Snorkling with glasses?

While in the Grand Turk Bahamas I had rented a snorkel set from one of the shops on the beach. The shop had given me a snorkel mask that had either a magnifying aspect to it or somehow made things easily visible without wearing my glasses, I'm not sure, but they were specifically for people who wore glasses. I was wondering if anyone knew where I could purchase a snorkel set like this? or what others recommend for people with glasses.

I've been told you can buy prescription snorkeling masks. I just did a quick Google search and there appeared to be several options ;)

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I just got my husband a pair of swim and snorkel goggles from amazon, they were less than 20$ and arrived within a week. Husband says that he can see quite well in them both and he's actually looking forward to being in the water this time.

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you basic mask lens when underwater provides a bit of magnification of its own and some who have a mild prescription find this to be enuf ...

and as mentioned there are MANY places on line where you can order a mask with prescription lens

HOWEVER I CAUTION that when purchasing a mask, especially if spending serious $$ and a prescription lens IS gonna run the price up, you must consider FIT. Masks come in many shapes and sizes, because faces come in many shapes and sizes. This is NOT a one size fits all item. You don't mention where you live but if at all possible I'd go to a dive shop for help with this item.

As a side note, dw and dd both dive with disposable soft contacts and have done so for a LONG time with no problems ...

I just got my husband a pair of swim and snorkel goggles from amazon, they were less than 20$ and arrived within a week. Husband says that he can see quite well in them both and he's actually looking forward to being in the water this time.

 

 

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Forgot to mention these were prescription googles, husband always assumed they'd be expensive too, guess not since they were the same price as non-prescription.

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I second Capt BJ on the idea of finding a local dive shop if you can. DH and I wanted snorkel goggles of our own before a South Pacific cruise.

I was able to fit into a pair that use amplification lenses. Not my exact prescription, but close enough for me to see well.

DH had disliked snorkeling as the masks supplied by tours always leaked. Turns out he has a weird facial structure, and the shop tried numerous masks on him and none sealed properly. They knew a guy with a similar structure (deep set eyes, narrow bridge of nose) and the make of mask. Ordered it for DH and he's very happy.

Were the masks $20? No. Are we both really happy with the fit and do we enjoy snorkeling more because of it? Yes. I think one mask was about $60, the other closer to $100, but they are worth it to us.

Another vote for snorkeling with contacts. I've never had a problem.

While in the Grand Turk Bahamas I had rented a snorkel set from one of the shops on the beach. The shop had given me a snorkel mask that had either a magnifying aspect to it or somehow made things easily visible without wearing my glasses, I'm not sure, but they were specifically for people who wore glasses. I was wondering if anyone knew where I could purchase a snorkel set like this? or what others recommend for people with glasses.

I ordered a prescription mask when I got SCUBA certified. Works great. My wife is nearly blind without her glasses and discovered that she couldn't see much when snorkeling either. So I got her a prescription mask too from my instructors shop. It's a TUSA M-212 and ran about $130. You will need the prescription to order.

Prescription goggles are available too. I swim a lot and have had a few pairs. You get them like reading glasses (mine is -2.5). Cost me about $12 at SwimOutlet.

I snorkeled with contacts for years without issue before finally getting my eyes shot with a laser. Pretty sure I was even diving with contacts (can't remember exactly when I got lasik) for a while

I second Capt BJ on the idea of finding a local dive shop if you can. DH and I wanted snorkel goggles of our own before a South Pacific cruise.

 

I was able to fit into a pair that use amplification lenses. Not my exact prescription, but close enough for me to see well.

 

DH had disliked snorkeling as the masks supplied by tours always leaked. Turns out he has a weird facial structure, and the shop tried numerous masks on him and none sealed properly. They knew a guy with a similar structure (deep set eyes, narrow bridge of nose) and the make of mask. Ordered it for DH and he's very happy.

 

Were the masks $20? No. Are we both really happy with the fit and do we enjoy snorkeling more because of it? Yes. I think one mask was about $60, the other closer to $100, but they are worth it to us.

What brand of mask did you get?

