Bringing Own Snorkel Stuff?

[poohs4me]

I would really like to bring my own mask and snorkel to use on CC, but am not sure I want to carry the fins and I don't own a vest.

Can you rent them separately and if so what do the individual components cost? If not, will they let you use your stuff or do they force you to rent theirs?

 

[TootyJane]

You can bring your own equipment and use it. After the big Norwalk scare we decided to buy our own snorkel equipment (mask, snorkel, fins & vests). They say they disinfect the equipment but as I watched it was more of a dip and rinse thing. On Castaway Cay you must wear a vest and they'll give one to you to use for free. As for fins I don't think you have to wear them but it makes swimming so much easier. I don't know the cost of renting the fins alone. Someone else I'm sure will post the cost. When we rented snorkel equipment on CC on our first cruise it was $25 per person. Too much money for lousy equipment. The masks leaked horribly and fins didn't fit well. HTH

 

[vikingfans]

We have brought our own equipment on our last cruise and they did not force us to wear a vest. This could have been due to the fact that we were in Serenity Bay, I'm not sure. But we had no problem with our own equipment.

 

[BriarfoxinWA]

We also took our own equipment. We rented the fins only - I think it was less than $20 for all four of us. The vests are available for free on the beach near the entrance to the snorkling area.

 

[NYDisneyMom]

Originally posted by poohs4me
I would really like to bring my own mask and snorkel to use on CC, but am not sure I want to carry the fins and I don't own a vest.

Can you rent them separately and if so what do the individual components cost? If not, will they let you use your stuff or do they force you to rent theirs?

we have our own snorkel gear, mine includes the fins. I rented just the fins for my boys and the vest in mandatory to use in the snorkeling area -- this is where you will see the sunken sub and Mickey.

I recommend kids get the fins...even with the fins, it was a looong way out to find Mickey, which wasn't so bad. it was coming back in against the water that was hard. my 7 yr old got very tired and scared. he was on my back most of the way back to the beach. The fins make it easier to swim.

 

[loveBond]

If you bring your own everything (fin, mask, snorkel), do they make you pay to snorkel?

 

[CACruiser]

No, they do not make you pay for snorkeling. Like someone mentioned earlier, you will need a vest for CC. They will loan you one for free.

I am bringing my own equipment since there will be many opportunities on my next 7 day western to snorkel!

LisaCA

 

[loveBond]

thanks so much for your quick reply!

I am sooo excited! I thought I had recently read that on a thread that there wasn't any cost and we will be bringing own snorkel for CC and maybe when we snorkel w/Capt Marvins crew.

Woohoo 9 days left-cannot wait!

 

[BoardwalkBabe]

We brought our own snorkel gear and used it on our excursions and at Castway Cay. If the location wanted us to use a floatation vest, then we were happy to do so and we weren't charged anything for it at CC or on our excursions.

Our fins are short, so it was easy to pack them.

 

[courtney]

We brought our own snorkel gear, but was a bit frustrated that we were not told that we had to have a vest ahead of time (which meant a bit of a walk back to the rental area).

Good to hear that serenity bay may not require vests. I'll remember that.

Depending on your snorkeling experience, you may or may not be impressed with the CC lagoon. I wasn't incredibly impressed... although there were a few cool fish, I personally don't think it was worth lugging around an extra large duffel bag for our snorkel gear.

 

[NejTheLion]

There wasn't much to look at as far as Serenity Bay goes. I did see the Barracuda, but it was mostly sandy bottom with little coral and very few fish. Is the family beach snorkeling any better? We might try that briefly next time.

 

[DepCor0311]

I would recommend bringing your own stuff...rentals can get $$$!!!

 

[prymsu]

We always take our own equipment, and the initial cost of buying it has been saved over and over again. We sometimes do not take our fins, and rent. It just all depends where we are going.

 

[gmech6145]

If you like fish, take some food into the water. I took some Cheese Whiz. The fish love it. They do get a little aggressive and I got bit on the finger 3 times, but it was more of a startle than pain. There was a lot of yellow tailed snappers. Take a camera , too.

 

[kaykels]

I was at Sam's Club yesterday and I saw snorkel geer that could be strapped over your back like a back pack! My first thought was WOULDN'T THAT BE GREAT FOR THE CRUISE????!!!!! We bought snorkel geer for our entire family at Walmart last year. It was cheap and worked great.

 

[NYDisneyMom]

Originally posted by gmech6145
If you like fish, take some food into the water. I took some Cheese Whiz. The fish love it. They do get a little aggressive and I got bit on the finger 3 times, but it was more of a startle than pain. There was a lot of yellow tailed snappers. Take a camera , too.

when we snorkeled on Coki we rented a beach chair and umbrella and they gave us four big Milk Bones to feed the fish!! the boys had a blast with that!!!

there are more fish and cool things to see near the sunken sub and the whole Mickey area. we saw lots of pretty star fish, sea urhcins and tropical fish. I heard the CM tell someone to not even bother snorkeling in Serenity, there wasn't anything there to see.

 

[two-foxes]

Originally posted by NYDisneyMom
I heard the CM tell someone to not even bother snorkeling in Serenity, there wasn't anything there to see.

DH loved snorkling in Serenity Bay more than the set up snorkle trail....it is much more shallow, so you can get alot closer to the things you are seeing...starfish, fish....DH loved the stingray he was following, after I saw it, I chose to stay on my float

 

[Aquagirl]

As someone that works in an aquarium, I don't recommend giving fish cheez wiz. Fish will eat anything, but their bodies are very sensitive to the slightest change.

 

[gmech6145]

Didnt even think of that, Aquagirl. I guess with all the other stuff you know is in the water, you dont think that diet change would affect them.

P.S.
Have a great trip.

 

[kennancat]

We snorkled at both Serenity Bay and at the snorkle trail. We got over to the trail late in the afternoon, so it was very hard to see anything. We got bored pretty quickly because the visibility was so poor and came back in. I found the flotation vest to be a bit uncomfortable, but since I didn't have fins, it did help on the way back in when I was getting really tired. Serenity Bay was definitely much clearer. We got to see a live starfish moving across the ocean floor. They move much faster than I'd realized! So while we enjoyed our SB snorkling more, I don't think I can compare them fairly without doing the snorkel trail in the morning before everyone's kicked up all the sand. Oh darn, guess we'll have to go on another cruise