For a good few years I dreamed of a time that I would be joined by folk along the coastline to snorkel and explore the shallow waters of the Moray Firth.  Having spent my younger years growing up in Lochaber on the West Coast, it was there where a love of snorkeling in the sea was kindled around Ardnamurchan, Arisaig and Glenuig.

Back in the Summer of 2022, a conversation with British Sub Aqua Club (BSAC) Chief Snorkel Instructors  led to Moray Ocean Community in May 2025  being one of the very first volunteer- led community groups in the country to undertake Snorkel Guide training. 

Persistence paid off and dreams came true.  Moray Ocean Community were joined by Marg Baldwin and Ken Scott,  who have over 60 years snorkelling and diving experience between them from the  British Sub Aqua Club (BSAC).   With the amazing continued support from SeaChangers we arrived in Hopeman for an intensive two week-ends of learning to be fully qualified Snorkel Guides.  A new course particularly developed for coastal communities.

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A great deal of work was going on behind the scenes, fine tuning the planning for this training to happen.  With our dynamic coastline and unpredictable tides, Marg and Ken spent many hours looking at suitable areas to host our event.  We needed depth to practice duck diving, conditions to safely practice guiding and buddy rescue and with the help of the Hopeman Community Association we found the ideal base at Hopeman harbour and pavillion.

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“It was one of the hardest things I’ve done”.  Physically and mentally testing me, with intensive training scenarios of duck diving to rescue a buddy with a weight belt on, inflating my buddys life jacket, giving practice rescue breaths, trying to keep myself and my buddy  afloat and towing back to shore was hard work however so rewarding. Surface diving to around 4 metres was also hard going with mask squeeze and ear popping!  However I loved every minute of this course with amazing support for my  MOC team.  The amount of marine creatures you see as you glide quietly over the sea bed in the shallows of Hopeman bay was just amazing.  A world you would not normally get the chance to see, it does make a lasting impression on you and one experience you just want to share.

Through-out the week-end we learned on land and in-water skills  including tidal mapping, compass work, oxygen delivery first aid, AED, planning a snorkel guide session, shore cover safety and lots of other really important skills and also Marg does make amazing flapjacks which kept us going.

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Our final test was to lead a group “Team Moc” on a  guided snorkel around Hopeman Harbour and what a fun experience it was as well as great to hone our guiding principles. 

We are so delighted that we all passed !   Now the sharing learning period begins, we will go out as a team and practice..practice..practice and in the next year we will be starting to offer our very first guided snorkel experiences with our MOC volunteers.

 We cant wait to join together to observe our seagrass meadows and hopefully find more to log on Seagrass Spotter app, we hope to float over our stunning kelp forest and seaweed tangles, watch our shore crabs bury in the sand and our anemones decorate their shells….so much to discover we cant wait!

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The timing of our training coincided with the launch of David Attenboroughs Ocean film. I went on a journey of despair then hope. I know that Moray Ocean Community are giving a voice to our ocean and that together with our amazing volunteers we  are learning, observing and protecting our Moray Firth which makes me so proud. 

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Huge thanks goes to Julia, Marg and Ken from BSAC, Laura from Hopeman Community Association, Seachangers and Iris and Alan  from Burghead Sub Aqua Club.