Snorkle Gear

[ulittletinker]

Ulittletinker:

Love your name!! Hello from down in Salem!

thank you. and a Big Hello uphere in portland. I wish I was heading for a cruise in 1 month. Just came back,May 6, did book 12/07

 

[Tim_from_PGH]

DW and I have had our own gear for years. We bought the SAMs body glove set for DD8 and are happy with it. The big deal years ago was to get a mask that was made out of silicone but it seems like they all are today.

The other benefit of having gear for DD is that we had "Dad's snorkel camp" in the neighborhood pool yesterday. We got everything adjusted correctly and did some drills like fixing her mask in deep water and what to do if you get water in the snork.

 

[Stepht5]

I found three sets (Dad needs some too! I dive and already have mine) at Costco for $40 (adult) and $25 (kids). The mask / mouthpiece is smaller on the kids' sets so we shouldn't have the leakage problem. But we haven't been back to the pool to try them out yet.

Anyway, the sets are by US Divers (good quality gear), include an ocean going snorkel, mask, fins, and carry / storage bag for each set.

This is the set (sets) that we have. I bought them for dh & 15dd for our first cruise and they loved them so much that I bought them for our other 4 children (ok, so two of them are adults! LOL!) for our upcoming cruise.

 

[mattmommy]

DH and ds5 have had snorkel sets from Costco since last year. Bought mine 2 months ago. We love them all. Be careful opening the package as I cut my bag in my excitement of getting ready to pack them.

The kids one is Body Glove and the adults is U.S. Divers. Very well made.

 

[skibum]

We think it is worth having our own sets as well. $25 spent on CC, or to have something you can use other places. We have gotten our moneys worth out of buying them - 3 DCL trips and 2 Hawaii vacations. And this way we do know where those mouthpieces have been.
It is a real pain to travel with multiple sets, so we just dedicate one bag to water toys that we schlep out to CC. Masks, snorkels, fins, inflatables (beach balls, rafts) all go into that bag, and it gets hidden until we have a water day.
Plus the kids can play with them in the pool or lake - gets them more used to it, and it is fun!

 

[eeyoregon]

Great idea to let the kids practice in the pool before hand! Good idea to adjust fit of mask and fins before jumping into the ocean too

 

[taeja71]

thanks for sharing your info OP.

 

[skibum]

For the kids, let them start with just the mask in the pool - holding their breath. After they are comfortable with the mask, introduce the snorkel by having them stand or float in one spot before actually having them swim.
This worked for us.

 

[DISNEYFAMILYOFFOUR]

I found three sets (Dad needs some too! I dive and already have mine) at Costco for $40 (adult) and $25 (kids). The mask / mouthpiece is smaller on the kids' sets so we shouldn't have the leakage problem. But we haven't been back to the pool to try them out yet.

Anyway, the sets are by US Divers (good quality gear), include an ocean going snorkel, mask, fins, and carry / storage bag for each set.

These are the sets I purchased for the four of us in 2004. We used them at three ports and my kids use them in the pool all the time and as I type, they are all packed for our vacation this Saturday. They really held up well.

 

[MommaluvsDis]

You can store it in your suitcase until needed. Raise your bed and slide your sutcase under. It will be out of you way!

corve77t,

Where did you get the vests from?

 

[SuzieDizney]

When we were at Castaway Cay we used Disney's vests, they just hand them out. We keep all of our Snorkel Gear in a Duffle Bag, and store it right under the bed too!!

Hey "MommaluvsDIS" we will see you at Castaway Cay is less than 90 days!!!

 

[Colorado DISers]

Does anyone know how much it costs to just rent the fins at CC? We would like to buy the mask and snorkel for the DD's so they can get used to them before we go. It will be their first time snorkeling.

 

[Colorado DISers]

BUMP

 

[eeyoregon]

I thought I read on another thread that the rental cost at CC is the same weather it's for the entire set or just one component?? Having your own clean snorkle mouth pices is just priceless!

 

[Colorado DISers]

Just picked up a good quality set of mask, snorkel and fins at Kmart for $14.99 for the DD's and $24.99 for DW and myself. It ends up being cheaper than the CC price. Also, we have the piece of mind as to where the mouth piece has been

 

[nuzmom]

Ok, we just bought a couple sets at Walmart - the $9.88 kids sets - no great ones, but we paid more for these than our cheapy ones they've had in the past. Anyway, we're heading out to the pool to play with them now, but I saw on DCL's website that there is "instructions" when renting the snorkle gear there. What kind of instructions? Do we stop by and hear them or just get in the water? Is it clear where you can snorkle and where you can't?

Also - do you HAVE to have fins? My DS10 and DS5 have never used them and we're not big snorkler's (ok, that just sounds FUNNY) - anyway, if we don't HAVE to have them, we'll probably skip them for now. I think it will be an issue for them to use them while "swimming".

We're going on the 7 day Eastern and don't have any shore excursions planned - where else can you snorkle? Can you tell we're not "beach people"? If the obvious answer is "anywhere", please be kind to me I'm a bit scared of the thought of my DS's "floating out to sea" while snorkling.

Thanks for this post - I would not have thought about buying equipment and not renting without it!!!

 

[eaglegrp]

We always bring our own mask/snorkel - one time we brought our own fins but hated hauling them around the ship, so we rented the fins on our next cruise - worth the price to not hassle with them. This cruise we'll probably bring the whole set mainly because our 10 year old can carry her own gear now. Our last cruise disney provided complimentary vests for passengers with their own gear. If you have time, there are plenty of places to pick up snorkel gear near the cruise terminal - there's a wal-mart less than 15 minutes away and of course the infamous Ron Jon's has all that stuff too. I highly recommend trying out anything you buy BEFORE cruising and prepping your masks so that they don't fog in the salt water (toothpaste cream (not gel) works great).

 

[DisneyElf]

The ones they sell at Costco have the shorty fins - fit into the suitcases easily.

 

[eeyoregon]

bee-bumping along....