Snorkle equipment

[tross]

I have read several posts where people said the equipment they rented at Castaway leaked. Any positive reports on the rental equipment? Not much hope to purchase equipment in the mountains of East TN! Has anyone purchased on the internet or from somewhere in Fl once you arrived?

 

[LAMPSKIES]

Many "first timers" will ALWAYS have leaks due to them not being familiar with the equipment. As I was. Some of the straps were backwards etc. from rookies messing with them.......it seemed those I saw with "leaks" were the same people putting their "flippers" on on the beach and walking in foreward not backward!! JMHO>>........

 

[professorandmom]

All three of my children used the rental equipment for hours without trouble...and we sure haven't had practice - we live in Indiana
Barbara

 

[GenieDana]

We bring our own masks. The snorkle vests provided have leaked. If I had to guess - 1 in 5 we've tried (some worse than others). No worry's - just blow.

 

[nato]

We just returned 1/22/04 from the Wonder. We rented snorkle equipment and had no problems at all.

 

[MarkRG]

You had no problem with the mask fogging up every 5 minutes, or, getting a good mouthful of water thru the big drinking straw?

We bought our own masks and found out there are things to do that can prevent it from fogging, nevemind the pro ones are so much clearer, and snorkels that don't leak from a local dive shop before our last cruise, our 4th, I think. Was too annoyed at the rental gear to use it again. One thing to know, you can rent fins only from just about anywhere. Get good gear if you intend to cruise more than once, you will not regret it for a moment.

As for buying it when you arrive, Ron Jon's is right down the street from the port and they DO have a dive shop.

 

[MarkLem]

Brought our own masks & snorkels, but wife used one provided by Capt Marvins 7 it worked fine. It migh save you $$ to buy your own if you are going to do alot of snorkeling.

You don't really need fins for snorkeling (I guess it depends on your swimming ability). The mask & snorkel are the most important

 

[HooKooDooKu]

Keep this in mind, the shape of everyone's face/head is different. A mask might easily slip on one person's face and never spring a leak all day long. But that same mask will hopelessly leak no matter how tight you wear it for someone else. This is the biggest benifit to going to a dive shop and get professional advise on buying your own mask.

 

[stancan]

You can use them at all the ports of call

 

[mrsfuzzmo]

I totally agree....after years of using the ships gear and having iffy luck with poorly fitting masks, etc. We bought our own and LOVE it. Was so well worth the $60.00 a piece that we spent 3 cruises ago! We just rent the fins and vest anywhere we are. Don't want the hassle of packing fins and lugging them along. I believe they rent fins and vest at CC for $9.00/day.
A good fitting mask will have no leaks and can make for very enjoyable snorkeling!

maureen

 

[justmestace]

Originally posted by MarkLem

You don't really need fins for snorkeling (I guess it depends on your swimming ability). The mask & snorkel are the most important [/B]

You DO if you take a boat trip out into the ocean! Or just about anywhere else except Castaway Cay! No matter how strong a swimmer you are.

And no one should put their fins on while they're still on the beach and walk in to the water, frontwards, backwards or sideways. This is an accident waiting to happen, and a flipper full of sand. Carry them out in to the water and then put them on.

I would recommend taking your own mask and snorkel...even the WalMarts are starting to put out their summer stuff, and for a one time only cruise, the ones you buy there will work just fine.

 

[hydster]

renting equipment from places so we finally bought our own from a dive shop and then got scuba certified. Owning your own is SO much better! You can make sure they fit right, dont leak and NO ONE else's mouth or spit has been on it! I would imagine you could find a mask and snorkel at ANY sporting goods store in your area or at a Costco, Walmart, Target. They all carry them year round. Maybe not a huge selection but even in land locked freezing cold snowy Utah we have them at all of those stores. We bought our kids Mask, Snorkel and Fins at Galyans here in Utah but all of our Walmarts and such carry them. We just bought a replacement snorkel for DS's set last weekend in the snow.
If you do buy your own to make sure your mask fits right:

Put the mask on your face WITHOUT the strap on the back of your head. Then breathe in through your nose and hold your breath. If the mask stays on your face and you cant hear air it is a good fit! If it starts to fall while holding your breath or you can hear air it will leak on you in the water!! We've bought 2 masks now for scuba (gone up a level) and that is the #1 way to tell if it fits!

Also if you wear ANY mask while snorkeling and it fogs up take it off, spit into it with spit from your mouth, rub it into the mask lens all around the corners and such and then rinse. It isnt an awesome defogger but it will help in a pinch!

Also if you buy your own snorkel it is better in our opinion to buy ones that have a purge valve in them! Meaning that if water goes down in the snorkel it wont go in your mouth it will go into a filter and back into the ocean.

We would never ever ever rent a mask and snorkel again but then we are big divers. If you dont think you will ever snorkel or use them again then it probably isnt that wise but if you plan to snorkel twice on your cruise or go on another cruise it would be worth it to look into it. You can usually get a mask and snorkel with fins sometimes for 40 dollars or less....

JMO
Heidi

 

[tross]

Thanks everyone for your responses. We don't have any sports stores in our town but everybody has Walmart these days. I will try there and Target and see what I can find. Hopefully this won't be our first and last cruise so maybe it will pay to look into getting our own. There are 5 of us so maybe we will buy and rent.