Have U Snorkled?

[Juligan]

When you go on the snorkling tours that provide the equipment, do you use their snorkle or bring your own? If you use thiers, how do you know it's clean enough to put in your mouth?

 

Germaphobe? No... Cautious? Yes

[OhioJeff]

When you go on the snorkling tours that provide the equipment, do you use their snorkle or bring your own? If you use thiers, how do you know it's clean enough to put in your mouth?

 

Germaphobe? No... Cautious? Yes

 

 

You either trust them or bring your own.

[gill_boo]

I don't I bring my own, do you know how many diseases are transmissable by saliva. No thank you.

[cabosal]

We are going in August and I have the same questions about the snorkle as you. How clean can it be? My son says ocean water will purify the mouthpiece but I don't buy it. I am planning on leaving my flippers home (kinda take up too much suitcase space) but think I will take the mask and mouthpiece. Better safe than sorry. You hear so much these days about sicknesses on cruise ships. :eek:

[Insel]

We bring our own. The only time we used equipment provided by an excursion was in Cancun and it WAS very clean, the leader took masks and snorkels out of the cleaning container while we were there. He had the solution on the boat, it was obvious he was careful about showing his passengers he was thorough.

 

I imagine:rolleyes: people have to keep things clean, but I'd never trust anything that's been in another mouth. Water alone won't kill hepatitis, oral herpes or worse.....

[sixgun8]

I am not gonna say i snorkeled it was more like flopping about trying desperately not to suck water in through the tube or through my nose from my mask....

 

But we used their snorkels. It was Capt Marvin's and they had a 55 gallon drum of solution and it seemed like they were pretty clean. Great reputation helped as well. We didn't get sick from anything so I am guessing it was ok. but we are looking to buy our own soon.

[Lovely_Star]

For those of you that bring your own where do you purchase your snorkel gear from?

[SouthernCaribbean]

For those of you that bring your own where do you purchase your snorkel gear from?

 

Any Sporting good store and most sporting goods dept of walmart, kmart, target....etc

[Carolyn1950]

For those of you that bring your own where do you purchase your snorkel gear from?

 

We got ours at the Academy.. The cost was very reasonable..But don't delay.. As summer nears the end they get hard to find...

[cruzeluver]

I have snorkeled in Nassau, Roatan, St. Martin, Belize and Cabo San Lucas. Always used the equipment provided and as far as I can tell I'm still alive! :p

[umwife11]

I'm another one of those live-on-the-edge folks who just uses the equipment provided. My husband and I always say "we should buy our own masks and snorkels," but we just never go snorkeling often enough to justify the expense.

 

I always ask to clean it myself before hitting the water and every time, they've always given me some solution so I could. I also then rinse it out--a lot--with seawater before putting it in my mouth.

 

I snorkeled a lot more when I was younger and we used to go out on our family boat, and the whole, "Clean it with seawater" thing got stuck in my head there...

[CEWayfarer]

We bring our own (got them at Sport Chalet). In fact, I bought a prescription mask this year (finally).

We just like having our own stuff. That way, if we decide to go off on our own, we don't have to worry about being able to rent.

It just gives you more options...

[bleuiz]

First snorkeling trip, we used the equipment provided..........

Before our second trip, I ordered goggles for me, hubby and son from a diver's website.......they were made with our prescriptions for our glasses, so we were actually able to see! (not good for walking but great for snorkeling).........we bought mouthpieces before the trip, I think in Walmart...........:D

[Quench]

When you go on the snorkling tours that provide the equipment, do you use their snorkle or bring your own? If you use thiers, how do you know it's clean enough to put in your mouth?

 

Germaphobe? No... Cautious? Yes

 

 

I have my own equipment.

[aVASTGrl]

I would definitely bring your own mouthpiece at the very least...I just don't trust somebody else to clean something that goes in my mouth! :eek:

[Sandgnat]

A good snorkel is $20 or less. A mask can be of many different ranges. It depends on what you will use it for. Go to any dive store, Sams, Wal mart and such. Place the mask to your face and breath in by your nose. If it stays in place without the strap it should work to snorkel.

 

Here is a tip.... To keep your mask from fogging (I never have enough spit, it is gross and has never worked for me) take a couple drops of baby shampoo and rub it on the inside then rinse. Your mask will not fog and it won't burn your eyes. A small bottle from the sample aisle does not take up much space too and cost a dollar. I dive and use this all the time.

[marym933]

I always bring my own. On our last cruise, Carnival was selling snorkels for $5 a piece.

[simkoreb]

I always bring my own because of I just don't trust the cleaning techniques of anyone. I invested in presecription snorkle gear for my DH, and it was worth the investment. Bought it online (don't remember the website) and have never regretted that purchase! He can see great! We snorkle at almost every port!

[missabbi]

I have always just used what was provided.....:o ..... I never gave it much thought. :eek: Never gotten sick either.

[Juligan]

I am not gonna say i snorkeled it was more like flopping about trying desperately not to suck water in through the tube or through my nose from my mask.....