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I've used lenses for diving since the 80's. First, I applied old prescription lenses to the outside of my mask--worked ok. Then, a couple years later ordered a new mask with RX lenses at a rather large co$t. So, later yet, when that prescription was very old but the mask still workable--I went with the "drug store glasses" approach. Dive shops sell replacement lenses in various diopters for a few specific masks. I have used Tusa masks with diopters for about 25 years now and this still works for me. The last time I bought lenses, they were$25. and $33. at 2 diveshops. The shop will change out the lenses if you ask. And since they have lenses, they will also have the mask or masks that the diopter lenses fit. The masks are 2 lens masks. This may not work for you if you have vision problems other than near or far.... This is evidently what the OP used for snorkeling! If you have a current prescription, the needed diopter for left and right will be found in it. Google how to find the right numbers for your mask!

My husband and I got prescription bifocal SCUBA masks from https://www.seavisionusa.com/site/index

We had previously used disposable contact lenses (near vision Rx in left eye, distance Rx in right eye) but are much happier with these new masks. This is especially true for my husband, who needs a very strong prescription and hates putting things in his eyes. These masks also have a filter to correct color perception at depth.

As others have stated, you will need your prescription information from your ophthalmologist/optometrist . We did not have any problems getting most of the information except for the interpupillary distance. They did not want to give us that because they didn't believe we were ordering SCUBA masks and thought we were trying to buy glasses off the Internet. I finally insisted that we had a legal right to all our prescription information and they gave it to us. Needless to say, we do not deal with that practice anymore.

Before lasik I had to have special inserts on my SCBA in the FD. Limited that mask just for my use. After lasik, no eyewear needed.

Good to see you can order Rx dive masks. No fun going to all the expense and distance in a cruise to not have the best vision to see underwater. Get the mask from a reputable place and be amazed at the fun you will have in the water!

I wear a prescription snorkel mask. It works very well for me. I purchased it on Amazon. It was about $60.

I was just going to start a new post. Good thing I read this. My son and I both wear glasses and we both can't stand contacts with our stigmas and dry eyes. I looked at some sites where you could easily spend $250-300 on a mask but saw a few companies selling these on Amazon on for about $50-$60 where you can get a different prescription in each lens. I just ordered one for my son today and am going to do the same once I get my prescription as soon as I get it from the eye doctor. I totally get having the mask fitted at a dive shop if you were going to be doing this often but typically snorkel a couple of times a year. I know it probably is not the best solution but hoping it will work better than just a plain mask!

* I'm normally one to spend the money on a quality solution but I just got new glasses at $500, bought him new frames at $200 when he broke the old ones playing basketball, bought him an extra pair of his new prescription lenses ($150) for his spare glasses, and am buying him new prescription sports goggles for Tae Kwon Do. Something had to give and it was the snorkel mask. Ha.

Sorry for the late reply, but I purchased an Oceanic brand mask with the snap-in lenses that are close enough to my prescription to work well. DH has the hard to fit face with deep set eyes and narrow nose bridge, and his mask was ordered from Scuba Max. While ordering online may be cheaper, it would likely have been a waste of time and effort for my spouse. He can see well enough without his glasses that he didn't pay for a prescription lens, so that evened out the extra expense for getting what fits well. He loves that he doesn't get the leakage he did with masks supplied by tour operators! For us, the trip to the dive shop and their knowledge of fit was worth it.

Glad it worked for you. I see the post earlier now about how you can order these from the dive shop too - prescription lenses. Too late I guess. Should have paid closer attention. I ordered two masks from Amazon, both about $50. They see to be "good" fits for my son and I and while he says he can see nearly perfectly out of his, mine are almost perfect and one eye seems a little "off" The manufacturer only makes lenses by .5s and recommends going down .25 instead of up if needed. Regardless, we are happy we'll be able to see much better underwater this time around! And I will be putting a float on the back of his I think for the Lake this summer as he or his buddies seem to loose a mask or two at least every year.

Had special rescue mask glasses for years but they didn't fit well in modern masks (too shallow). Never tried the stick-on since they are too small and cost as much as prescription glass. I went with a Snorkel-Mart Spirit 2 mask with the 0.5 step (website tells you what to order). Ran close to $80 but worked great until I had cataract surgery. Note that lenses are designed to work underwater so high prescriptions are not perfect on the surface. At least I was able to identify my wife in a crowd, though.

Capt_BJ is very right, though. If it doesn't fit right it will be miserable to use. Try several on in a dive shop to make sure the design fits and doesn't leak.