Bringing Your Own Snorkel Gear

[angiedee]

I wanted to check what thoughts are out there on bringing your own snorkel gear to use in Cococay. Costco sells a set for $39, and then you'd get to keep it, instead of paying $27 to rent. However, I'm wondering if the extra weight in my suitcase would be worth it. Suggestions?

[IBookHePays]

I wouldn't bring flippers, but you can't get me to use the "rinsed" snorkels offered on the excersions. I bring the snorkels for my family, but not the masks and flippers, which as you know, can be pretty heavy.

[kirbmeister]

I bring the whole thing. Just make sure you don't have anything in the bag with the snorkel gear you need right away. My bag with the snorkel gear didn't arrive until several hours after my other bags. Apparently security wanted to make sure I didn't have a dive knife.

[Willum UK]

We always take our own, but if I didn't have such big feet I might be tempted to leave the fins at home. However I prefer my own mask and breather. I know where they've been, and who has used them. Plus they are better quality than the bulk issue. You will need to wear a flotation vest at Cococay - its RCI policy for anyone snorkelling on their private properties, and I guess you could hire one of those.

 

Whatever you chose to do have a great time!

[beachchick]

Definitely worth it to buy and bring your own (fins optional; we bring our own, but we use short power fins which don't take a huge amount of space). This is especially true if you think you're ever going to snorkel in the future. Your gear will pay for itself in no time. Plus, the sanitation issue is a huge deal for us. I want to know that my snorkel has never been in anyone else's mouth!

 

Make sure you try the masks on before purchase. And try it with the snorkel in place because that does affect fit. I have no idea what kind of quality the Costco/Sam's Club sets are, but others have reported that they work just fine. If you think you're going to snorkel a lot in the future, you might want to consider investing in gear from a snorkel/dive shop.

 

beachchick

[Sheffie]

We bring our own - the whole kit and kaboodle! We get the rest of our stuff into 2 bags, and the 3rd bag is just for the snorkel gear. As others have said, you KNOW who has put their mouths on it, and it gives you the freedom to take off to snorkel at any beach that you want.

[ontheopenseas]

We bring our own! We don't bring the vests though. I read here that you can rent the vests from RCI on their island. On DCL and NCL they were free at their private islands.

 

If you decide to purchase, try your mask out ahead in a pool or the shower to make sure you can get a tight seal with it. Not all masks work for all people. I had great luck with the one from Sam's though. It was the first one that fit my round head correctly :) !

[jtwisconsin]

I need a prescription mask, so I purchased my own along with a good snorkel. I skipped the vest and the fins to save room in the suitcase, so I just rent those.

[whogo]

I need a prescription mask, so I purchased my own along with a good snorkel. I skipped the vest and the fins to save room in the suitcase, so I just rent those.

I second the suggestion of a prescription mask, if needed. I received a fine mask from http://www.snorkel-mart.com/, ordered 11/28/06, shipped 11/29/06, $67.45 including shipping. Scuba.com was recommended, also. I tried to buy locally, but the dive shop was creepy.

 

Remember, the nonintuitive fix to a leaky mask is to loosen the straps.

[PhinsAndGills]

I don't leave home without mine. We pack (we = DH and I) ours in an old hardsided suitcase we picked up for pennies at a garage sale. It's SO MUCH BETTER than wearing someone elses... yuk... And, that's our souvie suitcase as well.

[Willum UK]

If you are buying a mask put it on without the straps, breath in through your nose, if it sticks there by itself it should give a good seal

[BethCarp]

 

Make sure you try the masks on before purchase. And try it with the snorkel in place because that does affect fit. I have no idea what kind of quality the Costco/Sam's Club sets are, but others have reported that they work just fine.

Unfortunately, I'm not sure you can try on the ones from Sam's. If I remember correctly they are in that hard to open plastic packaging. We're planning on buying snorkle gear for all of us (Sam's had kids sizes too!). Probably won't bring the fins though. A friend of mine who dives saw them too and she said they should be a good quality. Of course that doesn't mean they're going to fit.

[gkrebs]

Masks at Sams cant be tried on. I saw them the other day and past up on them as they looked a little chinzy to me. Lost ours in our house move. I would recomend going to one of the big sporting goods stores and trying both the mask and fins on.

[Minoushka]

I wanted to check what thoughts are out there on bringing your own snorkel gear to use in Cococay. Costco sells a set for $39, and then you'd get to keep it, instead of paying $27 to rent. However, I'm wondering if the extra weight in my suitcase would be worth it. Suggestions?

