Snorkeling - Rent or Purchase and bring your own?

[ColoradoGurl]

Aside from the sanitary reasons people buy their own, it's also a lot cheaper. If you go on a cruise with 4 beach stops, you can get yourself to the beach and snorkel for free, and the equipment pays for itself by beach 2 or 3. Take a southern route where you can do 5 or 6 beach days (if you count Puerto Rico) and you've definitely paid for it.

 

Doing excursions can get you to more interesting snorkel sites and they may not give you a discount for using your own stuff, but it's still nice to know that your mask won't leave giant dents in your face and will seal comfortably, making it so you have a better time on your trip and can focus on swimming rather than messing with your mask the whole time.

 

 

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[Lookingforfacts]

Some of the large corporate places aqaworld in Mexico for example, supply souvenir tubes. You keep it.

[CruiseGal999]

My wife and I have only snorkeled 1 time before on our one and only cruise. We are both a little concerned about using "public" snorkeling gear and the potential for catching other's germs, sickness, etc...

Questions:

 

1. Is the gear you rent on these excursions junk or even decent?

2. Do you think they get disinfected in any way?

3. What does it even cost to buy snorkel gear for equipment that you will only use 1-2x per year?

4. If you were to purchase snorkel gear, where would you get it and how much would you spend if you were only going to use it 1-2x per year?

 

Thanks!!!

 

1. Yes

2. Yes

3 & 4: Walmart? Big 5? Go CHEAP if it's 1 or 2X year

[cb at sea]

The "rental" gear is sanitized in a bleach solution. The vendors will NOT risk folks getting sick...so it's really quite safe. No different than using washed forks, spoons, dishes at dinner!

[CruiseGal999]

The "rental" gear is sanitized in a bleach solution. The vendors will NOT risk folks getting sick...so it's really quite safe. No different than using washed forks, spoons, dishes at dinner!

 

I agree. I have used the supplied snorkel gear on catamaran trips for years. Several in Hawaii and throughout the years of owning St. Maarten timeshare. Never once did I get sick. But also, I've never rented, so I don't know how much that costs. Yes, I know 'cost' of equipment was in price of the catamaran trip.

[Bonnie J.]

Think about how many, many people have put a mask on and put snorkel in their mouth. And, does 'their' mask really fit?

 

We have a small mesh zippered bag made for snorkel gear that we put our masks, snorkels and flat vests that we can blow up, in. Have small fins made for snorkeling but we don't take those any more. Also have small bottle of a fluid you put on your mask so it won't fog. We pack the bag and it doesn't really take up much room in a suitcase.

[zqvol]

My wife and I have only snorkeled 1 time before on our one and only cruise. We are both a little concerned about using "public" snorkeling gear and the potential for catching other's germs, sickness, etc...

Questions:

 

1. Is the gear you rent on these excursions junk or even decent?

2. Do you think they get disinfected in any way?

3. What does it even cost to buy snorkel gear for equipment that you will only use 1-2x per year?

4. If you were to purchase snorkel gear, where would you get it and how much would you spend if you were only going to use it 1-2x per year?

 

Thanks!!!

The gear you get is pretty much junk and rarely fits correctly. You spend half your time adjusting straps. It is disinfected between usess by being stored in a bucket of soapy water.

 

If youbare going to buy gear by good gear from a dive shop. Expect to pay about $100 for a high quality mask and snorkel. Sure you can go to a big box store and buy a cheaper set, but you get what you pay for.

 

BTW we always pack a separate bag for snorkel gear, sun screen, and liquids. Since we each get at least one bag free on any airline because of CC perks, at most we pay for one bag, so it's no big deal.

[LynnVB]

To lighten the packing load, we just bring water shoes, mask and snorkel, then rent the fins. We find when snorkeling right off the beach in shallow water, fins may not be necessary anyway.

[Saskeeter]

Problem solved!. My wife and I visited a local scuba shop this morning and purchased Ocean Reef Full-Face Snorkeling Mask for the both of us. We got to try them on to check out how they fit. We were there for over an hour considering if we were going to buy traditional snorkeling gear or this Full-Face option. We paid $110 a piece. Researching the prices online when we got home, you can get them for about $90. The extra $40 we paid was for the personal service that we got so money well spent. We don't want to have to pack the fins so we will rent those when we get there. We are excited!. Thanks to all who took the time to respond!!!

[hollygtn]

Excellent! Glad you supported your local dive shop too!

 

 

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[widallas]

Excellent! Glad you supported your local dive shop too!

 

 

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[emoji1303]Agreed!!!

 

 

 

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[CanadaDeb]

Before we cruised for the first time, DH and I bought the mouth piece ( for both ) as we had the same concerns...when we saw we liked it, we invested in a mask that fit properly.

[screwsmcernst]

On our very first cruise, we wanted to try snorkeling, but I wasn't about to use a snorkel that hundreds of other people have used. Luckily, the excursion desk sold us packaged snorkels for $5 each. Now, we have our own snorkel equipment, and we have taken it on cruises before. It takes up a lot of room in the suitcase. Now, we just take our snorkels, and use the mask, fins, and vests provided by the excursion operator. Call me a Germaphobe. I'm okay with that. :)

[OCruisers]

We have a friend with very poor vision who takes his own prescription mask. :)