Snorkel equip - any need to bring your own?

Hi

We are going on a RC 7 days cruise out of San Juan with 5 nice stops. I love to snorkel but am not fussy about the gear as long as it works. Any reason to haul my own? Beaches with decent snorkelling would have rentals available? Does RC rent? Would hate to be on what looks like a great place and not be able to take a snorkel - but is also a bit of a pain to pack and drag around.

Thanks much

Great to find out answers to all my questions in such a nice friendly forum.

We take our snorkels and masks but not the fins....they are just too big since we prefer to carry our own luggage instead of checking it. I prefer my own snorkel and mask because they seem to fit me better than those offered by the tour companies.

When you book a catamaran excursion with snorkel stops the snorkel equipment is always provided. :)

LuLu

Sanitizing of the gear can be questionable. I guess people are not getting sick but, who knows, it just gives me the heebie jeebies.

We always take our own. Its ours, it fits and we know who put it in their mouth. Now the fins have been replaced with the newer shorter, kind of web fins and we love them. We actually have one suitcase we use for snorkel gear, beach gear, ginger ale and noodles its an extra suit case, but it works out so well having our "gear" with us.

I bring my own, including my old bodysufin' Churchill fin's

Thanks for all the comments. So does RC have rentals? Are rentals fairly available at most of the Carribean beaches? Bringing your own mask and snorkel and renting find sounds like a good compromise.

Always bring your own.I always remember looking to book a snorkel excursion on dock. Local vendor standing there w. pail of water,drops in maybe 2 drops liquid detergent, swishes snorkel in 5 seconds. Hands it to me. I told him no thanks.

If you have your own and enjoy snorkeling that much, bring your own.

When we snorkeled in Grand Cayman, I had to try on over 3 masks before I was happy........one was so scratched I could not see out of, one had a bad strap and one the strap for the snorkel to fit in was almost broke.

Now, number 4 was perfect, but, still.

Place them in a carryon and enjoy.

Sea Ya

Thanks for all the comments. So does RC have rentals? Are rentals fairly available at most of the Carribean beaches? Bringing your own mask and snorkel and renting find sounds like a good compromise.

I doubt the cruise line has fins for rent, but I must say I've never researched that. You could call the cruise line and ask I suppose. Some beaches (Trunk Bay in St Johns for example) have a rental shack and dome don't. I would post a question for your ports on the port of call. Someone will hopefully be able to answer. Also, consider googling to get the answer and possibly emailing some of the tour guides for that port to see if they have rentals. We prefer to snorkel from a boat rather than off the beach and those boat tours always have fins.

We have snorkeled all over the Caribbean, the Bahamas and Mexico and always use the equipment provided, have never had an issue and its less to pack and lug around.

I've always carried my own mask and snorkel. Don't take up that much room and I'm guaranteed a good fit, view from the mask and a familiar snorkel. I do have my own fins, but I don't always take them - it depends on the kind of snorkeling I'm going to do. To the poster who mentioned the Churchills - blast from my childhood!!!

Some popular beaches do have rental shacks. Something to remember,though; if multiple ships are in port and it's a beach port, the rental shacks may not have enough equipment to handle the several hundred people who show up at once. If it's recycled as people return them, it's just going to get a quick dip in the bucket before it's handed out again. Depends on your personal tolerance for putting something in your mouth that was in someone else's mouth without full sanitizing...

The rentals are sanitized....I've never heard of anyone "catching something" for the snorkel gear! After all, you drink from glasses that others have used, and eat with the forks....all have been cleaned!!!

Anyplace that offers snorkeling will have gear. No need to bring yours.

The rentals are sanitized....I've never heard of anyone "catching something" for the snorkel gear! After all, you drink from glasses that others have used, and eat with the forks....all have been cleaned!!!

 

Anyplace that offers snorkeling will have gear. No need to bring yours.

I caught the worst sore throat that I have ever had when I rented snorkel and mask.

Now I always take my own - the mask fits me and I know the snorkel is clean.

At the very least I would bring the snorkel, it takes up very little room.

Back when we used to travel the Caribbean on Resort trips we brought our dive bag with everything.

We've done both. The big thing is that I'll bring along my snorkel and mask if we're going to a cruise line's private island and I think I'll want to snorkel a bit. I hate to pay as much as they charge. (Princess rents snorkeling equipment for $25 per person. It's been a while since I checked out how much other cruise lines are charging.)

We take all our scuba gear so if we just want to snorkel instead of diving, we have it. Several years ago we decided to just walk around in one port but saw a snorkel boat getting ready and joined them. I also keep bleach wipes in my bag and wasn't pleased at the thought of using rental gear so I started wiping the mouth piece. I couldn't believe my eyes - the wipe was all black. I got another one out and wiped some more - more back. We decided just to go in the water for a swim. Mold is not good to be breathing. I'm not sure if they even put anything in those water buckets.

I think some people might enjoy snorkeling more if they would purchase a mask from a good local scuba shop so they get a mask that fits their face then they wouldn't have problems with it leaking or fogging up.

And an even better suggestion would to be take a snorkel class from your local dive shop. Many people are taking their young kids in for classes before going on a tropical vacation and it really helps the kids feel more comfortable in the water. And many adults are also taking the classes, especially after having a bad experience.

my mask is corrective so i definitely take my own gear. even if i thought the rental gear was clean, which i dont, i bought quality gear that suits me and will never be disappointed. ymmv

Thanks for all the comments. So does RC have rentals? Are rentals fairly available at most of the Carribean beaches? Bringing your own mask and snorkel and renting find sounds like a good compromise.

RC does not rent snorkel gear. They sell it, but you can do much better at any dive shop; price as well as quality. I bring my mask and snorkel at a minimum, I also bring two suitcases, so I also normally bring my fins as well.

The rentals are sanitized....I've never heard of anyone "catching something" for the snorkel gear! After all, you drink from glasses that others have used, and eat with the forks....all have been cleaned!!!

 

Anyplace that offers snorkeling will have gear. No need to bring yours.

Yeah, sure.:rolleyes: Glasses, forks, etc. have been run through diswashers at high temperatures. Many times, the sanitizing the equipment gets is a quick dunk in a bucket with a little beach in the water.

I always bring my own snorkel and my own toothbrush and never let anyone use either one . :eek:

I always bring my own snorkel and my own toothbrush and never let anyone use either one . :eek:

Bbbbbbbut, CB says they're sanitized.:p:D:rolleyes:

We bring our own snorkels and masks and water shoes. Haven't found too much need for fins, but then we only do surface snorkeling. They take up very little room in our suitcase. Like others have said, I prefer clean equipment!! :D

The rentals are sanitized....I've never heard of anyone "catching something" for the snorkel gear! After all, you drink from glasses that others have used, and eat with the forks....all have been cleaned!!!

 

Anyplace that offers snorkeling will have gear. No need to bring yours.

I don't consider a 10-second dip in a 5-gallon bucket of water that has a few drops of bleach in it "sanitizing." Eating utensils go though an actual cleaning AND heat sanitizing...

Agreed. The only "sanitizing" I have ever seen on the many snorkel excursions and beach rentals is a bucket with bleach or detergent. Swish swish for 5-10 seconds and done. Good enough for some people, I guess.

I wonder if people would be so willing to use glasses and forks that were "sanitized" like that.