Just Finished my Confined Water class

[Nuts4koi]

I finished my confined water classes yesterday afternoon. What a kick! I had a great instructor and took his time with all of the students in explaining every skill, and making sure we were comfortable performing the skill and performing it correctly. With him, 'close' didn't count. It had to be correct. It also helped that there were only four of us in the class. I can't wait for Aug 22. That is when I do the OW dives.

I had only one concern, and like a dummy, I forgot to ask the instructor. I wear contacts, and for saftey sake, would I be better off getting corrective lenses for my mask and leave the contacts home when I dive?

 

[kelpmermaid]

What kind of contacts do you wear? How bad is your vision, and what is the nature of the problem with it?

Personally, I wear disposable daily contacts when diving. I'm extremely nearsighted, and my concern was that if I lose or break a prescription mask, my dive day or trip would be at and end. I can replace a lost or contaminated lens more easily. If you have astigmatism, though, this might not work for you.

 

[Nuts4koi]

I am farsighted and I wear disposable contacts that I replace once a month. I have a monocular perscription so I can read without reading glasses.

 

[dkktsunami]

I have been wearing gas permeable rigid lenses while diving for 9 years (1400+ dives) and have had no problems.

 

[rivers]

I wear a prescription mask and I love it. I dove once with contacts (my first OW class dive), and I didn't particularly care for it, but then again, I prefer glasses over contacts anyway. I can only wear contacts for a few hours at a time without my eyes starting to bug out etc. Also, I found it more cost effective for me to purchase a prescription mask because I rarely wear contacts and for me to buy 30 pairs of daily wear lenses it is around $80, yet a prescription mask was about $130. Because of the nature of my job (I work on a cruise ship), I have the oppurtunity to dive often (about once a week, and I have been once a week since I was certified a month ago).

 

[BonaireDan]

I dive usually with my contacts. But for me I need the "reading glasses" insert thingie to read slates as I teach classes. Not a problem for my photography however.

I do travel with a second mask with diopter lenses (not really prescription type ) in case I lose contacts and have to wear glasses topside. That way I can still dive.

 

[HJeffreyM]

The answer for me was both! I am quite nearsighted and also need "readers" for up close. I wear my contacts while diving with no problem at all. I also wear a Sea Vision 2100 Mask with the "guage reader" option (+2.00) so I can see my DC, compass, camera, etc. You can get this mask in prescription as well. I just prefer to wear my lenses so I can see before and after the dive without fumbling for glasses.

For your OW checkout dives make sure to tell your instructor you are wearing lenses. If you are expected to open your eyes when you take your mask off, you may want to leave the lenses at home. This would be for the checkout dives only.

My OW instructor was fine with me keeping my eyes closed when I took off the mask. Your results may vary....

Of course, if you were to accidentally lose a mask while underwater, you'd have to just open your eyes and forget the lenses.

Happy Diving!

 

[NoVaScuba]

Contacts and my eyes don't get along so I use a prescription mask. I wear bifocals on land but find that the magnification from the water is sufficient for me to read my gauges without the inserts. Most people I've talked to use contacts. A prescription mask will run about double the price of of a standard mask. I think it's mostly a matter of preference, not a safety issue.

 

[Scott L]

If you go the perscription mask route these folks are the most often recommended source on this forum. Mine works great...


Welcome to Prescription Dive Masks 1-800-538-2878

 

[robooringding]

I wear contacts as well and haven't had any problems at all. I always bring a second unopened pair along as well as my back-up pair of glasses. Just remember to close your eyes when you do the flooding and removal of your mask so your lenses don't swim away.