Snorkel gear for very petite wife

[Land-and-Sea]

Calling all snorkeling experts (or at least those with experience)!

My very petite wife and I will be heading out on the Magic in a couple of weeks and we'd like to do some snorkeling in Cozumel, Grand Cayman and of course, Castaway Cay. Last time we snorkeled was on CC a couple of years ago when we had kind of a hard time finding fins and a mask that fit my wife ( she's 4' 9" and she wears a size 5 (US) shoe). So, I'm wondering what we can do to ensure we're ready to go this time around.

I know that all of the excursion operators provide gear but do they stock many sizes? Should we consider buying and bringing our own? Any petite snorkelers out there have any helpful suggestions on finding proper sizes.

Thanks for any and all help.

 

[Honu]

Did you try the children's gear bin? The large size there should fit her.

If you are interesting in buying, I've had good luck with this Deep See Mask. for children and women.

 

[TiggerKing]

Because of the unique size of your wife (I am unique in the other direction), I would suggest going to a local dive shop and buy her a good mask and fins. These are the two elements of snorkeling and SCUBA diving that can ruin a trip the quickest. I would not buy online, because she will need to be properly fitted, and that can only be done in person. You can plan on spending $60 to $100 for a good snorkeling set, but don't sacrifice price for comfort!

 

[TootyJane]

I would definitely consider buying your own equipment. As TiggerKing stated nothing is worse than having ill-fitting equipment. A dive shop or a sports store (i.e., Sports Chalet) that carries diving equipment will be able to help you. FYI, I am an average-sized woman and wear a size 7 shoe. However, I easily fit into child-sized fins and saved a lot of $$$ by buying the child-sized fin instead of the adult fin. Your wife should be able to find a mask, snorkel and fins in a child's size if adult sizes don't work for her. HTH