Kids snorkel gear?

[Brenkel]

We will be going on our first family cruise in March and our kids are very excited about snorkeling. Our 8 year old son practiced some while we were at Gulf Shores last summer and was doing pretty good. Our 6 year old daughter on the other hand hasn't had much practice because everytime we buy her a face mask it has gaps along the sides. Missouri surprisingly does have some dive shops because they teach diving in a couple of caves and old mining shafts around here. The last mask I got her was from a sporting goods store and it was for children but that did not seem to matter. My problem is that I'm not willing to pay $100+ for each of my kids a snorkel set and have them out grow them before they can use them again. Will the dive shops have kids gear and will it be over my budget? Also is there somewhere other than the dive shops and sporting goods stores that I should look?

[JimHam4]

My 11 y.o. daughter, a scuba diver, has had success with the TYKE mask available at a chain dive shop in our area for about $70. My 6 y.o. daughter has borrowed this mask for use in the pool and used it without leaks so it is a mask that could last you 3 or 4 years (ours would have if my daughter hadn't left it on the Triumph last year:rolleyes: )

 

All three of my girls - 11, 8 & 6 - have had good success with the Body Glove brand of masks for snorkeling, they seem to fit a smaller face. That being said, every little cherub has a different shaped face and no recommendation can replace actually trying it on. A lot of dive shops in our area have a swimming pool for classes and trying out equipment. Yours might allow your daughter to try out prospective masks in their pool to see how well they fit.

 

Good Luck

[Brenkel]

Thanks! We will make a trip to some of the dive shops and see what they have to offer. One more quick question. Do the strap covers really help keep their hair from getting tangled and caught in the strap?

[ColumbiaMDCanadian]

You're absolutely right! Where are you guys going? You might find some better deals there than local shops. Certainly more variety than most shops we've got around here.

 

We bought our kids their first stuff at diversdirect in key west when we were there (see http://www.diversdirect.com/group/Kids%20Stuff_ID25 for kids' stuff). Didn't spend more than $20 or $30 for snorkel and mask. I've had some helpful advice from a number of the on-line people (scuba.com, scubatoys.com, diversdirect.com, etc.)

[JimHam4]

My girls have never used them so I can't say. They've never had a hair tangle with the regular straps. Personally I like the strap split in two, it feels like I can postion the strap better with part of it down low and the other part high on my head (might just be an old guy's illusions though.)

[larkwind]

I really like my neoprene "slap strap". It makes getting my mask on and off easier w/o killing my hair. It does seem to move around more than the split strap as JimHam4 postulated, but is easy to readjust, even during a dive. Our 4yo has a slap strap and can get his mask on/off with ease (I like that as a mom--I don't have to constantly adjust it for him).

 

Just a thought--I dive with a bandana tied around my head pirate style. It keeps my long hair contained nicely when I reposition my mask underwater. It might keep your girls' hair from tangling in a regular strap--and looks kinda cool! You'd be able to spot them, too.

 

We bought our 4yo his own mask/snorkel/fins set here in Lawence (KS) and the older kids used the boat stuff--but only once...the fit just required too much adjusting. We've rented snorkel gear from a dive shop and liked it (or could take it back for fit adjustments), but the boat stuff isn't worth it unless you just don't want to lug it all with you.

[Brenkel]

You're absolutely right! Where are you guys going? You might find some better deals there than local shops. Certainly more variety than most shops we've got around here.

 

We bought our kids their first stuff at diversdirect in key west when we were there (see http://www.diversdirect.com/group/Kids%20Stuff_ID25 for kids' stuff). Didn't spend more than $20 or $30 for snorkel and mask. I've had some helpful advice from a number of the on-line people (scuba.com, scubatoys.com, diversdirect.com, etc.)

