Joe Diver's gear any good?

[GrantH2O]

I am looking to get some beginner snorkel gear for our 7-Day Southern Caribbean cruise this month. We are in port everyday (St Thomas, Dominica, Barbados, St Lucia, Antigua, St Kitts) and plan to snorkel quite a bit. Instead of renting at each place, I thought we could buy our gear for this trip (paying for itself). We make it down to the Caribbean once a year and this is the only snorkeling we do, so we don't need advanced gear, just something solid. I would like to go to a dive shop and get fitted, but the choices are limited and our cruise is quickly approaching.

 

Would like a silicone, low volume mask. Snorkel doesn't have to be fancy as we are not advanced snorkels, a simple j-snorkel or maybe something semi-dry with a purge valve.

 

I have searched the internet, and found Joe Diver's ... I have put together a few packages for my wife and myself with the basic "Joe Diver's Most Popular Low Volume Mask". (It says this mask fits 95% of faces).

 

Will this gear be a safe bet or should we invest more in some "name brand" stuff?

 

Also, for luggage space savings and having to haul around the gear all day (combined with touring the islands), we may opt not to buy/bring fins?

 

Ok, long enough post ... please advise!

 

Thanks.

[BuzzF117]

I am looking to get some beginner snorkel gear for our 7-Day Southern Caribbean cruise this month. We are in port everyday (St Thomas, Dominica, Barbados, St Lucia, Antigua, St Kitts) and plan to snorkel quite a bit. Instead of renting at each place, I thought we could buy our gear for this trip (paying for itself). We make it down to the Caribbean once a year and this is the only snorkeling we do, so we don't need advanced gear, just something solid. I would like to go to a dive shop and get fitted, but the choices are limited and our cruise is quickly approaching.

 

Would like a silicone, low volume mask. Snorkel doesn't have to be fancy as we are not advanced snorkels, a simple j-snorkel or maybe something semi-dry with a purge valve.

 

I have searched the internet, and found Joe Diver's ... I have put together a few packages for my wife and myself with the basic "Joe Diver's Most Popular Low Volume Mask". (It says this mask fits 95% of faces).

 

Will this gear be a safe bet or should we invest more in some "name brand" stuff?

 

Also, for luggage space savings and having to haul around the gear all day (combined with touring the islands), we may opt not to buy/bring fins?

 

Ok, long enough post ... please advise!

 

Thanks.

 

Ok, my two cents. What happens if your face falls within the 5%? I would highly recomend you don't skimp on a mask. If you have a local dive shop I would suggest you go there and find a mask that is properly fit for you and in many cases they may have a pool where you can try it out. As for a snorkle if your a novice I would recomend a dry snorkle not just a semidry with a purge because you WILL get water in your snorkle if there are waves and if you want to dive down to take a closer look. Fins, again I would suggest going to you LDS (local dive store) you don't want to get 50yds from the boat and have your foot cramp up on you. At the least check out www.scubatoys.com you can even give them a call and they will for sure steer you in the right direction.

[GrantH2O]

Thanks for the reply. I think I am going to try to make it down to the LDS. I have read that a cheap "dry snorkel" may malfunction. I am comfortable clearing a standard simple J-snorkel and my wife won't be free diving down beneath the surface, so I may pass on the completely dry snorkel. My wife doesn't swim well and I will be purchasing a snorkeling vest for her. Our first snorkeling experience was off the coast of Cancun and she snorkeled with a full size life vest and she did OK. I feel that the mask fit will make or break the snorkel experience for her, so I just need to head to the Southern Ohio Diving Academy or the Aquatic Realm Scuba Center (TUSA, Oceanic, SeaQuest/AquaLung) in Dayton. Although, they say their "Student Mask, Snorkel & Fins packages, starting at $124.95"and I would like to keep it under $60.

 

I just hope we can keep our budget under control. I may opt for just getting the masks there and finding cheaper options for the snorkel and fins. (After thinking about it, fins will help her out since she isn't a strong swimmer and all of our snorkeling will be from the beach, so we may need to cover a good distance to get to a reef).

 

Thanks.

[BIG_Steve]

Grant,

I'm looking at snorkeling gear myself. If you have time, I'd like to hear what you ultimetly buy.

[TheVegasMan]

A properly fitting mask will stay on your face without the strap when you breathe in through your nose.

[GrantH2O]

That's how we know we have a good seal on our gas masks as well. ;)

 

USAF

[BIG_Steve]

Didn't want to start another thread since this is really on-topic. I'm about ready to order some snorkeling gear. Thought I would give the divers and experienced snorkelers a chance to tell me I'm nuts and the gear is garbage, or hopefully that it's good stuff. Thought the OP might be interested too. This is a whole foot fin. I've used them (long ago) in the past, and liked them. The ones with straps always rub the back of tendon raw. I intend to use that mask with my contact lenses, if that matters.....

 

http://www.leisurepro.com/Prod/CategoryID_948/Context_948/Sort_Stock/DescSort_0/Filter_0%3d1904/CSBPSP.html?Hit=1

 

Like everyone else, I don't want to spend a lot, but I want stuff that won't breakdown, or to be terribly uncomfortable.

 

BTW, I know buying a mask mail order can be tricky. But I've done business with the store, and I know they will exchange anything until the right fit is made.

[GrantH2O]

Well, we decided to go down to the local dive shop (LDS) and try some masks on. They had one entry level AquaLung mask and snorkel (ST TROPEZ MASK & SNORKEL SET $38.95) and a whole wall of advanced to expert dive/higher quality (thicker glass, purge valves, tinted, Rx, etc.) masks starting at around $68.95 for just the mask. We tried on the entry level mask and both got a good fit (tried a few of the same model on in various colors because some seemed to fit better than others). We also tried on some of the more expensive masks and they didn't fit any better and we wanted to keep our budget down, so we went with the entry level stuff. They also had some short, travel snorkeling fins that we thought were a good compromise as well. This is the exact package we got:

 

http://www.scuba.com/scuba-gear-21/029402/Aqua-Lung-Sport-St.-Tropez-Mask-Fins-and-Snorkel-Set.html

 

This pricing works out to be the same as our LDS. The mask has a full silicone skirt and tempered glass, so it should last us for quite some time and serve us well on our once a year trip to the caribbean/hawaii.

 

The shop had both flex snorkels and rigid more tradition snorkels in this kit. We opted for the rigid snorkel. The snorkel has a purge valve and is a wave/splash guard that should keep the water out unless we dive down under.

 

I went with some upgraded Deep See Aqua Glide split fins that retailed for around $39.95.

 

http://www.leisurepro.com/prod/DPSFG.html?ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=DPSFGYLLR

 

These were only $5 more than the short fins, had a really comfortable neoprene-wrapped heal and should provide me with the extra propulsion I need for free diving down deep (I got them in a bight neon yellow). They are listed for $10 less at Leisurepro.com, but once you add in shipping they are the same price as the store. I was also glad that we handled the gear and tried on the stuff.

 

Overall, I am happy with our purchase. I think I spent probably about $20 more than I would have if I bought similar items from Joe Diver's, so I feel good about it. Total bill for two (mask, snorkel, fins, carry case) $172. Not bad.

 

Also, the guy at the dive shop gave us the hint (as others have stated) of cleaning the silicone off the inside of the mask with a non-abbrasive toothpaste.

 

I will let you know how the gear performed when we get back from our cruise.