 

we always briong our own and i add a big bag i put in a suitcase

we use it to carry all equipmenti

f you are limited to the number of bags bring masks and snorkels bring water shoes instead of fins

we always bring water shoes =shells and glass in water may be a hazard also sharp coral

 

my mask has my glasses fitted in so it's easier

also your own stuff will fit you better

i then use it as my dirty laundry bag to come home

grab the mesh bag we use as a laundry hamper shove it in -done

easy also for fast laundry when we return

[hayesktrm]

We bought ours at Costco. One set didn't fit and they took it right back no questions asked. We don't bring the fins...we don't tend to use them anyway. The set is great...we have used them several times. Definately have paid for themselves.

[superjerryw]

We always bring our own snorkels and masks (prescription). I just don't trust the methodology used to sanitize the snorkels.....:eek:

[erin_cruisers]

Another vote for bringing your own snorkel equipment.

We take fins too. That way we know everything is going to fit,

with no futzing around.

 

And don't buy a mask unless you can try it on first!

If that means going to a sporting goods, or specialty

shop, then do it. It's worth paying a bit more to get one that fits.

An ill-fitting mask is useless.

Just my $.02 Cdn.

[karena1]

We always take all of ours. We like to snorkel and go to many beaches when we cruise so we can take advantage of snorkeling. Learned our lessons over the years and went to the dive store and bought really good snorkel gear. Now I never get water in my mask and can stay with my face in the water for a long period of time. Learned the stuff from Costco or Sports Authority is just not that good. The old adage "you get what you pay for" is really true with snorkel gear. We paid much more for our stuff from the dive shop, but it was worth it, far superior to anything we have bought in the past. I just pack gear in the suitcases and then put it in the snorkel bag once we get on the ship. Never leave without it anymore. We even bought the air life vests that fold to nothing, so we have our own life vests also. They work great.

[polodad]

I bought a set for me and one for honey on EBAY. New and quality. Around $35 ea. We've used it on 3 trips so far.

[whitsmom]

We bring our own - the whole kit and kaboodle! We get the rest of our stuff into 2 bags, and the 3rd bag is just for the snorkel gear. As others have said, you KNOW who has put their mouths on it, and it gives you the freedom to take off to snorkel at any beach that you want.

 

I totally agree with Sheffie (except for the fins). We bought our own snorkel gear several years ago and was well worth in investment. We have never had a problem with our luggage being overweight.

[i-m-ed]

We too always bring our own snorkel gear, wouldn't go on a cruise without it.

[CruiseJunkie911]

I agree- Bring your own. We have, and all we do is bring a duffle bag just for 2 sets of snorkel gear. Like said before, then we can snorkel anywhere we go. I would also invest in the vest. I don't have one and I'm new to snorkeling and I'm a little scared in the ocean when were off by ourselves. :eek:

[princess402]

I too was thinking about buying my own snorkel gear from Costco (I think it's $39.00 for US Divers gear) to take to CocoCay when we go on the Sovereign at the end of April. The drawback for me would be though that I am a first time snorkeler and in RCIs excursion description on the snorkeling gear rental it says that you get instruction from one of their guides. If you bring your own gear, can you still get some instruction?

[i-m-ed]

I too was thinking about buying my own snorkel gear from Costco (I think it's $39.00 for US Divers gear) to take to CocoCay when we go on the Sovereign at the end of April. The drawback for me would be though that I am a first time snorkeler and in RCIs excursion description on the snorkeling gear rental it says that you get instruction from one of their guides. If you bring your own gear, can you still get some instruction?

 

The only real thing you need to do is learn to relax as you breathe through the snorkel, everything else will come naturally. My 8 y/o was up and snorkeling in less than 5 minutes with no instruction.

 

I still find that I get a bit panicky for a minute or two when I first breath through a snorkel after a year of not doing it. Best advice would be to practice breathing through the snorkel in your bathtub. Also, make sure the mask seals and fits well prior to leaving on vacation, bathtub again.

 

I dropped my mask the night before we left and I ran to Costco and grabbed a new one only to find the mask was too small when I got to Xel-Ha, I made it OK but felt like I was punched in the nose at the end of the day, I guess I have a big nose:D

[Sunny AZ Girl]

We also bought ours at Costco. No problems with them. We usually bring the whole thing along, but on a couple of days when we planned on shopping after our snorkeling excursions without returning to the ship we just carried our masks and snorkels and used the provided flippers.

 

DH got a prescription mask from our local dive shop before our last cruise and he said it made a huge difference to him!