Snorkeling and flying with equipment

[FigmentSpark]

We have our own masks and snorkels (well, and fins, but we'll see if they make it on the plane... weight and all). What's the best way to pack the snorkels so they don't get broken in transit (flying)?

Should I put them in my carry on or is it better to pack them in the suitcase? I'm using packing cubes this trip, otherwise I'd just bury them between a bunch of soft things. On the other hand, if I put them in my carry on, I'm stuck taking them through TSA and I don't need questions about something like that holding us up from our flight.

Also, should I wrap the mouthpiece to keep it hygienic? They're brand new. Should I wash them? Yeah, I'm a newbie that water accessories that aren't for floating after being blown up.

Oh yeah, I know we can rent the fins on our excursions, but since they come with the set, if they aren't too much weight, would you take them or not?

 

[Cackyschmackers]

TSA isn't going to question your equipment, they'll be able to see what it is in the xray. If you're using a carry-on suitcase, I'd probably put them in there. Yes, pack them in between soft things and you should be fine. I wouldn't bring fins, they'll be more trouble than they're worth. Don't worry about keeping the mouthpiece hygenic, salt water's good for that. Have the best time!

 

[Msmit002]

To each his/her own. I'm actually somewhat particular about my fins so I pack mine along with my booties. I just place the mask in the middle between clothes otherwise wherever they fit, they ship...er, fly.

 

[FigmentSpark]

Thanks. Good point about the salt water.

My son is claiming fins are hard to use anyway and I'm not even sure he will use his. Do you think I even need to rent them?

 

[Cackyschmackers]

Well I'm not sure what excursions you're doing, but every one we went on provided equipment. So we'd use those fins. If you're doing snorkeling, you'll need them. On CC we will rent them for the snorkeling trail there. But for beaches, we just bring our own snorkels/masks just to see what we can see. You'd have to bring along your fins don't forget on the way to your excursions if you don't want to use theirs, which would be a pain in my opinion.

 

[FigmentSpark]

We're doing this one:
Catamaran Sail, Snorkel and Private Beach Club (ST56)

https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/...as-st-john-catamaran-sail-snorkel-beach-club/

We were also thinking of snorkeling on Castaway Cay.

 

[Msmit002]

USE FINS. Yours or theirs. I'd rather use rented fins than no fins at all. Believe me, you will exhaust yourself if you don't...

 

[Cackyschmackers]

We're doing this one:
Catamaran Sail, Snorkel and Private Beach Club (ST56)

https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/...as-st-john-catamaran-sail-snorkel-beach-club/

We were also thinking of snorkeling on Castaway Cay.

Yes, as I said above, if you're snorkeling, you'll need fins, even on CC. I don't see a reason to lug around fins, I'd use the ones provided on your excursion. But that's just my opinion. I've been told you can rent fins only on CC.

 

[FairestOfThemAll37]

I'd just pack the stuff inbetween clothes. Generally, if I'm not bringing a dedicated dive bag (a little different from snorkeling) I don't bring fins. Sure rental fins are generally not as good as my own but they really take up space and I don't find the difference to be worth it.

 

[FigmentSpark]

That's a good point about whether the rentals are as good as your own. We bought a snorkeling set. We're landlubbers for the most part, so the ones we have in our set probably aren't that good either. They're the U.S. Divers set from Costco. While I'm still committed to the mask and snorkel, the rental fins might just be good enough for novices like us.

Thanks.

 

[5Texans]

USE FINS. Yours or theirs. I'd rather use rented fins than no fins at all. Believe me, you will exhaust yourself if you don't...

This,

I went without fins on CC and my 5 y/o tuckered out half way through the snorkeling trail. I swam all the way with her on my back, It is far!!

 

[FigmentSpark]

I'll tell my son... but he's 14, so he already knows much more than his parents about things, you know.

 

[ludari]

I'm a scuba diver and have done numerous cruises with my gear since I enjoy scuba diving when I go on cruises. Anyway, I suggest you pack your snorkeling gear in your checked luggage in-between your clothes or cubes (if you decide to pack them in your carryon TSA will not give you any problems). You might want to consider using the curve of your suitcase for your snorkel but I would recommend that you leave your fins at home. Your snorkeling equipment is pretty tough and should hold up pretty well. I typically don't worry about cleaning my snorkel (I usually just rinse them out when I get new ones) but you should use toothpaste (standard toothpaste not whitening or stain removal toothpaste) to clean the inside of your masks lens which removes the thin layer of silicone and other residue from the factory, which helps prevent fogging. Do not use toothpaste on plastic lenses (polycarbonate) or specially coated lenses (color corrective lenses) because the toothpaste could easily scratch these type of lenses.

 

[bumbershoot]

On the other hand, if I put them in my carry on, I'm stuck taking them through TSA and I don't need questions about something like that holding us up from our flight.

If you're arriving two hours before your flight, a quick question from an agent won't stop you. And snorkels are pretty obvious. The agent would have to have skipped his coffee for the whole week to not know a snorkel.

Oh yeah, I know we can rent the fins on our excursions, but since they come with the set, if they aren't too much weight, would you take them or not?

Fins are heavy!


