Snorkel Gear Question

[alwalaska]

We are new to snorkeling, but want to have our own gear for our cruise next year. I would like to get equipment that will easily last our trip and fit properly.

 

We took a class at a local dive shop but the mask they had on my daughter retails for $100 and I don't want to spend that kind of money. The one set they sell at a reasonable price in my mind ($45 for mask and snorkel only) does not include a dry snorkel which is something I think we want.

 

One of our sporting good stores has sets made by TUSA, but they have another name printed larger on the front (I can't remember what it was). They seem to have two lines, one called professional and one called vacatin. The professional series is about $60 for fins, mask, dry snorkel and bag. The salesman at the dive store said sporting good store masks are no better than the ones you buy at Wal-Mart. Is this true?

 

Another option, www.snorkel-mart.com has some really good prices, does anyone know what the quality of their gear is?

 

Sorry this is so long and thanks.

[szubieta]

We just purchased the "Deep Sea" brand mask, snorkel and Fins with net bag, spit & scrub for about $100 at the local dive shop. Our son is 5yo and this will last him for year in the ocean, lake and pool. His snorkel is a childs and it helps to eleminate the excess water out the bottom. He has been training with the Wal-mart kind and they leak really bad. I bought my DH and mine at Costco the complete set for about $40 and they are U.S Divers brand. My old gear lasted me about 10-15 yrs., fins wear out fist for us.

 

Is to if Sporting goods Masks are any good, first I would see if they have a trial one to see, but I am sure that it's probably like the dive shop ones maybe a little less quality at most.

 

Bottom line...the investment of good eqiuptment is worth it for us.

[alwalaska]

We just purchased the "Deep Sea" brand mask, snorkel and Fins with net bag, spit & scrub for about $100 at the local dive shop. Our son is 5yo and this will last him for year in the ocean, lake and pool. His snorkel is a childs and it helps to eleminate the excess water out the bottom. He has been training with the Wal-mart kind and they leak really bad. I bought my DH and mine at Costco the complete set for about $40 and they are U.S Divers brand. My old gear lasted me about 10-15 yrs., fins wear out fist for us.

 

Is to if Sporting goods Masks are any good, first I would see if they have a trial one to see, but I am sure that it's probably like the dive shop ones maybe a little less quality at most.

 

Bottom line...the investment of good eqiuptment is worth it for us.

 

Thank you for the reply. Since I don't know if we will use it again after the cruise, $100 is a bit steep for us and also, our dive shop is more expensive than that. In central Ohio, we don't have a lot of choices.

 

Are you happy with your US Divers sets? They have these at our local sporting good store. $40 sounds much better to me.

 

Thanks again.

[amyj23]

We wanted our own equipment for our first cruise, too. We bought a mask and snorkel from Campmor.com for less than $20.00. We used the fins that were provided on our excursions but were glad to have clean snorkel and mask. That was two years ago, and we're headed to our 2nd cruise in November and will bring the same equipment again. Fins are about $20.00 more, but I didn't feel the need to buy those as I'm not grossed out with using "public" fins. If you buy your own mask, be sure to spend about $3.00 and get the Sea Drops Mask Defogger. Here's the link to the equipment that we bought. Campmor also sells snorkeling equipment for children. I find their prices to be reasonable...

http://www.campmor.com/outdoor/gear/Product___72455

[amyj23]

I just realized that the equipment that we have IS US Divers which you were inquiring about...

And here's the link for ALL items for "snorkel" search on Campmor.com

http://www.campmor.com/outdoor/gear/campmor/search/main.jsp?command=text&ip_text=snorkel

[3boyzmom]

Also try www.scubatoys.com . They have a great selection, and their prices are very reasonable. (I think I saw a dry snorkel for $19.95!) And no, what the guy said about Walmart masks being just as good is NOT true! A good mask will seal nicely around your face- most of the cheap walmart-type masks have a fairly rigid "skirt" around the mask, which doesn't mold to your face very well.

 

Good equipment can make or break your dive/snorkel experience.

[bruce-r]

Also try www.scubatoys.com . They have a great selection, and their prices are very reasonable. (I think I saw a dry snorkel for $19.95!) And no, what the guy said about Walmart masks being just as good is NOT true! A good mask will seal nicely around your face- most of the cheap walmart-type masks have a fairly rigid "skirt" around the mask, which doesn't mold to your face very well.

 

Good equipment can make or break your dive/snorkel experience.

 

Scubatoys is great. Their prices are quite competitive and their customer service is fantastic.

[alwalaska]

Also try www.scubatoys.com . They have a great selection, and their prices are very reasonable. (I think I saw a dry snorkel for $19.95!) And no, what the guy said about Walmart masks being just as good is NOT true! A good mask will seal nicely around your face- most of the cheap walmart-type masks have a fairly rigid "skirt" around the mask, which doesn't mold to your face very well.

 

Good equipment can make or break your dive/snorkel experience.

 

Actually, what he told me was that sporting good store's equipment is as bad as Wal-mart. That the only option is the really expensive dive store equipment. Is this true?

[psbtrvlr]

Actually, what he told me was that sporting good store's equipment is as bad as Wal-mart. That the only option is the really expensive dive store equipment. Is this true?

 

No. Our masks and snorkels all come from sporting goods stores. We have US Divers, and Body Glove for the snorkels. Been happy with them all.

[The Flying Pirate]

The biggest thing with a mask is to find one that fits! That is soooo important, a leaky mask will be miserable and if you are going to be miserable and use junk equipment you might as well use the rental gear on the cruise.

 

Masks come in all shapes and sizes and prices. There is no reason you shouldn't be able to find a cheaper mask that fits you properly. The way to see if a mask fits, hold it to your face and inhale through your nose, with out the strap over your head. If it falls off it will leak like crazy.

