snorkel gear?

Looking forward to my first cruise and to fun water activities. Is it worth the trouble and inconvenience for me to purchase and bring my own gear, e.g. snorkel and mask, noodles for relaxing in the water, etc.?

Given that you provide absolutely NO information on location, ship, time of year, snorkeling experience, and your expectations for the day.....the answer can only be:

Who knows??

snorkel gear- mask with snorkel and with inflatable vest but, all snorkeling tours will provide everything you need. There is no need at all for a noodle, you have a vest. Only buy your own stuff if you plan to snorkel from a beach, with your vest, by yourselves!

Looking forward to my first cruise and to fun water activities. Is it worth the trouble and inconvenience for me to purchase and bring my own gear, e.g. snorkel and mask, noodles for relaxing in the water, etc.?

I would not rent a snorkel ,nor rent a tooth brush . :eek:

Buy your own .;)

Get a good mask and snorkel from a dive shop. Worth the money for fit and longevity (including ease of obtaining replacement parts). Models for prescription lenses are also available.

Would never travel to the Caribbean without our own snorkel gear, and we take backups of everything, including extra masks, fins, and snorkels for all four of us. You never know when something is going to break, and it happens more than you want to know.

We have 6 of us and we bring all our own masks and snorkels.

I'd bring my own for a paid or DIY excursion.

-Sean

We really like having our own snorkel gear (including a prescription mask) as we know where it has been :). And our masks fit (and are always perfectly adjusted). Rental equipment really varies in quality (and condition) and owning our own equipment has paid for itself many times. And with our own equipment we can go off and discover new snorkel spots....far from any tour.

Just a note for the OP. Snorkeling with a "noodle" does work, but is far from ideal and has limitations (not to mention safety issues). If one feels the need for some buoyancy help...a good investment is a BC (Buoyancy Compensator) which is simply an inflatable life vest. Many cruise lines actually require snorkelers on their tours to wear a BC (it is an insurance issue).

Hank

I would not rent a snorkel ,nor rent a tooth brush . :eek:

 

Buy your own .;)

I agree.

I caught the worst sore throat I have ever had, through using a rented snorkel.

Since then, I always take my own snorkel and mask. As well as avoiding possible infection, I know that my my mask fits me.

I will rent flippers and vest (if one is considered necessary - I am a good swimmer).

I'll go against the flow here. ;)

I'm guessing you've not snorkelled before.

Some folk find they can't hack snorkelling & it'd be a shame if you found that was the case with you just after laying out a wad of cash on gear that you'll never use again.

So I suggest you use the included gear, & see how you get on.

If you're amazed by the experience (most of us are) you can cut along to a dive shop (not the internet) to buy gear for the next vacation.

Concentrate on mask & snorkel. And even if it's in packaging, insist on trying it on before agreeing to buy - you don't want an ill-fitting mask.

A bouyancy vest can help you to keep horizontal, some folk need and others don't. Again potentially a waste of money, though of course they double as a half-decent life-preserver.

Flippers (fins) are cumbersome, especially for air travel and for climbing the ladder on & off a boat. Rely on those supplied, then buy if & when you decide the advantages outweigh the disadvantages - chances are that'll be some way in the future cos their main value is for diving deep or swimming some distance. And by then you'll know if you want long & powerful, or stubby & convenient.

And consider getting water shoes. When diving, or even just swimming, from the shore there's often a ribbon of stones and/or coral shards at the waterline, very uncomfortable in bare feet. Or rocks to negotiate - and water shoes have brilliant grip on wet rock. A cheap pair (ok, they're only good for a few uses) will cost little more than $10.

All JMHO as always

JB :)

Edit, just to clarify. "especially for air travel" That's for packing in your suitcase, not for walking down the aircraft aisle :D

Glad you clarified JB and I was trying to picture you and J walking down an aircraft aisle in your coordinated flippers :).

Hank

Will drink a Guinness to your health

I just bring my own mask. (Don't use snorkel, just hold my breath. Don't need flippers, size 14 feet)

No point in investing in gear for an activity you might not enjoy; plus carrying a lot of bulky stuff is a pain. The one exceptionis the snorkel : the smallest, least expensive and easiest to pack piece of gear --- and the only one that you put in your mouth: do you really like the idea of sucking on a mouthpiece which has been in who knows how many mouths infected with who knows what obscene diseases?

I agree.

I caught the worst sore throat I have ever had, through using a rented snorkel.

Since then, I always take my own snorkel and mask. As well as avoiding possible infection, I know that my my mask fits me.

 

I will rent flippers and vest (if one is considered necessary - I am a good swimmer).

This... I also got a horrible sore throat after snorkeling...my whole family did! That being said, we always use reputable companies to snorkel, or rent gear from a snorkel/scuba company. We were forced into a miserable excursion once (with extended family, who didn't even get in the water!) and have since brought our own equipment. Sometimes we like to use the company's fins, but we use them enough to want our own mask and snorkel.

Good point about first-time snorkelers though...I would just suggest using a good company, since you get what you pay for, and no one wants to pay for a communicable disease. :eek:

I bring my own mask and snorkel; it's a fit issue. Most masks on tours just don't fit me right. I don't bring flippers and usually don't use the ones available unless I know we are going to be doing quite a bit of long distance swimming.

Since I swim quite well, I really hate using the vests some tours require. However, usually they don't make me inflate them.

Personally, I wouldn't bring a noodle, but if it makes someone feel secure, I can see it. Hard to pack though! If I thought I needed one I'd try to find one in the boarding city.

Fortunately (or unfortunately) I am a champion floater!

I believe there are foldable noodles

There are blow-up noodles called doodles. We take them on every cruise. Easy to pack.

We bought our own gear years ago and take it on all our cruises. If you fly, it is a pain to pack/carry -- no doubt about that -- and pretty much impossible if you don't check baggage, as it will fill your carry-on luggage pretty fast.

That being said, we bought gear because we knew we would use it over and over. If you have not snorkeled before and find, when you do, that you don't enjoy it -- and some people don't -- you run the risk of having bought stuff you won't use again, as has been stated. But keep in mind, you may have a less than enjoyable experience snorkeling because the gear you borrow on an excursion may not fit you well.

I vote for the compromise which I believe has also been stated: consider buying at least your own snorkel. You can try the mask and fins provided on excursions. The guide should be able to help you get the best fit with the gear he provides. If you love snorkeling and know you'll do it again and again, you will run, not walk, to the dive shop when you get home and buy your own gear, that fits you well, which you will cherish forever!

I am pretty near-sighted, and did not see the point of snorkeling without being able to see anything! -- so I bought a mask with prescription lenses. And I made sure the mask itself fit me well, too. I also have pretty crooked teeth in a small mouth, so I had to find a snorkel that felt comfortable in my mouth. Believe me, they do not all fit the same. And even my fins were chosen for comfort, because if fins don't fit right, they can rub against one's ankles and be very painful after 45 minutes or so of snorkeling. I would not dream of snorkeling without fins -- too much like work! :eek:

The way I learned that snorkel gear is not designed to be generic is that when we shopped, my DH and I chose completely different masks, snorkels, and fins -- not just different sizes, but different brands and styles, because, guess what, we are different and the equipment fit us differently.

We do not own nor use (unless required to) flotation vests. I own a shorty wetsuit to expand the range of (Caribbean) water temps I am comfortable in. DH is less sensitive to cooler water temps so does not want one.