Snorkeling with glasses/contacts???

[sbaker]

We will be on the Crown Princess in January and have scheduled a snorkeling excursion in Grand Cayman. I'm new to snorkeling and I wear contacts or glasses. Will this be a probelm? Any suggestions or comments that would be helpful?? Thanks.

[sunandsnow]

I snorkle with contacts and a good fitting mask. If the mask does not fit well you can get salt water inside and it can sting.

[dpump]

Secret is a good fitting mask. I too wear contacts.

[princessmargaret]

I am very nearsighted, and being of a certain age now wear glasses full time to help with reading. I was dubious about snorkeling with no eyewear of any kind, but I thought I would give it a go. I was astounded at how I well I could see wearing just the mask. I can't wait for my next snorkeling adventure in Barbados, just four weeks away! I post this for those who wear glasses and have avoided snorkeling thinking what's the use.

[BuzzF117]

It also depends on what your prescription is. If your prescription isn't real strong you can snorkel with no contacts or glasses as you do get some magnification naturally. My contact prescription is a -3.75 and I sometimes scuba dive with no contacts but I prefer wearing contacts.

[Chelseaprincess]

I always wear contacts while snorkeling, never had any problems. Never had any burning sensation either because of the salt water. I hope you will enjoy your trip and snorkeling. That's my preferred activity on a cruise.

Chelsea

[Roger The Mainer]

I have to wear glasses all the time, and was disappointed that I would not be able to snorkel since I can't see without my glasses.

 

Before our first cruise, I was able to puirchase a prescription snorkling mask from a company in California. You just mail them or tell them what your eyeglass prscription is and they make a custom sorkel mask for you. You can't beat it. It was quite a while ago since I purchased it, so I don't remember the company or the cost. If you do a google search for "prescription snorkel mask" there are companies that make them.

 

Roger

[Putterdude]

I wear glasses and considered getting contacts for snorkeling but decided to purchase a slightly upgraded mask and had corrective lenses put in it. The cost per lense was about $20, I have kept the standard lenses for the mask in the event I decide to go to contacts in the future.

[seacrystal]

Hi! I found your post very interesting because I have the same problem. Someone told me about prescription masks and I was given the website below. I was really surprised at the cost - I expected to have to pay much more.

 

I hope this helps:D.

 

http://www.snorkel-mart.com/master.cfm?CategoryID=28

[donna5]

We will be on the Crown Princess in January and have scheduled a snorkeling excursion in Grand Cayman. I'm new to snorkeling and I wear contacts or glasses. Will this be a probelm? Any suggestions or comments that would be helpful?? Thanks.

 

Where are you from? If you have any dive shops around you can go in and see what mask fits the best and then order the lense.

[bladerunner6]

We will be on the Crown Princess in January and have scheduled a snorkeling excursion in Grand Cayman. I'm new to snorkeling and I wear contacts or glasses. Will this be a probelm? Any suggestions or comments that would be helpful?? Thanks.

 

I just snorkeled with my contacts.

 

As someone else said, you need to have a good fitting mask.

 

I would recommend getting your own mask to guarantee a good fit. If you are going to cruise and snorkel , it is a great investment.

 

Mine was a great plus for me on our recent cruise.

 

Mike

[OHCruiser]

I'm primarily nearsighted and wear glasses full time. I didn't enjoy snorkeling or scuba diving much until I tried a Rx mask.

 

I purchased one of the inexpensive masks that merely approximated my Rx.

 

I take my mask with me in my carry on in a tupperware box. It was so worth the cost. It fits like a dream (it's by Body Glove) and I get my $'s worth out of every dive.

[satxdiver]

I have been SCUBA diving for well over a decade now and snorkeled before that. I can't even see the big E on the eye chart without my glasses/contacts. So I am very near sighted. I wear my contacts on every dive with my eye doctor's approval. I go down anywhere between 60 and 120 feet under the ocean without any problems for up to an hour at a time. The one thing that my eye doctor recommended was to exhale into my mask every 5 to 10 minutes to replace the oxygen. A good tight fitting mask is the key to doing this so that there is no significant leaks. Facial hair on men such as mustaches will interfere with the seal and will leak. Be aware that not all masks fit all faces. The best way is to go to your local dive shop and fit your mask to your face. The dive people there will show you how to do it. Nothing is worse than a leaking mask whether you wear contacts or not.

 

One big mistake on the part of newbies besides trying to wear a mask that does not fit the face is to tighten the strap too tight. It will cause the seal around the mask to compress and allow water to leak into the mask. If you take off the mask after the dive and you can see the mask outline on your face, it is too tight. If it is leaking, making it tighter will likely make it leak more. Get a mask that fits correctly to your face.

[ExpressoMama]

I also wear glasses fulltime, for both distance and now that I'm older also for reading. For years, everytime we would snorkel I would rig a old pair of glasses that I had removed the stems and would fit them inside of my mask so I could see something/anything underwater. This was mediocre at best. Being fed up, I ordered a prescription mask from Snorkel-Mart before our cruise last Feb. What a thrill it was to see EVERYTHING underwater!! Ordering from their website was very easy. The mask fit well and is good quality. I wish I had ordered one years ago.

[billie5]

I also would have trouble seeing the big E on the eyechart, and wear bifocals. I used to snorkel with an ordinary mask and did not have trouble seeing the fish or the coral.