 

As for a snorkel, yes the dry ones are nice. However if you don't think you are going to use it again it is probably a waste of time and money. However if you find out you really like snorkeling you will use them again, then go for it.

 

When I took my wife on her first cruise she had never been snorkeling and she just tried it with a mix of my backup gear and rental gear. She discovered that she really enjoyed it and when we got home she bought herself proper fitting gear.

 

When you are shopping for snorkel gear for your cruise don't forget to hit Wal-Mart or Target or which ever of those type stores you like and pick up a couple of those disposable underwater cameras. They take great snorkeling pictures and you don't have to risk your expensive camera. Just be sure to pack them in your carry on luggage as the x-ray they run the checked luggage at some airports will hurt the film.

[Capt_BJ]

Food for thought

 

If your vacation choice was a ski trip

 

would you be looking for a deal on boots and skis & clothes? Or would you be thinking rent because the rentals might be higher quality than the stuff at WALMART?

 

Would you split the difference? Buy clothes but rent gear?????

 

Just a prompt.....

[alwalaska]

Food for thought

 

If your vacation choice was a ski trip

 

would you be looking for a deal on boots and skis & clothes? Or would you be thinking rent because the rentals might be higher quality than the stuff at WALMART?

 

Would you split the difference? Buy clothes but rent gear?????

 

Just a prompt.....

 

Thanks for the prompt, but doesn't work for me. With skiing, I would buy the clothes (we live in a cold climate and will use most of them again) and rent the gear since I have had good experiences with rental ski equipment and I don't boot a ski or boot in my mouth. :D

 

On the other hand, we have had a very bad experience with leaky snorkel rental equipment. Won't waste money on that again. We are also visiting 7 islands and if I can find a medium priced set (not Wal-mart, but not custom $100/mask only) it will be about the same price as renting. I would have to go on a really long ski trip to pay back the cost of skis and boots.

[monicajay]

We purchased snorkel sets at Costco. They were about $60.00 for the adult ones and less for my teen daughter. We have been very happy with the equipment and fit. I believe they are Body Glove brand.

 

Good thing about Costco is if you don't like it you can take it back. Also available on-line at Costco.com

 

We have saved lots of time and money over the past 4 years since we bought our stuff.

[compguy]

I looked at the mask and snorkel packages and they seem comarable to what I found at a recent dive shop. I am recently open-water certified. My take on this is that if you don't have equipment and wouldn't otherwise purchase them between now and your cruise, then don't bother. Alot of this comes down to individual style and comfort anyway. Any reputable dive/snorkel shops at cruise destinations can help. Sport Chalet has been great for me, if that helps. FYI, since my mask and snorkel are for diving and it is very comfortable for me, I'll be taking it w/ me on my cruise next week.

[alwalaska]

Thanks all. We took the plunge yesterday (so to speak) and purchased our equipment from Sports Authority. It is a mix of Body Glove and US Divers since our faces are all so different. We ended up spending about $60/ adult set and a little less for my 16 y/o daughter with a tiny face who ended up with a youth set. Since we plan on snorkeling at least 3 times on the cruise, we should come close to breaking even and I will know it won't leak.

 

Does anyone know if most of the beaches that advertise as good snorkel sites have rentals? We are thinking about renting vests and fins rather than packing those since they are bulkier. We are only looking at snorkeling off a boat once possibly as part of a tour. All the others will be on our own at beaches.

 

Thanks again for all the helpful information.

[dirvin0500]

If you're ever in the market for any additional snorkel/scuba gear, we found LeisurePro to be very reasonable in prices and great in service. The fins I ordered were a little loose and I wanted to exchange them for a smaller size. Not only did they exchange them for me but they paid for the shipping of the wrong sized ones back to them and the new ones out to me. Couldn't be more happy.

[GeckoGirl]

We bought Body Glove snorkel and fin sets at Sports Authority for $40 each set, I also had a coupon for $10 off a total order of $50 or more so I used it too.

 

We bought this for our upcoming cruise and we tried on all the equipment and used them in the pool and they worked great, My husband and I had to switch masks cause his was smaller and mine was bigger for some reason but once we switched, they fit perfect. No water leakage at all.

 

They have a 2 year warranty.

[alwalaska]

We bought Body Glove snorkel and fin sets at Sports Authority for $40 each set, I also had a coupon for $10 off a total order of $50 or more so I used it too.

 

We bought this for our upcoming cruise and we tried on all the equipment and used them in the pool and they worked great, My husband and I had to switch masks cause his was smaller and mine was bigger for some reason but once we switched, they fit perfect. No water leakage at all.

 

They have a 2 year warranty.

 

Unfortunately, a coupon for $25 off a $100 purchase printed with the receipt for our gear. Luckily, we only bought fins for 2 of us since DD wasn't sure she would like them and DH wasn't with us to try on. Our $60 covered mask, snorkle and fins, so that wasn't too bad. We tried out our equipment in the pool today and DD does like the fins so we will go get 2 more pair of fins and a few other things to use the coupon.

[amyj23]

Well, for anyone reading this thread who hasn't already purchased and would like to... I was at Target tonight and they had US Divers packs of adult snorkeling gear including fins that were $20.00 on clearance. If you don't have a Target near you, you may want to try their website. That's a pretty good deal....

[harryjr]

Anyone needing a prescription mask should check snorkel-mart.com. They have good quality equipment, good prices and on-time shipping.

[YoPhilly]

Here's my two cents. I've been snorkeling for years. My first mask and snorkel were a basic Wal-mart/Target "professional" style. Leaked and leaked. Since we go to the Caribbean almost every year, I decided to invest in quality equipment. About 7 years ago, I went to a local dive shop and bought a good quality mask, snorkel and fins for myself and my husband. We've used them year after year with no problems at all.