Stingrays/snorkeling with Eyeglasses?

[sr5242]

I have an embarrassing (dumb feeling) question.

 

I have never been snorkeling before. I want to go to stingray beach in cayman, but....

 

I wear glasses and am wondering if anyone has experience snorkeling and/or group swimming (such as at stingray beach) with glasses? would I leave them on the boat? can I wear them under my snorkel mask?

 

help!

 

thanks!

[oratheeexplorer]

It's not a silly question at all.....I have the same problem and am blind without my glasses!

 

We have never snorkeled before either......I have booked an excursion through Princess, Semi-Sub and Reef Snorkel.......I am planning on going to Eden Rock (supposed to be close to where you dock) and renting an optical mask to take on the excursion with me......it's about $10....I am taking a copy of my eyeglasses prescription with me so that we can get the best possible strength that I will need.......

 

I'll just put my glasses in a hard glasses case in the bag I will have with me......

[sr5242]

It's not a silly question at all.....I have the same problem and am blind without my glasses!

 

We have never snorkeled before either......I have booked an excursion through Princess, Semi-Sub and Reef Snorkel.......I am planning on going to Eden Rock (supposed to be close to where you dock) and renting an optical mask to take on the excursion with me......it's about $10....I am taking a copy of my eyeglasses prescription with me so that we can get the best possible strength that I will need.......

 

I'll just put my glasses in a hard glasses case in the bag I will have with me......

 

thanks for the info! can you please email me when you return to let me know how it worked out?

 

Thanks!

Sidra

sr5242 at sbcglobal dot net

[VRRoom]

The optical mask sounds interesting. We were in Cayman Thursday, snorkeling and communing with the 'rays at Stingray City. The standard mask helps somewhat with nearsightedness already, something about the water and the glass, so I could see pretty well on the reef. I wore my glasses in the water with the stingrays, though, since we were standing in water only about waiste deep. Absolutely my favorite stop on our cruise. We used Moby Dick.

[TurtleTagger]

If you go to Sting Ray City Sand bar (where almost all excursions go), you do not even need to snorkel. The water is less than 4ft deep and crystal clear. The Rays will "come to you". Of course, snorkeling is a bonus, but not mandatory.

[JohninDC]

I purchased a "prescription" mask on line - it has separate windows for the left and right eye so I was able to have it customized it to get close to my prescription -- choose the closest number; it has been great so far! :D

 

Bought this a few years ago so I know I don't have the paperwork, but a google search for prescription snorkel mask should do the trick. Good luck! :)

[Baybear]

In my younger days I broke off the "ears" from an old pair of glasses with "almost the right prescription" and then "putty'd" the front part onto the inside of a normal snorkel mask using some kind of gooey putty. That actually worked pretty well, but you have to sacrifice an old pair of glasses and you're looking through two pieces of glass instead of one. Then about 15 years ago I went to a snorkel/dive place and they simply put these "graded" lenses in front of my eyes until I found the ones that were "closest" to my prescription (not being exact, but being enough to see the fish clearly and being tons cheaper than prescription lenses), then they snapped them into their mask and I bought the whole thing for about $30 I think. Probably the current dive shops take one of their masks and have you check several lenses, picking the best ones and "snap" them into a mask you can use for the day. Good luck!

[photomuggle]

I'm moderately nearsighted and did an excursion at Grand Cayman that included a stop at Coral Garden as well as Stingray City.

 

Snorkeling at Coral Garden was a fabulous experience. I was so busy enjoying the wonderful sights that not having my normal glasses was not an issue at all. The water was so remarkably clear, and everything was so colorful. There were several very friendly stingrays at Coral Garden as well.

 

I believe the snorkeling mask had a bit of magnification. But, really, it was not an issue at all. And, yes, you do need to take your glasses off and leave them on the boat.

 

Enjoy your time in Grand Cayman!

[JohninDC]

I have an embarrassing (dumb feeling) question.

 

I have never been snorkeling before. I want to go to stingray beach in cayman, but....

 

I wear glasses and am wondering if anyone has experience snorkeling and/or group swimming (such as at stingray beach) with glasses? would I leave them on the boat? can I wear them under my snorkel mask?

 

help!

 

thanks!

Try snorkel mart http://www.snorkel-mart.com/master.cfm?CategoryID=28 about $60 and it should last you for years. Good luck! :)

[rickcop44]

Several people have commented about optical masks. I assume those are identical to mine. I have a mask I use for snorkeling and diving and the glass is ground to my prescription. I have 20/20 vision with my mask. But I only wear that mask if I'm feeling too lazy to put my contacts in, or if I'm diving. With my contacts in, I have 20/10 vision and I'll usually wear them only when snorkeling. If I dive, I'll use my prescription mask because of the water pressure. It can get uncomfortable diving at 120 feet with contacts in.

 

Oh, I paid $240 for my prescription mask and it's been worth every penny. If you only snorkel once every blue moon, it may not be worth the investment. But trust me, eyeglasses will NOT work under your mask. The mask will be leaking constantly.

[FlightMedic555]

Due to the space in the mask coupled with viewing through water, all masks by design magnify what you are looking at to some extent. For some people this level of magnification makes viewing quite easy.

 

You should be able to use a mask quite easily if you have contacts as it is really, really uncommon for a mask to fill up with water. Some water may get in a mask but I am talking about such a small quantity that it does not matter. The water level should never get anywhere near your eyes.

 

As others have mentioned you can order a custom mask with your prescription ground into the lens. I would not spend this level of $$ for an occasional snorkel but I would if you were a diver. Also, if you are going down this path you really want to try on the mask first as depending upon your facial characteristics different masks fit far better than others. Once the lens are ground you now can't change the mask.

[OVgirl]

I did the snorkeling and stingray tour just last week. I am blind as a bat and was amazed how much I could see when I was snorkeling. I could see coral around 10ft down and fish as well. The mask along with the water definately magnify what you are looking at. I was actually shocked, because I expected to just see some blurry stuff in the water.

 

When we were in the water with the stingrays, I just kept my glasses on since we were in standing deep water.

 

Go and enjoy the tour and don't worry about not being able to see things underwater. You will have a ball.

 

ps.We used Moby Dick and they were great. It was a very small group because we only had 2 ships in port that day.