As a newcomer, can I use a full face mask when snorkelling in Hawaii?
Seems masks offer a lot of convenience & excitement. However, my cousin tells me not to use this type of mask. Does it work perfectly?
Full Face Snorkel Mask, Does It Work?
Comments
my personal expereince (which seems different to others)
im a weak swimmer, tried snorling with traditional snorel and hated it. im bad at swimming and was hard co ordinating breathing and swimming.
i got this in hawaii and personally loved it. i swam out with it. dived down and was able to breath normal.
i would consider using a life jacket, as that would allow me to swim out longer and deeper.ive heard people hate it so maybe try it first. decathlon sells its quite cheap ( the full mask ones)
Mask leaked water when i use traditional. I will try this ones you said.
I recently went through a full face vs traditional and ended up with traditional setup. There's a few YouTube videos comparing the two and ultimately, for me, it came down to emergency scenario/recovery and simplicity that had me going to traditional.
The full face uses multiple valves to intake and expel the air for the mask such that if one fails, I interpreted that you could end up re-breathing the CO2 and last thing you want is to pass-out while under water. Traditional is easier to free your mouth and talk as required, where the full face may require you to fully remove.
Again, check the YouTubes as there are many comparison videos.
I think the exchange rate and accommodation rates in Hawaii right now are more scary than drowning in a full face mask.
I'd be concerned about accidentally drowning with them.
They are awful. In a single issue you can lose both your vision and your airway. They are favoured by those that are least able to cope with problems with them.
If you do try to go under the surface using it, you are relying on some cheap flap valve to work, but it doesn’t really matter because the volume is so large the mask will be forcing your head up anyway. You are expelling used, moisture laden air into it so it will tend to fog up too.
Apart from all of that and a few other minor issues - all good.I am an experienced snorkeller, scuba diver, and certified freediver
There is absolutely no way I would go in the water with one of those things strapped to my head.I've used one before when I was having trouble with the seal on a normal mask with my mustache. My normal mask works fine when scubaing but once in Brazil snorkelling I couldn't get a rental mask there to work. I am a strong swimmer so I never thought about these growing concerns all the other replies have.
My husband and I used them in Hawaii back in 2017 and we found them to be great! I have breathing difficulties, and always hated traditional snorkels as only breathing through my mouth was sometimes hard. The mask was so good that I forgot I was wearing it and could concentrate on looking at sea turtles and fish instead of trying to breathe. For us, they never filled with water or fogged up. We got asked all the time where we had gotten them from - we didn't see anyone else wearing them on that trip. We didn't dive with them, so the concerns around valve issues/drowning hadn't even crossed our minds. We got ours from Decathlon, and they're still in perfect condition today after many uses. YMMV, but I thought I'd share our experience with them.
I was excited about these when I saw ads because I thought that it meant my kids might be able to use them since they are young and will pro ably struggle to use the traditional snorkels, after much research I decided against it. Looks like if you use it in the way it is intended it's fine but yeah people who choose them are probably not the best at swimming + unable to troubleshoot if something does go wrong and that combo is bad. Seems like the biggest problem is when people forget its still meant to be used like a snorkel and breath too much while diving further and then rebreathing their own co2.. Then passing out and drowning.
Ended up getting normal snorkels from Rebel (the ones which keep the water out when you dive with the ball) and kids coped fine with it. Better for peace of mind.
i tried one in a pool, was fine even though this one was for kids
Not sure what it would be like with waves
They generally work fine, but some people are concerned about accidentally drowning with them.
Which is a fair concern … the things are strapped to your face tight and if it fills with water accidentally you could panic and struggle to get it off.
Ymmv
Buy a normal snorkel, don’t cheap out on a mask and snorkel and you will have a great time.