Renting Snorkel Gear

[CrazyCruisingCat]

Just wondering about the price and quality of rented snorkel gear in Grand Cayman. Anyone know? Trying to decide whether to rent while there or just buy some prior.

[bookbabe]

Just wondering about the price and quality of rented snorkel gear in Grand Cayman. Anyone know? Trying to decide whether to rent while there or just buy some prior.

 

Where are you looking to rent? Just saying "Grand Cayman" is kind of like saying "Utah." :D

 

Most of the places I've seen, the gear is pretty standard...not as good as your high-quality personal set, but definitely better than the cheap stuff from WalMart, etc. However, if you're a bit more specific about what beach you plan to snorkel at, there's likely someone here on the boards that's either rented the equipment there or at least saw it while they were at that beach.

[CrazyCruisingCat]

Yikes! I have no clue. We will be heading out to Sting Ray City to swim with the Rays and then they are taking us somewhere to snorkel but I can't remember where. DH and I actually have our own set from Costco. But our friends were thinking about renting.

[bookbabe]

Yikes! I have no clue. We will be heading out to Sting Ray City to swim with the Rays and then they are taking us somewhere to snorkel but I can't remember where. DH and I actually have our own set from Costco. But our friends were thinking about renting.

 

So you're on an excursion? If so, then likely the tour company will have snorkel gear which will be included in the cost of the excursion. I'd check with the company to see for sure, but that's usually the case so you probably won't need to worry about it...

[Jungle Jane]

We had snorkeling excursions planned a few times on our cruise and the thought of putting that thing in my mouth after it had been in other's mouths and probably not washed properly and stored in god-knows-what kind of environment grossed me out. We bought our own masks & snorkles at a sporting goods store and brought them with us, didn't take much extra room in the luggage and was worth it for peace of mind. We did use tour company fins which were fine. Bringing our own allowed us to snorkle as we pleased and we didn't have to wait for equipment to be handed out. Our snorkle/mask sets were $20 each, small price to pay for peace of mind/mouth!

[caymanjohn]

Got to be very blunt on this and say that most of the rental snorkel gear here is junk and a lot of the operators think they can get by with just a plain water rinse between customers.

 

You get the best rental gear from the dive centres but I would go with the advice to buy your own.

[CrazyCruisingCat]

Thanks for all your good advice. We bought our own gear. I couldn't stand the idea of using some a zillion others have used. Our friends are still undecided whether to rent or buy. We are on an excursion and I think that gear is included in our price. I will have to double check though. My friend booked it so I don't know the details.