Best snorkel/fins to use snorkeling

Can anyone tell me or recommend a good snorkel and fins that arent too expensive for snorkeling only...i dont dive....i heard the split fins are better and i wanted to try them...and i know nothing about the snorkel ..any help would be appreciated..thanks

Hi Krissy,

For snorkeling, you have a lot of choices in fins. If you were going to freedive or deep dive I would suggest longer fins by Omer.... Split fins are interesting and based on sound principles but are probably a lot of flash if you are just going to puddle around on top.

Mares makes good fins, Mares Avanti are nice and if you decide you want to be a deep diver they make a good crossover fin while you are getting your gills wet.

Snorkels have all kinds of variations. Personally, I prefer a simple j-snorkel with no valves. Some people like purge and float valves, they seem like a lot of bother to me. The most important thing about choosing a snorkel, to me, is length. The less experience you have the longer you might want - 16" is good. You have to learn how to position your head but with practice you can breath comfortably and not even think about it...

Good luck, hope this helps....

Where are you snorkeling?

Lungfish

Hi Lungfish (and welcome!),
I went to Omer's website, and am impressed by their products. Is there a retailer in the USA for their products?
And I was wondering about those clear fins they offer. The look really cool, but I was wondering if the stack up well performance wise to their carbon fiber models. Have you tried them?

This is probably way more info than you need but it's a good resource:

Scuba Diving Mag Gear Reviews

splitfins = garbage. toss them in the same pile as buddy-lines and spareAir.

The Cressi Gara fins, the Omer Milenium, the SporaSub Dessaults; all very good entry level freediving/snorkling fins. a softer fin will be better if you anticipate a lot of surface swimming.

A plain-jane J-tube snorkle is great for snorkling. you don;t need a whole lot of bells and whistles, no matter what the hidden-agenda-buy-my-crap diveshop guy has to say.


K.I.S.S.


Fishoutofwater: there are many omer retailers stateside. www.spearfishinggear.com is a good one. or contact info@omerdiving.com and ask for a retailer near you.

krissy19747:

Can anyone tell me or recommend a good snorkel and fins that arent too expensive for snorkeling only...i dont dive....i heard the split fins are better and i wanted to try them...and i know nothing about the snorkel ..any help would be appreciated..thanks

Click to expand...

If you want a fin for snorkeling purposes only, the long blades may be a nuisance. They tend to make surface swimming a pain. It is hard to engage the water at the surface with a fin that is near 3 feet in length! The Avantis would be a good choice due to their shorter length and maneuverability. I have an Omer Zoom Pro snorkel that folds and it has worked really well for me. As far as a snorkel, you could probably look around and find one on a closeout to suit your snorkeling purposes.

Hi All,
Fishoutawater:
Omer makes good gear..... for some excellant packages take a look at www.spearfishinggear.com click on "Packages". The Omer Black is a good starter package - Omer Milleniums, booties, snorkel and a great starter mask, the Omer Alien. I used it when I first started and my kid and wife started with it also.

It is tricky getting fitted though, so if you are going that way, ask us....

I understand that the transparent OMER Ice fins have recently been upgraded - they are cool, you really can't see them underwater- and a little sturdier than the earlier production runs. I recently read a review about them on www.deeperblue.net. Freediving equipment>Bi Fins>Omer Ice Fins Test!!
Like all plastic fins, they age. And no plastic fins really compare to a good carbon fiber blade - thought the Cressi Gara line is as good a plastic fin as you could hope for. Another point is that they are the same as the Millenium except they are invisible. Some think that is a great selling point, either for effect or for some belief regarding improved hunting capability due to less visible fins. I would buy them solely for fun, though some spearos swear that they are a great addition to the hunting kit.

My take on fins is this: If you are starting out, swimming in rocks and coral, not swimming below 25 meters, the Omer Milleniums are great. They are a plastic fin and they will become flexible and brittle over time. And they aren't that bad if you are on the surface alot.

I did a swim to 130ft with a pair of Omer Milleniums and it took forever to get back. I had way more kick than fin. It really cost me time and energy and was dangerous. To remedy this I contacted Jyri at Specialfins.com and ordered a pair of Carbon Fiber Pro Stereo Fins in the medium stiffness. Much improved performance and less energy expended, especially when I am below 100ft.

Spetton makes the C4 Carbon Fiber fin which is a similar fin to the Specialfins product but a little less expensive.

The beauty of the Omer product is that many makers of fins use the Omer footpocket. So you can buy, say, a pair of Spetton C4 blades, to upgrade from your plastic Millenium blades without buying new footpockets also.

Cressi Gara line is nice but it is also plastic - top of the line plastic, to be sure, and it has been used by Stepanek and others for record dives....and they don't use Omer footpockets.

I do like the SpecialFins product and the service is outstanding... Who would have thought you could get such great fins in Estonia? www.specialfins.com

I am going to the keys to snorkel im not really a beginner, but i never had good equipment, and i know some fins i used of my ex's worked alot better than the ones i havenow but i cant remember what kind they were.

just for snorkeling purposes only what is the difference of split fins or regular ones? and is the open back better than the full foot ones?the ones i have now one of them tends to fall off alot, its a full foot kind.

i just looked up mare avanti fins and they are $89???thats quite expensive : (