Snorkel sets from Sam's club

[Hanover]

Hanover,
May I ask what size is your older child using the snorkle set? My son is 8,4'8" and 95 lbs. He wears the same shoe size as me, woman's 6 or child 5. So I'm debating about buying him the adult small or child large. Any advice?

Thanks

Sue

I'll have to find our sets to be sure of the size (I don't know if DH put them in the shed, basement or garage) but I know they had age/size ranges written on the snorkel package and they fit perfect. DS9 is 55 inches and 66 pounds and has size 6.5 feet. DS6 is on the smaller size at 44 inches and 39 pounds with a size 12/13 foot. The boys and DH do not like to use their flippers that much though we always take them with us. Their masks have never leaked and they have the valve in the snorkel to keep water from coming in the top.

 

[VCruiser66]

My family purchased our Snorkel equipment from CRAZYSCUBA.Com. They have snorkel packages (w/fins or without) for all price ranges. The service was exceptional and the packages were received quickly via UPS. We purchased Dry Snorkel packages as we have had problems with chocking in the past. We plan on snorkeling at each stop during our seven day Western and did not want to deal with the lines renting at each stop.

 

[Hanover]

I found our sets (in the basement). My ds9's set is yellow and says its a L/XL for sizes 1-4. My ds6's set is blue and says it's a S/M for sizes 9.5 to 13.
There was still some sand from cc in them! My ds9's foot is now a 6.5, but the flippers appear to still be big enough to fit him. My foot is about his size and can squeeze in them (they are adjustable).

 

[spoon2003]

I found our sets (in the basement). My ds9's set is yellow and says its a L/XL for sizes 1-4. My ds6's set is blue and says it's a S/M for sizes 9.5 to 13.
There was still some sand from cc in them! My ds9's foot is now a 6.5, but the flippers appear to still be big enough to fit him. My foot is about his size and can squeeze in them (they are adjustable).

Hanover,
Thanks for checking Think the kid's L/XL will probably fit DS better.

Sue

 

[Hanover]

You are welcome.

I've been meaning to find them and put them in a pile with our cruise stuff for our next cruise in July. DS6 has a foam like life vest also from either Sam's or Costco and we generally pack the snorkel sets inside the life vest and belt it shut in a small suitcase with a few small shovels and pails.

 

[disneycrazzzy]

We've snorkeled a lot on the Big Island and Castaway Cay. We bought our equipment and bring it with us. Here are the things we consider:

We must have a completely dry snorkel (dry top isn't good enough). This allows us to dive down without getting a mouthful of air. I believe you can learn a technique to prevent this, but we've never needed to with the dry snorkels. As soon as the top of the snorkel is submerged because you dove down, a wave came over you, or you tilted your head back; a stopper prevents water from entering the snorkel. We've bought several different kinds and they've been awesome. I ordered some new ones from 101snorkel recently that look good for less than $15.
For a mask we just like the ones that have a q-strap that adjust in the back. These are hard to find. We've had pretty good luck with most masks we've tried.
For fins, we bought the type that allow you to wear a dive boot. They have adjustable straps behind the heel that hold the fin on. This allows us to walk along the sharp lava wearing the dive boots until we get into the water where we can get our fins on. The fins are worn over the dive boots. I don't know how many times we've watched people stub their toes and trip over sharp rocks as they've tried to get into the water on Big Island beaches (Kahalu'u especially). If I was going to do all sandy, beach entries; I would get full-footed fins that slip on and don't have straps. We bring our old standby pull-on fins when we go on a Disney cruise for Castaway Cay.
We use de-fogger all the time. We don't head to the beach without it. I think the kind we've tried recently is the Seadog Gold??? It was fine.

A couple other recommendations:

Try your new equipment in your local pool before you cruise. This allows you to adjust the equipment before you get to the beach. There is too much going on the first time you snorkel in the ocean to have to worry about your equipment.
Never touch any of the coral. We see so many people standing on the "rocks" when they snorkel while they adjust their equipment. These rocks are living coral communities that support a myriad of sea life. If your equipment needs adjustment, please find a sandy spot to stand. The coral heads at Kahalu'u and Haunama Bay are totally bare on top from people standing on them. So sad. The lifeguards at Castaway Cay are always asking the snorkelers to not stand on the sunken objects that are doing their best to support new coral communities. It will never happen if they are being stepped on all the time.
Wear a rashguard or t-shirt if you snorkel for any amount of time. It takes a short time to get burned when you are snorkeling. Time gets away from you while you chase fish and search for treasure and you can fry out there. Sunscreen on exposed skin is also a must. We've found gel type sunscreens to work best (BullFrog QuikGel specifically).
For all of the reasons above, we would never rent a mask or snorkel while traveling. We schlep one large suitcase with four sets of snorkel gear whenever we travel to Hawaii or a Disney cruise.
We figure at $25 to rent gear for a day at Castaway Cay or a week in Hawaii, our gear has quickly paid for itself.
Don't try to walk on the beach while you are wearing your fins. We wait until we get waist deep and slip them on. If you must walk with your fins, it is easiest to walk backwards.