 

Sorry it took so long for me to reply. I was out of town sitting in boring marketing seminars. We are taking our first family cruise on Valor on 03/05. We will be going to Grand Cayman, Roatan, Belize, and Costa Maya. We plan on snorkling at Roatan and Belize. We plan on also having a little beach time in Grand Cayman and Costa Maya. My thought is that if it is at least $10 per person each time we have to rent the gear that is $160 in gear rentals. I would also like knowing from the start that the gear fits correctly. I'm not spending all my snorkling time trying to get my daughter's mask to fit. Then there is the whole ick factor of other people's spit. I've looked online and those sets look nice but I want to try them on before we buy them. Again thanks for all the help.

[ColumbiaMDCanadian]

Brenkel:

 

I see you're sailing out of Miami - would you have time to hit a dive shop down there? Diversdirect has one in Ft. Lauderdale which is kinda' far. I'm sure there are a ton of dive shops to choose from, however.

 

As an alternative, you could call scuba.com, scubatoys.com, or even leisurepro.com (the last one has good prices but they cheat by not being authorized dealers for everything that they sell...). I've ordered a number of odds and ends from each of these places (we're all getting into scuba and are buying our own stuff a bit at a time precisely for the 'eck' factor!). Some things have been wrong so back they went! Never had any problem with these places. [staff that answers phones at diversdirect, scuba, and scubatoys are apparently all diving instructors so they could give you some advice - possibly even some way to measure] Should be plenty of time to order and send back between now and cruise.

 

Just a thought...

 

(Aside: before someone starts the flamethrower, I have nothing to do with the places I mentioned - and I know there are others. I just have had good experiences with these places.)

[Brenkel]

We will be driving from Missouri to Miami, and we are planning on spending the night somewhere around Fort Lauderdale the Saturday before our cruise.Yes we are crazy! Actually my parents are going with us and they don't want to fly. So four adults and 2 kids are going to be stuck in a minivan for 22 hours together. I bet after this they will either have had their fill of family vacations or fly!

[zqvol]

We will be driving from Missouri to Miami, and we are planning on spending the night somewhere around Fort Lauderdale the Saturday before our cruise.Yes we are crazy! Actually my parents are going with us and they don't want to fly. So four adults and 2 kids are going to be stuck in a minivan for 22 hours together. I bet after this they will either have had their fill of family vacations or fly!

Stop when you hit FL. I assume that you will be going down I-75 to the turnpike. There is a divers direct in Orlando just off the Interstate, maybe 3 or 4 miles from the turnpike. It would be a good place to stop and take a look for gear. I ahve bought stuff from them on line and in their shop in Key Largo and am happy. (Bought my at the time 13 year old a wet suit at a great price.)

 

As far as the slap staps we all use them and have no problems at all.

[ColumbiaMDCanadian]

We will be driving from Missouri to Miami, and we are planning on spending the night somewhere around Fort Lauderdale the Saturday before our cruise.Yes we are crazy! Actually my parents are going with us and they don't want to fly. So four adults and 2 kids are going to be stuck in a minivan for 22 hours together. I bet after this they will either have had their fill of family vacations or fly!

 

Nah - you're not crazy! (If you are, we are too!:D ) We did the drive down every year for 10 years from just outside Toronto to Orlando - 26 hours, 2 drivers, 2 kids and one or 2 more adults, non-stop, throught the night... (Lately, we've been going Southwest because of the number of times I fly them for work - if it weren't for that we'd still be driving!)

 

If you decide to stop a little sooner, there's a diversdirect in Orlando on International Drive (huge store) http://www.diversdirect.com/stores/orl.php. That's about 3 hours from Ft. Lauderdale and about a 5 minute detour from the Florida Turnpike. Might be a good stop to build the enthusiasm back up! (I know we always plan/planned lttle 'surprises' for the kids to keep them/us sane. Some might argue it hasn't worked...)

[andynlala]

Costco just got their mask/snorkel/fin sets in and I picked one up for my son. It's made by US Divers and comes with a really nice carrying bag. It's really good quality and they have a few different sizes. I think it was $24.99 or something like that. It's a really good deal!