P1Fanatic

Off to the maldives in Feb and want to get some decent kit for snorkelling esp a snorkel that stops the water coming in when submerged.

Will probably do at least 1 dive whilst there (only ever done 1 before last year on hols) so could be used for that as well.

Plan to go to the local diveshop here in Reading at some point this week but have seen quite a few dive related threads on here so thought Id seek out some recommendations.

Already have flippers so looking to spend about £50 on mask & snorkel although willing to spend a little more if that gets me a lot better quality.

Is something like this ok:

Cheers
Simon

Speech

Best bet is to go to your local Dive shop and see what they have and try on loads to see what fits best - you'd be amazed and how different all the masks are. The guys there should be able to point you in the right direction as to what to look out for and what would fit your your face as well as your budget!

I've got a Tusa Splendive IV and found it to be a great mask, used it for our OW training up here in Aberdeenshire as well as abroad in Oz and Miami and it's never let me down yet.

Henrik

iTrader: (5)

I've got a "Technisub Look" mask, in black (secret agent style) which I'm quite happy with. I also had a look at the Oceanic Ion as well as a bunch of Tusa's etc but in the end the technisub fitted the best and it was only about 30 quid from memory where-as the other ones were more expensive.

As above, though, go into a dive shop and try the masks on, it's the only way to get a good seal as everyones face is different.

P1Fanatic

Cheers for the input chaps. As per openining post I plan to go to dive shop sometime this week. Just like to go armed with some info what to look for, brands to avoid, how much I need to spend so I dont get scammed into buying something I dont really need or likewise if I spend a little bit more Id get something decent rather than wish I had later on

Thanks
Simon

Iwan

As the above posters have mentioned, you need to get one that fits your face - so you can't buy one mail order and hope for the best.

I've used many masks in the past, Oceanic are good, as are Scubapro, Cressi-Sub etc. But the main thing is they have to fit. I have a lovely set of Cressi-Sub "Big Eyes" which have superb visibility, but tend to leak on either side under my nose. My Oceanic frameless maskfits me better but the visibility isn't quite as good as the Cressi (though it's still good). It's better to have a mask that doesn't leak, much less distracting.

Geezer

I must be lucky and have good snorkelling shaped face, as I have had some cheap tat over the years and none of them have ever leaked!

However, misting is a problem, do the more expensive masks really make much difference to that problem?

Geezer

P1Fanatic

Are you telling us you have a chubby face that fills in all the little gaps and provides a nice vacuum

Simon

SwissTony

iTrader: (19)

Bet the ladies are impressed with how long you can stay down

Geezer

Have we met?

Geezer

Henrik

iTrader: (5)

Rub the inside of the glass with some toothpaste and a little bit of water to get any crap off (i.e. crap left from manufacturing). Then when you go snorkeling/diving, spit on the inside of the glass and wipe it around and then rinse the mask *once*.

Edit: Also, just because a mask is cheap, it doesn't mean that it's crap One dive-master I know still uses a cheap 15 quid mask she bought donkeys years ago, because it fits nicely and doesn't leak.