Certification Snorkeling Set

[Rochester_Smitty]

I am going to start the process of getting my OW certification and wanted opinions on which snorkeling set would be a good set to start with and continue with until I have a little more experience.

Any suggestions are appreciated

 

[tplyons]

There are two sides to this:

You could spend the least that you can, because you may not be extremely active after certification. The drawback here is that you'll probably end up replacing most of your gear over time and not using your original set.

Or, you could spend more, and get the best stuff you can, and not have to replace it after certification. The drawback here is you don't know what the best gear for you and could spend more money on gear you might replace.

I did the first option. My fins were the first thing I replaced and I haven't looked back. Then, I replaced my mask. My original mask is now fitted with prescription lenses. My boots were replaced for something more comfortable, and my snorkel is the only thing I still have in my gear bag. For as often as I use it, it doesn't make sense for me to replace it with something "nicer".

 

[diversteve]

which snorkeling set

None of them. Snorkel fins are too short to properly dive with. And you'll want open heel fins and not full foot fins also. Unless you only plan to dive barefoot (or with socks) in warm water.

Also a $25 mask is basically as good as a $100 mask in most respects. The most important thing is fit. In cold water it can be quite a shock to the face when it unexpectedly leaks if it doesn't. The last thing you want to be dealing with is continual mask clearing while doing other certification drills. Or later while diving.

In the store hold the mask to your face and inhale. If it stays on it's potentially a keeper. You might want to try it with a snorkel in your mouth also to simulate a reg mouthpiece. Of course that's now your snorkel.

If you're certifying locally, you'll also want 7MM boots. Go to your local dive shop and try both on. They'll probably have some good options if you give them some details on where you plan to dive.

My personal opinion on a snorkel is that any of the $20 ones work. Mine has been everywhere I've gone - in my dive bag. I only buy a new one when the old one rots because very occasionally I'm somewhere with good surface snorkeling also where diving would be impractical. Otherwise I'm with tpylons, I almost never use one. You will need one for class though.

 

[danvolker]

I am going to start the process of getting my OW certification and wanted opinions on which snorkeling set would be a good set to start with and continue with until I have a little more experience.

Any suggestions are appreciated

Get freediving fins, a freediving mask and snorkel.....read some articles on how to freedive ( ask if you need help with this, I will give you several)...get to be a decent freediver, and you will be come a far better diver than would be possible for your "evil twin" that ignored this, and went straight to scuba. You will also in all likelihood become a better diver than anyone else in your class, because most classes do not teach the basic skills a freediver gains--and these skills create stronger scuba divers.
From freediving, you will automatically know what neutral bouyancy is and why it is essential for freediving or scuba ( your evil twin would be unlikely to know this with a PADI cert and and from 90% of the instructors out there).......FRom freediving, you will know what flat horizontal trim is for swimming, and you will deeply understand how critical this is for scuba ( 90 % of scuba instructors don't know this, let alone be able to teach it....GUE is the only agency that mandates this)......For freediving, you will have grown far more comfortable in the water, because you know that you really don't need the tank or the air in it, for depths even to 60 or 80 feet ( depending on how much freediving you do...even a week should make 40 to 50 foot depths feel as safe/easy as a swimming pool).
From freediving, you will learn how to kick efficient freediving fins...and move better through the water than most dive instructors will ( because few of them actually ever learned how to kick properly--as they would have if they were freedivers)....When I talk this way about instructors, this relates to the bad 50%, the mediocre 40%,.........not so much to the good 5% ..........and not at all to the top 5% ......

---------- Post added August 27th, 2013 at 04:01 PM ----------

• MAKO Competition Freediver Fins Great fins --great price--will annihilate virtually any scuba fin sold at your local dive shop for ease of kicking, efficiency and good bottom time while on scuba....Harder to walk with than jet fins, and who cares? You by fins to swim with!!
• MAKO Freediver ULV Mask good mask good price
• MAKO Basic Freedive Snorkel great snorket at fair price...note that when you see a snorkel for $40 or more you are being RIPPED OFF, and this will be an inferior snorkel for anyone that actually knows how to freedive or snorkel well!
• MAKO Freedive Weight Belt weight belt...good deal, more comfortable than what is typically sold to scuba students, and the lead weight for it is inexpensive and easily borrowed on almost any dive boat ( in Florida or Caribbean).
• MAKO 4 Pound Weight the type of lead weight you get...

All of this will be great for you when you become a scuba diver, and this gear will give you a competitive advantage over your evil twin in standard scuba gear.....

When you get to the point of getting the BC and reg, look at BP/Wing first, as this will feel more natural to you with the real water skills you would already have from freediving.

I do not sell fins or any dive gear, and have never received any product or remuneration from Mako...it is a good deal for a new diver, and I choose to pass it along

 

[swimmer_spe]

I have been diving since 09. I still have my original mask snorkel and fins. When I went dry, I had to get fins with a larger foot.

I will be replacing my mask due to fit within the next few weeks.

Set a budget, then try things on.

 

[Scuba.com]

You don't need to spend a lot of money, but you should go for fit...and quality. A bad fit on a mask means leaking, which leads to a miserable dive. To give you an idea of nice dive sets, check these out: Scuba Gear personal scuba gear

 

[Max Speed]

Freediving fins? At least you will be efficient at silting out the area. Should be fun gearing up on a boat too...

You will know you have a good mask fit when you draw in a breath, the mask sucks to your face, you gag and your eyes bulge leading to the clerk screaming for the O2 bottle.
Sent from my GT-P3113 using Tapatalk 2

 

[tracydr]

I prefer jet fins or Hollis 2. For mask, any low volume mask that fits. Check out the HOG mask for a great deal. For snorkel, whatever is cheapest. Check the sale bucket at the dive shop.

 

[kelemvor]

I'll just echo what has already been said. Fit is king. I'm using a $20 snorkel pro mask because so far it fits better than any other mask I've tried including much more expensive ones. Depending on the diving you do, you may or may not end up diving with a snorkel after class. Fins.. well, I went for the $180 pair the dive shop girl recommended, and so I haven't really tried any others. I suspect I wasted a little money based on my experience with other dive gear. Not that I dislike my fins, but many people seem to be perfectly happy with much cheaper scubapro jetfins etc.

I highly recommend one of those neoprene mask straps. Vastly superior to the regular rubber straps unless you're bald... although in my case it cost almost as much as my mask!

 

[beaverdivers]

It's all about comfort & fit. You need to think SCUBA as opposed to snorkeling stuff.