prescription glasses and snorkeling

Never been snorkeling before and hope to do it on upcoming cruise. A friend brought up a good point. I wear glasses and my eyesight is pretty bad. If I snorkel without my glasses I will probably not see very much. Is it possible to wear my glasses under my mask? I do not want to invest in prescrition goggles as I will probably not snorkel again. Thanks,

You cannot wear your glasses under your mask. I am far sighted so I just leave my glasses on the shore or boat. If you don't want to get the prescription add in to the mask, what about contact lenses?

I once took an old pair of glasses, removed the lenses and glued them to the front of a snorkel mask! Worked pretty good.

When my wife first began snorkeling she discovered that an old pair of glasses with the temple pieces removed just fit inside her mask without rattling around. But she did replace it with a prescription mask shortly after.

Some places have "generic" prescription goggles available for rent-I opted for that the first time I did anything underwater. Might be worth asking. Enjoy!

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You can order a prescription mask. Not as expensive as you might think.

LuLu

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I got an off-the-rack mask at our local dive shop. It's not a custom job but graded like reading glasses. Made snorkeling much more enjoyable.

And if your glasses are ever lost you could use them as a back up, ala Hugh Grant in Love Actually, lol

Things really do look 25% to 33% larger under water. :)

Seems water is a natural magnifier.

LuLu

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Check out a dive shop and perhaps you won't think the price so bad. I really don't like the idea of renting a snorkel -- I want to control whose mouth the snorkel has been in!:p A mask with a prescriptive lens makes all the difference for enjoyable snorkeling. I bought mine about 15 years ago and have not needed to change -- ballpark RX gives good results. When I fly I carry the mask in my carryon -- friend did have a mask shatter in suitcase. Maybe you will fall in love with snorkeling as I did -- any itinerary with snorkeling goes to top of the heap. Some amazing places to snorkel in this world:D

If you've never been snorkeling before, how do you know you won't ever do it again? Its amazing. :)

I personally would never use the public snorkels and masks you get with excursions. yuk. You can pick up a pretty decent snorkel set at Target or Sports Authority and they're not too expensive. I would at least get a mask and snorkel; if you don't have room in your suitcase for fins, you could rent those. Although they now have travel fins that work just as well and take up less space.

But I digress. :) I would get my own mask and use these - removable lenses.

First time I went snorkeling I did not have anything but basic mask. Being very nearsighted i was very frustrated. One of the best purchases I have ever made for myself is a prescription mask. In fact 10 years later, I just bought a new pair. Less than $80 from snorkel mart and delivered within 3 days. I love snorkeling and will always have my mask with me. also the lenses can be used on your flexible spending account. That is what finally convinced me to get mine. I had money I needed to spend. :p

Are you able to wear contacts? You may be able to get a trial set of dailies for your cruise.

First how bad is your vision?

If you just need reading glasses +1-+1.5, the magnification in the water will counter act that.

I am slightly nearsighted -1.75 in both eyes. Again I do not use a prescription mask. I have rented them but with my eyes they do not make that much differance.

I would recommend that you take the first snorkeling trip you can book and rent gear. Relax and enjoy the experience. If you like it (and you will) then do it again and again and again. I snorkel every stop on a cruise if I can. Then you can decided what gear you want to buy.

I can't believe that I just got sucked into a 4 year old post.:D

Unless you're from the future the original post was less than two weeks ago...

Never been snorkeling before and hope to do it on upcoming cruise. A friend brought up a good point. I wear glasses and my eyesight is pretty bad. If I snorkel without my glasses I will probably not see very much. Is it possible to wear my glasses under my mask? I do not want to invest in prescrition goggles as I will probably not snorkel again. Thanks,

As some have already suggested, a trial pair of disposable contact lenses may be just what you need. If you have a good relationship with your optician/optomotrist, they should be happy to provide you with a pair of lenses to try for this purpose. Then, if you find you do enjoy snorkeling, you can pursue an Rx mask. My hubby has one and loves it.

Enjoy!

On our first cruise we snorkeled at a private beach near Calica. I am so near-sighted that I could probably be classed as legally blind. My wife saw a octopus. I couldn't see squat if it was 10 feet away. Ordered a prescription mask and everything was fine until I bought an underwater camera. Now I can't see the screen on the camera.:rolleyes:

Things really do look 25% to 33% larger under water. :)

Seems water is a natural magnifier.

LuLu

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What OCruisers said: I wish I'd known that when I tried to snorkel with my wire-rims on; the leakage was too great, and I didn't think to take them off and dive with just the mask--I am somewhat nearsighted, BTW, which would have probably been accommodated by the diffraction of light in the water.

I add my vote to the crowd who recommends buying a mask and then getting magnifying lenses. If you are a very near-sighted individual, as I am, I believe you will not enjoy snorkeling at all and you probably shouldn't bother to go if you don't get magnifying lenses. Many masks can be fitted with them. They cost a little extra -- mine were about $10-15 many years ago (don't know what they are now) on top of the price of my mask. The original lenses are popped out and the magnifiers put in. It is enough to get a magnification that is close you your prescription -- it is absolutely not necessary to get special lenses ground, and you can get a different magnification for each eye, if you need to. You cannot get magnifying lenses for cheap (Walmart) masks, though. Go to a dive shop. Get a mask that fits you well -- this is important for you to enjoy snorkeling.

I also bought my own snorkel -- one which fits my mouth, which is small, with some crooked teeth. When I tried my husband's snorkel, for example, my mouth ached because his mouthpiece did not fit me. We also bought fins, and I have a shorty wetsuit. We always cruise with our gear.

If you really hate snorkeling, you can always sell (or give away) the equipment; you can sell the mask with both sets of lenses, the regular and the magnifiers, or sell the magnifiers separately. Ask at the dive shop -- maybe they would let you return it for a refund if you just don't like the equipment or the experience.

I was in a scuba shop in Key Largo, Florida a couple of weeks ago where the mask frame was $50 and the ground lenses were $25 each (normally you'd buy two).

Things really do look 25% to 33% larger under water. :)

Seems water is a natural magnifier.

LuLu

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Fact. Every scuba diver will attest to this, especially the ones who remember their training. They also appear closer (for many, that corresponds with bigger).. slightly more in salt water than fresh water.

I only add emphasis to Lulu's point because if you are slightly near-sighted, you will likely not need any prescription in your mask. I'm a 30+ year diver, approacing 1000 dives... I have worn glasses for 34 years and never had an Rx lens in my mask. I'm only slightly near-sighted (1.25)... So my suggestion is that if your prescription is mild, you may not want to invest in the prescription mask initially.