Have you guys tried these snorkels and masks out? You mention them being brand new and wanting to wash them. Are you sure these will work any better than the rental equipment?

 

[FigmentSpark]

I'm a scuba diver and have done numerous cruises with my gear since I enjoy scuba diving when I go on cruises. Anyway, I suggest you pack your snorkeling gear in your checked luggage in-between your clothes or cubes (if you decide to pack them in your carryon TSA will not give you any problems). You might want to consider using the curve of your suitcase for your snorkel but I would recommend that you leave your fins at home. Your snorkeling equipment is pretty tough and should hold up pretty well. I typically don't worry about cleaning my snorkel (I usually just rinse them out when I get new ones) but you should use toothpaste (standard toothpaste not whitening or stain removal toothpaste) to clean the inside of your masks lens which removes the thin layer of silicone and other residue from the factory, which helps prevent fogging. Do not use toothpaste on plastic lenses (polycarbonate) or specially coated lenses (color corrective lenses) because the toothpaste could easily scratch these type of lenses.

Thanks so much for the reassurance. I'll have to check what type of lenses they are. Like I said, it's Costco U.S. Divers package, so not an expensive set

Have you guys tried these snorkels and masks out? You mention them being brand new and wanting to wash them. Are you sure these will work any better than the rental equipment?

Yes, we've each put them on and checked that they seal, but haven't used them in a pool or anything. They may not work better than rental equipment and the rentals may be cleaned, but there's something about putting things in your mouth that have been in someone else's mouth that has an ick factor for me. Yeah, I know, cutlery, but that's not in my mouth for long periods of time and it's metal, not plastic and just emotionally feels like it's different.

 

[frostymom]

We pack ours in our carry on. We like to save a bit of money vs renting. Also we are planning on hitting beaches without taking excursions. Good luck!

 

[Anchors Away 2016]

I bet the ones you bought are better than most of the rentals. I'm sure that is true for the ones that can be rented on CC.

We put ours in our carry-on, along with a bunch of beach toys in their own bag. Get the 14 year-old to carry it. He needs something to do to help out, right? Or even a younger kid could carry that bag unless you think they will drop it. Security won't mind a bit.

I vote for using some kind of fins, yours or theirs. You will be glad you did. I was unable to rent fins separately on CC (some people said they could, but I must have had bad luck) so I gave the fins to my sons and I did without. Keeping up with them without fins was a challenge, and I am a strong swimmer. Fins just made their strokes so much more powerful and easy.

 

[FigmentSpark]

I bet the ones you bought are better than most of the rentals. I'm sure that is true for the ones that can be rented on CC.

We put ours in our carry-on, along with a bunch of beach toys in their own bag. Get the 14 year-old to carry it. He needs something to do to help out, right? Or even a younger kid could carry that bag unless you think they will drop it. Security won't mind a bit.

I vote for using some kind of fins, yours or theirs. You will be glad you did. I was unable to rent fins separately on CC (some people said they could, but I must have had bad luck) so I gave the fins to my sons and I did without. Keeping up with them without fins was a challenge, and I am a strong swimmer. Fins just made their strokes so much more powerful and easy.

Do you mean you would have had to rent the whole set to get the fins? I kind of expected that. Or did you mean they weren't available at all?

I know you were at a disadvantage, but how long (roughly) did it take you to do the snorkeling on Castaway Cay?

 

[Anchors Away 2016]

Do you mean you would have had to rent the whole set to get the fins? I kind of expected that. Or did you mean they weren't available at all?

I know you were at a disadvantage, but how long (roughly) did it take you to do the snorkeling on Castaway Cay?

I was told by the CM at the rental shack, that I had to rent the whole set (snorkel mask and fins) for about $35. I was told I could not rent just the fins. I know some people on here have been able to rent just the fins from CC, so maybe you will have better luck than I did.

I rented two sets so that both my sons (14 and 15 at the time) could have fins. They had their own mask/snorkel. I used the mask and snorkel from one of the rentals and did without fins.

We spent about an hour doing the whole semi-circle course on the family beach at Castaway Cay. We took some detours to look at fish, and visited all of the underwater attractions marked by yellow and orange buoys. (We found a sort of zig zag pattern between buoys worked well.) It wasn't too tough. The vest they give you allows you to float and rest whenever you want. Then you can deflate the vest to dive under to see things, and blow into a tube to re-inflate it when you come up.

The hardest part for me not having flippers was when one boy went in one direction, and the other went in the opposite direction. Mine are old enough, and good swimmers, but I wanted us to stay together for family enjoyment reasons, so I had to do a lot of chase downs. Also, I have terrible eyesight, so in the water without glasses, I am nearly blind. LOL Add to that the flat water (no waves) so you can't see on the surface very far anyway. Fortunately, we bought bright orange and bright yellow swim tops for them to were on snorkel day (yeah planning!) so at least I usually knew which two blurs were mine and which was which.

One thing I didn't think about enough was the tides. There are practically no waves, so I wasn't really thinking about hte tides, but in retrospect, we did it at close to high tide, so things were a lot deeper for us than they would have been at other times.

 

[FigmentSpark]

Thanks. After weighing our suitcase, it's now a moot point. The fins stay home. I just hope my favourite shoes aren't next on the cut list.