Which Snorkel?

[GrahamK]

I have just done my Padi OWD and love it. So am looking to buy my own mask and snorkel. Decided on the Mares X Vision, as gets loads of good reviews. But can't find much on snorkels.
Have been looking at anti splash types like the Mares Stream Dry or the Cressi Aplha 1 or 2.
Will be wanting the snorkel for diving but also snorkelling.
If the vote goes for Cressi. Then Alpha 1 or 2?
Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[Wendy]

Get the cheapest no thrills snorkel you can find.

I had bought one of those dry snorkels and the happiest day of my life is when I saw it fall over board and rest gently at the bottom of the sea. It was big, bulky, got in the way, and a pain in the rear. Just get a plain and simple snorkel.

 

[Boogie711]

Although I have nothing against the X-Vision, choosing a mask really should be based more on fit than anything else. Try on a boat-load of masks, and choose one that's the most comfortable. Don't look at prices or brand names or anything until then.

 

[DementialFaith]

i never realli like snorkels, the only time when i actually used snorkels is when im skin diving. otherwise id rather have two of those realli handy little flashlights on each side of my head.

 

[gfisher4792]

I've never had a desire to use one while scuba diving, and as a matter of fact, after my second checkout dive for my OW certification, off my mask and into my dive bag it went. And I've never looked back. I only use my when snorkeling with my wife, and that's it.

I don't like snorkels for scuba; they are a entanglement hazard, just another piece of equipment to lose, and if I have to surface swim for some distance, I'm flipping on my back (fins work much more efficiently on your back while on the surface, to boot). Also, I've heard a bunch of stories of people waiting on the surface to descend while breathing off their snorkel, then forgetting to switch to their reg. Ack.

 

[MikeR]

Get a cheap one Like the others said it'll be collecting dust soon.

 

[Charlie99]

As others have noted, snorkels aren't much use underwater while diving. A small snorkel that fits in your pocket would be handy if you end up on the surface waiting a long time for a boat.

As for snorkeling, it makes a big difference whether you mostly stay on the surface or are going to be doing a lot of swimming down underwater. The dry types, with a bottom purge valve, are excellent for use on the surface. A simple no frills tube type works nicely for freediving as it can be cleared more easily using the displacement method (where you breathe out into the snorkel just a little bit at depth, then as the air in your lungs expand as you rise, it automatically clears the snorkel).

 

[DennisS]

I have a snorkel I love. I've been looking around to see if I can find another one if I ever lose it. The mouthpiece on the bottom of the J swivels 360 degrees and it swivels 360 degrees at the base of the upright. This makes it easy to adjust it just right. When I'm scuba diving I just swivel it next to my ear. It has no purge and nothing on top, just a tube with the swivel silicon mouthpiece. You don't want gadgets on your snorkel, flex tubes trap water.

I wear it on the right side so that it doesn't get in the way of my inflator. I use it on beach dive swims out to the reef. I consider it survival gear out in the ocean if I lose the boat.

 

[Tekdiver10]

I bought the cheepest snorkel I could find when I took my open water. It's been sitting in my closet ever since. Don't waist your money getting one of those dry snorkels unless your planning on doing a lot of snorkeling. Sooner or later you'll find out that snorkels arnt't fun to dive with there just a nonsence.

 

[IndigoBlue]

Tekdiver10 once bubbled...
I bought the cheepest snorkel I could find when I took my open water. It's been sitting in my closet ever since. Don't waist your money getting one of those dry snorkels unless your planning on doing a lot of snorkeling. Sooner or later you'll find out that snorkels arnt't fun to dive with there just a nonsence.

On a technical dive, you would never take a snorkel with you.

If you needed a snorkel at any time during any part of a technical dive, it might only be at the start, if you were donning your tanks in the water, and the seas were a little rough. It might help you then. However most tech divers don their gear in the boat and then jump into the water, therefore you would almost never need a snorkel for technical diving. For tech diving you would either fold up your snorkel and put it into a cargo pocket or else leave it back in the boat after you had donned your gear in the water.

For non-tech NDL pleasure diving, snorkels are a totally different story. In that case, a snorkel is a safety device. Like any other safety device, it could be very handy. Swimming through thick kelp, swimming back onto a rough beach when your tank is too low to exit on, being standed on the surface in rough seas if a cattle boat happens to leave you behind. Of if you just love to watch the fish at the near shore underwater slope of the reef as you swim out from the beach. Those are all examples of precisely when a snorkel would be very good to have.

Putting bicycle reflection tape near the tip of your snorkel might even help you to be seen better by local boat traffic, day or night, if you do not have a dive float and flag with you.