Sorry for being so preachy....hopefully you can find some snippets of info that will help you in your search for snorkel gear.

 

[spoon2003]

Disneycrazzzy,
Thank you for the detail explanation! It is very helpful!

Sue

 

[cseca]

Has anyone tried this set (U.S. Divers Cozumel Mask, Seabreeze Dry Snorkel, and Proflex II Fin Snorkeling Set) from amazon?
http://www.amazon.com/U-S-Divers-Co...e=UTF8&s=sporting-goods&qid=1173744784&sr=1-4

I don't know anything about snorkeling and we'll be trying it for the first time this sept. And I'm a germaphobe so I would really like to get my own set but since I won't be snorkeling often I don' want to spend too much $.

 

[eph94]

Do any cruise regulars NOT buy snorkel/mask sets? As I understand it, isn't the equipment provided on the excursions? We're doing an hour with the stingrays on CC and doing a stingray excursion with Native Way on Grand Cayman.

For us, it's not so much the money but more a matter of convenience. We don't want to have to lug snorkel and masks to and from the beach. We like the idea of showing up, using the equipment, and then leaving it there. We've always done it this way on our Club Med vacations, but this is our first Disney cruise.

It's just that we're the kind of people that hate clutter and don't save anything. However, if having our own equipment will increase our enjoyment, then we'll do it.

Do you all carry a backpack everywhere with the equipment in it? Is that a hassle?

Thanks for the advice!

 

[birkner]

Do any cruise regulars NOT buy snorkel/mask sets? As I understand it, isn't the equipment provided on the excursions? We're doing an hour with the stingrays on CC and doing a stingray excursion with Native Way on Grand Cayman.

For us, it's not so much the money but more a matter of convenience. We don't want to have to lug snorkel and masks to and from the beach. We like the idea of showing up, using the equipment, and then leaving it there. We've always done it this way on our Club Med vacations, but this is our first Disney cruise.

It's just that we're the kind of people that hate clutter and don't save anything. However, if having our own equipment will increase our enjoyment, then we'll do it.

Do you all carry a backpack everywhere with the equipment in it? Is that a hassle?

Thanks for the advice!

We ship them with some other stuff to the ship. We use our own for two reasons. DH and I both were prescription masks and don't want to put our mouths on a snorkle someone else has used no matter how much they say they have cleaned them. Not a hassle for us.

 

[Anal Annie]

Do any cruise regulars NOT buy snorkel/mask sets? As I understand it, isn't the equipment provided on the excursions? We're doing an hour with the stingrays on CC and doing a stingray excursion with Native Way on Grand Cayman.

For us, it's not so much the money but more a matter of convenience. We don't want to have to lug snorkel and masks to and from the beach. We like the idea of showing up, using the equipment, and then leaving it there. We've always done it this way on our Club Med vacations, but this is our first Disney cruise.

It's just that we're the kind of people that hate clutter and don't save anything. However, if having our own equipment will increase our enjoyment, then we'll do it.

Do you all carry a backpack everywhere with the equipment in it? Is that a hassle?

Thanks for the advice!

Of course not everybody buys their own...but we're like Birknir - it's much more sanitary and if you happen to wear glasses not contacts it's worth the investment to have an RX mask! Plus we use our stuff either every yr. or at least every other yr - we intend to snorkel on every vacation we can! I always pack 1 suitcase apiece for us so I USUALLY just put my equip. in mine, DH's in his & DS in his. NOT a big packing ordeal, really. The flippers are not that heavy & are bascially flat & the mask is NOT that big, nor is the snorkel. We have a large mesh / net bag that we got at the dive shop that holds everything for all 3 of us when we go out on excursions - it lets the sand fall out if you've left it on a beach & it provides air so that the stuff dries out. Very practical...

 

[eph94]

Hmm, I guess it's time to look for some snorkel sets. Even those Costco sets look exponentially better than the generic rentals I have worn in the past. And it will be nice not getting a mouthful of water whenever a big wave splashes by!!