 

Yup, that'll be me as well... buy I'ma doin it anyway.

[azkcruizers]

My family got great sets at sam's club. We used the tour company's last year and we had trouble with all of the masks flooding and getting a good fit. Plus I was bothered by the reuse of them! I bought these dry snorkel sets and they work great for everyone.:)

 

karen

[Stevesan]

Some time ago a learned snorkel expert posted instructions for selecting a mask. I only regret that I failed to keep record of his/her name:

 

Mask Fitting

 

How many times have you gone into a dive store, tried a mask that seemed to fit just great, got on an airplane to halfway around the world, jumped into the water and the mask leaked? There seems to be a nearly universal way to try a mask, which unfortunately happens to be the wrong way. Put the mask on, inhale through your nose and guess what? The mask fits. Right? Wrong!

 

The big mistake is that no one dives or snorkels with a vacuum in their mask or shouldn't be if they are. By inhaling through the nose, an unnatural seal is created. Some divers have tried on masks that don't even come close to fitting but as soon as they inhale, a tight seal is created. While diving though, they are not constantly trying to inhale through their nose (which is what the store clerk told them to do) and now the mask leaks.

 

Someone told a tale of a dive store that displays all masks without straps. The idea apparently is to check that a really good vacuum makes a really good fit. Once again, no one dives trying to inhale through their nose constantly and without a strap no less.

 

Almost all modern masks have an outer seal and a narrower inner seal. This inside seal covers everywhere except just under the nose. If both of these seals touch the face than the odds of that mask fitting and not leaking are very good. This is done by putting the mask on with the strap loose, but in place, and then tightening it to what would be normal if you were diving. Some divers who have had very bad masks are in the habit of over tightening the strap on a new mask in hopes of a better seal. Don't do that especially while trying masks for fit.

 

The next step takes a second person or a mirror. Look around the entire inside of the mask checking to see that the inner seal touches everywhere. It is very important not to inhale through the nose which forces the mask seals to touch if they didn't naturally. Next check the outside seal the same way.

 

If the inner seal is not touching the face, especially next to the side of the eyes, it is likely the mask won't work well. But do check everywhere around the inside. The outer seal might keep water from dripping in but not as well as if both seals touch. Make sure the seals do not cut across any hairline or eyebrows. Also that the side seals are not right at the edge of the eye.

 

One other problem can occur when someone laughs, smiles or even squints. This motion creates lines or wrinkles next to the nose. Sometimes this makes a passage where water pours in. Almost every mask will leak when this happens. So don't laugh! Occasionally, depending on the person, these wrinkles may remain even after they stop laughing. In this case it may be necessary to straighten the face by pulling down or sideways on the cheeks. Again this is not necessarily a mask problem. So don't run out and buy a new mask.

 

If absolutely necessary, to keep everyone happy, you can now inhale slightly to check any unseen leaks. Sometimes a mask leaks around the glass. This is very unusual and is a one off problem, not the design of the mask. You can check this by holding the mask with the face plate parallel to the floor and putting water in the mask. If the face plate seal is faulty, drops of water will appear on the outside.

 

Don't be fooled by the size of a mask's frame and lenses. This has little if anything to do with how a masks fits. People will look for what seems like a narrow or wide mask, depending, but what counts is the size of the skirt where your face is actually touching the mask. An exaggerated example but if the lens of a mask is 1 foot wide but the skirt is only 4 inches, this would fit a rather narrow face but the mask looks huge.

 

With literally 10's of dozens of masks on the market, there is one that will fit. It may take awhile to find but it is out there.

 

[CinArt]

We bought ours at a dive shop. If you've never used a mask before it's a good idea to get a professional to help you with the fit. They also offer prescription glass.

[rarescrambler]

We've always just used that which was available on the boats. But this time we plan to snorkel from shore, maybe at each of our 4 ports, so we thought it would make sense to have our own rather than have to take time and spend $$ renting. Plus the fact my husband says it's always creeped him out, using the ones from the boat for obvious reasons.

 

So, we bought me a set that included fins, mask & dry snorkel from Sports Authority. It was $50. My husband got a snorkel & mask (already had fins) for $35. But we had a coupon for $25 off if you spent $100, so we bought socks to come up to $100. If we hadn't had the coupon I don't know that we would've bought the set w/the fins. They do seem kinda heavy to put in the suitcase (flying to FLL), but it seemed to make sense at the time.

 

Also, I'll share this since we're not quite beginners, but not much more than that - we're going to spend some time at a local pool practicing my kicks (me more than my husband). He says I work too hard. He's right - when I do it the way he tells me, it is much easier. I believe it's to use your whole leg rather than bending your knee. I know - I digress . . sorry.

[CinArt]

We just came back from a Carnival cruise and they offered a cheapie snorkle for $5. We used community before we bought our own and they always soak gear in a disinfectant solution on board the boat. Would I ever go back to using someone elses stuff? No, I don't think so.