Diving while wearing contact lenses

[The Surly Mermaid]

SI = Surface Interval or between dives. I have dove with contact lenses for over 15 years and have lost one maybe 2 max. I keep my eyes closed if I get water in my mask, or during drills I conduct with students. You sometimes have to blink several times to get them back in place but they go back. I have the daily wear disposable so I always have extra lenses with me, even though past experience has shown that I won't need them. I have opened my eyes underwater both in pool and salt water and have not lost lenses. If she has disposable lens and has an extra set with her, the only problem if she loses one or even both on a dive is if her buddy can get her back to mooring line, which should not be a problem unless she is diving solo. If loseing a lens only happens once every 10 to 15 years you should be OK.

 

[ClayJar]

I have a prescription mask, but while I was working through Divemaster, I decided to get disposable single-day contacts to wear during classes and checkouts. (I wanted to be able to still see when I didn't have my mask on.) I have yet to lose a contact, but there are a few tips that can be useful:

• If your prescription is compatible, get single-day disposables. They even make them in toric for people with astigmatism, although that may be more expensive. If you lose a lens, it's no big deal (bring spares on the boat), and you don't have to worry about what may be in the water. (I don't personally trust normal cleaning to handle everything there may be on a dive.)
• If you can, keep your eyes shut.
• If you need to see, open one eye. Even if you lose the lens, you'll have one left to complete the dive. (If you're doing the monovision thing due to presbyopia, use your non-lensed eye.)
• If you open your eyes with contacts in them, squint. (Honestly, you don't need to actually squint, but the tendency is to open your eye *really* wide when you're trying to see underwater, and simply squinting is much easier than trying to learn how to just look "normally".)

Honestly, if my eye doctor told me that my prescription could not be handled by single-day disposables, I would have asked him whether it can be handled "well enough" for diving. It's so nice to dive with contacts, I'd sacrifice a little visual acuity for the privilege.

Now, sure, I like my prescription mask. I even use it if I'm just hitting the pool for an evening (like last Wednesday, when we swept and vacuumed the LSU Nat). Diving my other masks (with contacts) is just a seahorse of a different color (and a nice one at that).

Lately, I'm using the disposable daily lenses. I'm often diving in an aquarium. My optometrist recommended the change.

When I told my optometrist I wanted daily disposable lenses, his first question was whether I had hay fever or bad allergies. I told him I have no allergies, but rather, I'm a diver. Immediately, he understood (and agreed with) my logic (i.e. no worries about losing them, and no worries about contamination, biological or otherwise).

 

[pcgriffith]

I've completed training and over 1,100 dives while wearing contact lenses and have never lost one. I too figure that if I really must open my eyes without the mask, then losing the contacts is not a major concern.

Surfacing and being able to see is a high priority!

 

[bleeb]

What's the best way to obtain a prescription mask? Buy one that fits and send it to the optical shop or buy from the optical shop? My gut tells me that my wife should buy a mask with the proper fit and send it to the shop.

I bought the best fit at the LDS, and then had them get replacement lenses with the correct prescriptions from the mask manufacturer. They were off-the-shelf items in I think 0.5 diopter increments, which was close enough. No optical shops were involved. Note this only works easily if you have a split-lens mask, with masks with separate lenses for left and right eyes, and can live without any astigmatic correction. Single lens masks or additional correction require custom-ground lenses, which are generally pricier.

You can also get stick-on lenses that glue on existing mask lenses, but I don't have any experience with these. There are also a couple of outfits that specialise in supplying prescription lenses for dive masks.

 

[Bucktail]

If you have to take your mask off for a drill, just squint.

 

[shotthebreeze]

I wear contact lenses and never have had a problem. You don't have to open your eyes under water for the test or anything, so if she keeps them closed, she should be good.

 

[RonFrank]

My wife starts a dive cert class in a few weeks. She wears contact lenses. I know many people dive while wearing contact lenses. I'm wondering if she will encounter any problems during training because of the lenses. The mask clearing drill comes to mind.

Thanks.

I dive with contacts, no issues. I'm rather blind without glasses/contacts, but I am able to do everything with mine BUT open my eyes UW. When you do drills, you just need to keep your eyes closed when it involves mask removal or a complete flood of the mask.

A prescription mask is certainly another option, but they have their drawbacks. My buddy has one, and he runs around the parking lot with it on after he takes off his glasses. Since it's something like a Sea Vision, it has red/purple lenses, and it's interesting to see him with it on before a night dive! Not sure how he's sees out of it at night, and he has complained about it a couple times. I guess I'm suggesting that if you do go prescription, keep it to a clear lenses unless you plan to purchase two masks (which is not a bad suggestion if you go that route).

 

[stas]

My situation is the following. Right now, I dive with a two window prescription mask and no backup. I want to start diving with a backup mask. At least for the backup (and preferably for the primary) it has to be frameless to fit in my pocket in order to have enough room in there for all the other crap I carry. prescription frameless mask means having to send it in to have lenses glued on. With my script, thats at least 250 a pop.
With that in mind want to get disposable lenses for the days I dive. The thing is I never worn contacts (above or below). What worries me is that for cave training that I have coming up and for other training that I have done, I have had to spend long periods of time without a mask for no mask exists. I have a tendency to keep my eyes open. Even though I dons see well w/o a mask, I can see something and its a big help for things like buoyancy control. I'm afraid of what will happen if I loose the lenses.

 

[diver 85]

What's the best way to obtain a prescription mask? Buy one that fits and send it to the optical shop or buy from the optical shop? My gut tells me that my wife should buy a mask with the proper fit and send it to the shop.

What's her Rx??.If there's not alot of astigmatism present(the 2nd number & the number,3rd one, after the X in the Rx), she can possibly wear already made up lenses that certain masks offer---for example -2.00 etc(I think they come every half diopter or so).....they are fairly inexpensive etc etc.......In the case of low astigmatism(less than probably 1 diopter), you will need to determine the spheroequivalent RX........

Now saying all this, tell her to wear her CTLs especially if she wears disposable ones---& they do not have to be the daily disposables, q 2 to 4 weeks will be just fine.....

 

[mixerman]

I just finished my OW certification class. I wear monthly contacts, I used last months just in case I lost them. I never did. Tell her to squint a little they don't come out. I thought I could swim laps with my eyes closed, wrong. I sorted through everyones masks found my own put it on and cleared it. All with my eyes open. Haven't been in saltwater yet (Two weeks till Mexico) but from what I've heard its even easier. It is usually the rubbing or trying to dry your eyes that pops out the contacts. I love contacts,hate glasses.