 

The problem was seeing the boat from which I had disembarked. It is petrifying to snorkel for a while, then to look around and have no idea in what direction your craft is. Now, as others have recommended, I snorkel with prescription lenses in the mask. I agree - boy is it worth it. Moreover, if I snorkel off a beach, I keep the mask on once I emerge from the sea, or I would have no idea where my umbrella was located. In fact, I would have trouble at sea knowing which direction is toward the beach!

 

Bill

[AWorldCruise4Me]

I got mine here!

 

http://www.101snorkel.com/Rx_Snorkel_Mask_s/24.htm

 

I wish I had it years ago. I've been snorkeling blind!

 

Michelle

[MoonPet]

As long as your mask fits well, you should have no problem wearing your contact lenses.

[vickie_bernie]

I wear glasses and considered getting contacts for snorkeling but decided to purchase a slightly upgraded mask and had corrective lenses put in it. The cost per lense was about $20, I have kept the standard lenses for the mask in the event I decide to go to contacts in the future.

 

Putterdude, i know you are from Vancouver, and i am just wondering where you got the mask and lense? How long did it take for them to make the mask with the lens?

[Sea Fan]

Hi! I found your post very interesting because I have the same problem. Someone told me about prescription masks and I was given the website below. I was really surprised at the cost - I expected to have to pay much more.

 

I hope this helps:D.

Kathy

 

http://www.snorkel-mart.com/master.cfm?CategoryID=28

 

Hi Vickie we got Jim's mask at the same place Kathy did. They were really fast and good. Also incredibly reasonable.

 

Kathy, Hi I see you are cruising to Hawaii in a month or so....Yup I'm jealous :D

 

Geez I'm a ding bat I just realized sbaker was the OP here, I hope the info helps.

 

Dianne

[vickie_bernie]

Hi Vickie we got Jim's mask at the same place Kathy did. They were really fast and good. Also incredibly reasonable.

 

Kathy, Hi I see you are cruising to Hawaii in a month or so....Yup I'm jealous :D

 

Geez I'm a ding bat I just realized sbaker was the OP here, I hope the info helps.

 

Dianne

 

thanks Dianne, it does look good, but it is in the US and trying to find something locally, often getting things shipped from the US costs more with shipping, custom fees etc, and we are also on a limited time constraint... of course we left it to the last minute.

 

Hope you are doing well... any coastal crusies planned for 2010

[cantwaitfornextcruise]

I have worn glasses since I was 2 now I have vari-focals for distance and reading, like someone else I previous I once got some old specs and wore them inside my mask, it wasn’t a good look :eek: or that successful really, but it was better than nothing, then I tried contact, but I have very sensitive eyes and that was OK but, then last year I bought a mask with my precipitin lens, oh wow what a magnificent sight, DH, DS & DLI thought there was something wrong with me when we all came up as I was crying. I cried because for the first time ever I saw what everyone else had always raved about. Now I am a water baby and can’t wait for Feb 2010:D:D:D:D:D

[Putterdude]

For Vicki, Actually I waited until I got down here. I had gone to the dive shop in Sechelt and everything was very expensive compared to on-line prices so decided to wait 'til we got to AZ. I then phoned a dive shop in FLL that is just off 17th Ave near the Renaissance Hotel and they said they had some corrective lenses but then I started to worry that they may not have a mask that would work for me with the lenses I needed or fins that didn't fit....... This is a long way of telling you that I bought them at "American Cactus Divers" in that hotbed of diving called Las Vegas. I phoned several shops, got some pricing that I thought was reasonable, they assured me that they would have lenses in for me within a couple of days, I knew where they were, we were making 2 trips up to LAS a week a part and that's why I bought them in LAS. I did have the where-with-all to bring along a copy of a perscription for my glasses.

[pcur]

I know this is going to be hard to believe, but this worked VERY well for me.

 

I bought a mask at Walmart for about $6. Then my husband took apart an old pair of my prescription glasses. Now, with the water magnifying slightly, the old prescription was perfect.

 

He attached the lense and frame section (no side pieces) to the inside of the mask with some gummy adhesive gunk that mechanics use. Stuck them on very well, and voila!, I had a prescription snorkeling mask for $6, plus the gummy stuff.

 

Check out the lovely picture in my avatar..........that's me in Bora Bora wearing them, hubby's oversized tee shirt, and a hat. No sunburn, could see great, and looked like h*ll !!!!

[Laurie S.]

I just began scuba diving over last Thanksgiving and I wear gas permeable bifocal contacts. Before beginning diving I did a lot of research and so got daily disposable soft contacts from my eye doctor. They work great and I don't have to worry about losing my expensive contacts. Also, salt water damages contacts so that doesn't matter with the disposable lenses. I see great with them and can even drive okay, although I wouldn't wear them on a long trip. It's also not a problem to see my wrist dive computer.

[cruisernut]

I've been snorkeling and scuba diving for years with the same old Body Glove prescription mask I bought at Sport Chalet for about $50. My prescription is -4.75 so I bought the Strong Optics mask and it has worked great, never had a problem. I only mention Sport Chalet because the most important thing to consider is fit so at least you can go the store and try it on instead of purchasing it online and potentially having it be a bad fit.