Personal belongings during snorkeling shore excursion?

In a few weeks, we will go on our first cruise where there are water activities (snorkeling, scuba, etc.) as some of our our HAL shore excursions.

What does one do with items like phone, money, I.D., etc. while in the water? The phone is serving as our camera (when not in the water) so it is essential to take on the excursion.

Thanks!

Search waterproof cases at www.rei.com. I use one like this for money, credit cards, ids: https://www.rei.com/product/723130/witz-keep-it-clear-sport-case

I personally would not trust any of them with a cell phone or electronics. Although none has failed, it only has to fail once or you simply neglect to close it properly. For peace of mind, we bought a waterproof/underwater camera to take with us on such type of excursions, which can take pictures or video underwater up to, I believe, 6 meters below the surface. Just Google waterproof or underwater camera.

In a few weeks, we will go on our first cruise where there are water activities (snorkeling, scuba, etc.) as some of our our HAL shore excursions.

 

What does one do with items like phone, money, I.D., etc. while in the water? The phone is serving as our camera (when not in the water) so it is essential to take on the excursion.

 

Thanks!

It varies. Some boats have a place to put things you want to keep dry. I don't count on that. I take a tote bag that I don't mind if it gets wet and put anything I don't want to get wet into a large zipper baggie. I also don't take any more stuff than I need to have with me.

If you're going to do a lot of water tours, think about getting a waterproof camera. There are some fairly inexpensive ones from Canon, Nikon, and Olympus. Then you can leave the phone on the ship.

We always take a zippered beach bag for towels, Tee shirts etc., and put our valuables, electronics, etc., in Zip Locks. Never had any incidents of damage, or theft. I rarely shoot photos with my phone, but I carry a NIKON Coolpix underwater still, and video camera with me for boating excursions. Takes great pictures!;)

Thanks for all the suggestions. Did not know about the waterproof pouches. Will those for room key and money, and will leave the cameras on the ship.

I love taking underwater photos while snorkeling, love my underwater camera!! And I keep the wrist band on either a lanyard around my neck (preferred) or on a float but they get in the way of pictures. I've had Olympus and Lumix... they only last a few years, maybe 3-5 years before they start to leak and are kaput, but I love having the picturres and videos!

My other belongings on a snorkel excursion are minimal. A shirt, maybe water shoes, two towels and a water bottle. I carry a copy of my passport front page, ship card, ID, a few dollars, maybe a credit card; these go in double zip locks in the tote or backpack that stays on the boat. Also a small sunscreen, lip sunscreeen and ear plugs to keep the waves from clogging my ears... these all go in their own zip lock. I know the tote will get wet, but the zip locks usually do their job!

If I'm going by bus they usually say we can leave our things on the bus but I want my things with me. I use a tote or pack that I can clip the shoulder strap to a lounge chair so it's harder for someone to just walk off it, and usually toss a towel over it. And I try to keep my IDs on my person even in the water: I wear swimwear with a zipper pocket for my cards, ID and cash... in double or triple small zip locks. I wear nylon running shorts or REI nylon travel shorts (the type where the pant legs zip off) with a tankini top.

All this takes a bit of investment and planning but I've always felt confident on my outings and never had a problem. m--

We also have underwater cameras for my husband and myself. They are well worth the purchase if you plan on doing a lot of snorkeling and like others have said, they aren't that expensive any longer.

Our experiences for going out on the snorkel boats are a lot of people have their phone cameras they use while on the boat. I am not sure I would trust putting my phone in a waterproof pouch-personal choice. We have however taken our phones with us and we just leave them in a sturdy zip lock bag, then wrapped in the towel, then put in another larger bag and leave it on the boat. We try to store it under the bench on the boat when we go snorkeling as most others do and there has never been a problem.

We also both have a "dry sleeve" that we wear in the water which holds our cabin key, our driver's license and a small amount of cash. It does a very good job (if sealed correctly!) of keeping stuff dry. I will try to find a photo of it to give you an idea. I believe they also sell larger ones and I have seen people put their cell phones in them but only at the beach, not when snorkeling. Ours does say waterproof for 30 minutes but we have been in much longer than that doing a drift snorkel etc and no issues at all.

Another point in favor of a waterproof camera is that you can take pictures on a rainy day. I carried mine instead of my good camera a couple of times in Alaska's liquid sunshine.

I keep my camera on a neck strap. Since the snorkel trips always make you wear a pfd, I loop the strap around the shoulder to keep the camera secure. I found a wrist strap too annoying. If I have to swim from one site to another, I tuck the camera into the pfd and there's nothing banging around on my arm.