A surprising number of people who are drawn to ocean wildlife expeditions have some degree of open water anxiety. The good news is that this is almost always manageable with the right approach, and working through it often produces some of the most rewarding experiences of the entire trip.

Understanding What's Actually Happening

Open water anxiety typically involves some combination of not being able to see the bottom, not knowing what's below you, being far from shore, and the feeling of being in an environment where you're not in control. These are rational responses to a genuinely unfamiliar environment, not signs of weakness or unsuitability for ocean activities. The nervous system doesn't easily distinguish between situations that are unfamiliar and situations that are dangerous. Training and repeated exposure change that calibration over time.

Start in Controlled Environments

If open water makes you anxious, the worst strategy is waiting until you're on a boat in the middle of the ocean to figure out how to manage it. The best strategy is gradual, intentional exposure before the trip. A pool session with your snorkeling gear helps your body get used to the sensation of breathing through a snorkel for extended periods and floating with your face underwater. Then a shallow, calm, clear body of water. Then a slightly deeper, slightly less clear one. Each step builds the neurological familiarity that your nervous system needs to classify open water as manageable rather than threatening.

Breathing Is the Mechanism

Anxiety in open water is almost always expressed through breathing. Shallow, fast breaths create a feedback loop: your body interprets the rapid breathing as a signal that something is wrong, which increases anxiety, which makes breathing faster. Deliberately slowing your exhale is the fastest way to interrupt this cycle. Practice slow, complete exhales through your snorkel before you get anxious. Then when anxiety starts, you have an automatic tool.

Acknowledge the Depth, Then Let It Go

Many people with open water anxiety have a specific trigger: looking down and seeing deep blue or dark water below them. The instinct is to avoid looking down. The better approach is to look down, acknowledge what you're seeing, and remind yourself that the depth is not the hazard. What you're floating on is the same regardless of whether there's 5 meters or 500 meters beneath you. You're not in the water in the way that would make depth relevant. You're on top of it.

Go With People You Trust

Anxiety is significantly reduced by being in a group where you feel psychologically safe to acknowledge it. If you're on a trip with strangers who don't know each other well, saying you're nervous can feel exposing. In a well-curated small group, the same admission often turns out to be shared by at least one other person, which immediately makes it less isolating. This is one of the practical benefits of traveling with people who were selected to be compatible with each other.

What the Experience Tends to Do

Most people with mild to moderate open water anxiety find that once they're in the water with an animal they came to see, the anxiety recedes significantly. The focus shifts entirely. There are many accounts from people who were genuinely scared before entering the water and describe being in the presence of a whale or a manta ray as the moment they forgot to be afraid. It doesn't fix anything permanently, but it does show the nervous system something it didn't have before: evidence that the water can be fine.