Snorkling With Child That Wears Glasses

[landshark]

Our family will be snorkling in Nassau with Bahama Divers in a couple of weeks. It only just now occurred to me that my 10 year old may not see very much because she wears glasses. She sees up close just fine but is blind as a bat at distance. Any suggestions or is she just out of luck?

[sea-jay]

Check out your local Dive Shop. They have inserts that go into the lenses of the mask that will magnify. I normally wear trifocals and use these inserts to be able to read my gages when I scuba dive. Don't forget that the water itself acts to magnify quite a bit.

 

One of my local stores - Divers Direct - has entire masks that have the lenses ground to various magnification levels.

 

Unless you are in really shallow water, she won't be close enough to see things very clear anyway. Most of the reefs she will be snorkling on will be 15-45 feet deep. Since the water is fairly clear in the Bahamas, you can still see quite a bit at that depth but is generally too deep for reaching the bottom and seeing up close.

 

Good luck and have fun.

[Riskywood]

Go to the Diver's Direct on-line store and check into getting a mask with magnification. I'm blind as a bat myself but he mask I got from there was worth every penny - around $65 a few years ago. They ship too very quickly.

[Stevesan]

Depending on degree, being near sighted may not be a problem because everything is magnified under water. Maybe you can borrow a mask from a friend to test in a swimming pool? You may not consider the cost of corrective lenses a worth while expense for one time usage. A good quality mask with diopter corrected lenses will be ~$150.

 

You can get preground lenses for simple diopter correction. Usually the dive shop will have them in stock. However, if she's astigmatic, the lenses need to be ground to her prescription. That takes one to two weeks.

 

Beware of mail order. It's very important that the mask fit properly. The best way to get a correct fit is to try it out.

 

I haven't had personal experience with these, but it's another option:

 

https://www.boatshow.com/MARINEMARKET/LENSES/Diveoptx.html

 

Dive Bahamas, aka Stuart's Cove, is a fantastic snorkel trip. The best I've ever taken. Following is my review of that experience last September:

 

 

Nassau: “Snorkel Bahamas Adventure” is a 5-½ hour trip operated by Stuart’s Cove. On a previous excursion I went on the impressive Athol Island snorkel. This Stuart’s Cove outing surpassed all of my previous experiences, including Athol Island. The boat trip is @ three hours, and visits Schoolhouse Reef, the spectacular Golden Key Reef and finally a “swim with the sharks” at ‘The Wreck of the Bahama Mama’. I have never before witnessed such a number and variety of fish as at Golden Key. There are never-ending fish, large and small, singly and in large schools. The floor is decorated with huge, magnificent coral formations of all shapes and sizes. While there, a shark cruised past our group. He obviously thought this was his ocean and didn’t know, nor care, that we weren’t scheduled for a shark encounter until after Golden Key. Surprisingly, getting in with a dozen or so sharks is not frightening. I suspect we were too caught up with their grace and magnificence to be scared. The fact that the boat captain hadn’t lost a diver in twelve years was also encouraging. This is a five star, gold medallion, prime trip, not to be missed!

 

 

http://www.dive-bahamas.com/

[KathieP]

When we were in Hawaii several years ago I got goggles at a dive shop that worked really well. I think they just cost a little bit more then the regular ones to rent. We didn't make any special arrangements for them but it was a large store and they were doing a very brisk business. Also, I have snorkled with regular goggles and it wasn't that bad and I am quite nearsighted. For a day or two of snorkeling, I don't think it would be worth the expense of buying them since her prescription is likely to change yearly. jmho

[Orcrone]

Before Lasik surgery I wore coke bottles. My vision was 20/400 or 20/600. But when I went snorkeling I was able to see pretty well due to the magnification in water.