Here is the video of Kaatje and Daddy swimming the Grotto Tunnel at Bruce Peninsula National Park.
It only takes 15 seconds but according to Daddy, it feels like an eternity. Lucky for us there was a friendly young lifeguard there to offer us tips. The most important tip- do not let out all your air until you actually have your head out of the water. It is deceiving because there is a ledge and you think you are at the end, but you are not. You round the ledge and it is still several feet more until you reach the top.
Daddy claims it was a work out but it was also very wavy today and they had to swim against the current and far enough out not to get knocked back into the rock wall when they surfaced. Kaatje however, says it was a breeze. It might also be that she is 13 and Daddy is 40. Oh to be young again! If you watch the video, you can actually see Kaatje swim down deeper and then under Daddy to pass him and come out ahead. Daddy was not impressed. He claimed it was for safety reasons but I think it may have been his ego 🙂
Other key tip…when attempting this swim, always swim out of the grotto first until you are comfortable. That way you are swimming towards the light and can see everything. Swimming into the grotto is more difficult because it is dark and can be hard to tell when it is time to surface. It is easy to panic when you attempt to surface and hit the rock wall. We only swam out of the grotto but our young life guard friend swam both ways with no issue.