Snorkelling at Little Bay

On the second last day of term one the elective geography classes of Year 9 and 10 went to Little Bay Beach to go snorkelling as part of our study of Oceanography.  Due to large waves at Clovelly, the site for snorkelling had to be changed to Little Bay.  After making our own various ways to the beach we arrived under a rainy sky, which was disappointing, but the beach itself was beautiful.

The first order of business was the compulsory swim test.  We walked down onto the beach, dropped our bags and our shorts and proceeded to show that we were going to be fine in the ocean.  This required us to demonstrate our our swimming ability and tread water water for 5 minutes.  The ocean temperature was a beautiful 22 degrees and a joy to swim in.

The swim test was easy but putting on our wetsuits was the real test.  After 15 minutes of prying, pulling, pinching, standing up, lying down, stretching and helping others, we all had finally managed to squeeze into our wetsuits.  We waddled over to the grass area and were introduced to our instructors who talked to us about snorkelling safety.  While listening to the instructions, the clouds parted and blue began to take over the sky.  The weather was becoming perfect, the ocean sparkled and the the beach sand glimmered.  This was going to be a great day.

Making our way back onto the beach we buddied up, put on our fins and snorkel and excitedly waded in.  We saw many different types of fish, as well as sea urchins.  One group was even lucky enough to spot a fairy penguin!  The rest of the day was full of picnicking, kicking footies, playing frisbee, swimming and enjoying ourselves.

From the joys of snorkelling and spending the day at the beach with friends, we learnt the ocean provides us with many unique activities and therefore needs to be protected.  The excursion was amazing and everyone had a great time.  A huge thank you to Mr Chapman for organising the excursion and being the best dressed as always.  Thank you to the snorkelling instructors from Abyss Scuba Diving, Ms Jenkins and Mr Pagani for supervising, and Fortian Gavin Xu for beingour lifeguard.