Reading the description of this section of the ScubaMagazine Forum, I thought I'd start a thread dedicated to "Snorkelling For The Sheer Fun of It" as I wonder whether there are others like me who simply enjoy surface, and occasional underwater, swimming in open water with a mask, a snorkel and a pair of fins without spending large amounts of time and money acquiring must-have overengineered equipment or completing rigorous exercise and training régimes.

For me, snorkelling is an inexpensive, liberating experience which I can enjoy anywhere with a minimum of gear. It can be a social activity, which I really appreciated when I once had the opportunity to snorkel with many others at the La Jolla Cove in Southern California. It can also be a solo activity, when I snorkel in the early morning in the North Sea. All I need is my trusty oval mask, "J" shaped snorkel and pair of full-foot fins. I always return refreshed from my seaside foray, looking forward to the rest of my day, even though I have broken no new records in the process.

I get all the competition and performance adrenaline I need in my working life. Snorkelling represents an opportunity for tranquil reflection and harmony with nature. Modern freediving and scuba gear seems designed to make swimmers go faster and faster, deeper and deeper, which may be a popular option, but shouldn't be an obligation. Although the speedometer in my car can indicate up to 140 miles an hour, I have never been tempted to test my car to such limits. I have long preferred the classic simplicity of 1950s and 1960s equipment to the harlequinesque colour combinations in modern wetsuits and the multi-material concoctions that are modern fins.

Does anybody else hanker after simpler times when snorkelling was an unhurried activity done with inexpensive gear in a variety of settings, from swimming pools through lakes to the open sea, usually in one's own neighbourhood and not in exotic locations? Snorkelling began for me in the early 1960s with a trip to Woolworths to buy a set of rubber snorkelling gear, which was far superior IMHO to its modern plastic and elastomer counterpart! I still recall the pleasure I had trying everything out in my local pool - nowadays snorkelling gear is banned there for "health and safety" reasons - and I became a better swimmer as I trained myself in relative safety.

Or am I alone in this view of the simple, uncompetitive joys of snorkelling? I wonder whether this thread will trigger any replies. Sadly, none of my other contributions to these forums seem to have provoked any written response.