Anyone who has ever been on a holiday with children will know that there is only so much exploring of historical sites, visiting museums or trudging through markets that your children (and you) can take on a summer escape. When the tiredness from all this exploring hits there is only one thing left to do – head underwater!

While scuba diving offers the most freedom to explore the many spectacular oceans and seas that you will encounter on your travels, snorkelling is great for two simple reasons. Firstly, it is easy enough for most children to pick up relatively quickly. Secondly, it is a much cheaper and easier way to explore as there are no lessons or qualifications to worry about.

With so many amazing places to snorkel around the world, we have compiled a list of our eight favourite places for you to explore with your children.

Here at Activities Abroad we have always viewed rivers, lakes, canyons and oceans as natural playgrounds. Over the course of nearly two decades, we’ve travelled the world seeking out, and, very importantly, trying out the very best water-based experiences.

This got us to thinking about which are our absolute favourites so we asked our Family Travel Experts to come up with their particular choices. This resulted in a very comprehensive list so we decided to whittle it down to one per country.

When telling friends I’d been on the island of Gozo I was often met with a ‘where’s that’ reaction. It seems Malta’s little cousin is still relatively unknown compared to other more mainstream Mediterranean family destinations.

Without an airport, and covering only 26 square miles, it is immediately apparent when stepping off the short ferry from Malta that this island is a little different. Gozo hasn’t had anywhere near the development of its larger neighbour and retains a wonderful charming ‘older’ and more rural feel.

 I travelled to Madeira in late September 2016 to see what the archipelago had to offer and I was blown away by the beauty of the landscapes, the variety of the activities and the range of wildlife to see.