted for a while about the other activities run by Wave Sweeper and I've decided I might bite the bullet and try coasteering sometime. Next up though is surfing and I can't wait to blog about that!
Thanks a million to Mark for inviting us along. It was truly one of the best experiences of my life and I loved every second of it that I wasn't having a panic attack. I'll tell you what though, my jaws are aching and I can barely walk today. Get your minds out of the gutter! Check Mark out on Facebook here - and go snorkelling, it's incredible!
Love this Lucy! I have a terrible fear of fishies in the sea so don't think I will be trying this I did try scuba diving (but in a swimming pool in Tenerife) but couldn't get over the breathing thing!!!!!
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