Near-sighted Snorkeler Needs Help

[Werner Weiss]

I'm looking forward to visiting Discovery Cove next year. I understand the snorkeling is one of the main activities.

I'm very near-sighted (myopic). With regular goggles, my view of the underwater world is significantly out of focus. Even though the water magnifies, I really can't see details unless they are very close. I don't wear contacts, and my earlier attempt to mount old glasses inside goggles did not work.

While in Hawaii this year, I rented prescription goggles from Snorkel Bob. Wow! What a difference! What a pleasure!

Does Discovery Cove provide prescription goggles? Or can I rent prescription goggles from Discovery Cove at an additional cost? For that matter, can I rent prescription goggles anywhere in the Orlando area?

I would welcome any information or suggestions in response to these questions. Thank you!

 

[vernon]

They didn't have them at DC, but I have bought prescription goggles from a regular optitions in England before. I have also seen them advertised in swimwear magazines that were for swim club/team members. Because of the effect of water they don't need to be exactly to your regular prescription but can be a massive help to see underwater. The goggles cost me about $15. It is also possible to get a proper snorkle mask ground so the facemask acts as a lens, this is more expensive and you'd probably need to go to a dive shop to get one.
hope that helps

 

[gina2000]

I would also be interested in any suggestions. Although I'm near sighted and can see under water better than I expected, every little bit helps!

 

[tiggger1]

i found this website they have them for 19.99 i hope that helps

http://www.polylabel.com/goggles/script.html

 

[tdelano]

Thank you so much for sharing this information on the board!! I have been really worried that my daughter who cannot wear contacts was not going to get the full experience at DC!! THANKS!

 

[Werner Weiss]

Originally posted by tiggger1
i found this website they have them for 19.99 i hope that helps

http://www.polylabel.com/goggles/script.html

Thank you for the advice regarding swim googles. My older daugther always like to wear goggles when swwimming. This could be a great for her.

I was really looking for snorkel goggles (a snorkel mask with two lenses) -- not swim goggles -- although I didn't do a good job making that clear in my post.

At the top of this thread, I wrote that I rented prescription goggles from Snorkel Bob in Hawaii this year. I was hoping to find a similar opportunity to rent prescription snorkel goggles at Discovery Cove or elsewhere in the Orlando area. I've enjoyed the convenience of renting snorkel equipment at various times. You don't have to worry about packing or storing the equipment.

In addition to starting this thread, I also searched the Web. And I phoned Discovery Cove. What's the result of this effort? I've now given up on renting for our Discovery Cove visit.

It seems that if I want a snorkel mask with prescription lenses in Orlando, I'll have to buy it. This might actually be cheaper in the long run, especially with prescription lenses.

Back to searching for goggles with Google... After a lot of searching, I found myself back at Snorkel Bob, the same outfit from which I rented in Hawaii. They sell their Seemo Betta brand of goggles with nearsighted correction lenses for $146. It's a lot of money, but other places on the Web were charging more for similar products. And Snorkel Bob even offers lenses for correction of astigmatism or bifocal lenses with astigmatism correction -- but such lenses cost even more.

I just found another option: http://www.prescriptiondivemasks.com/ -- they're more expensive than Snorkel Bob (when you add the mask and the lenses), but the business appears to be run by opticians.

The other alternative would be to find a local dive shop. The advantage of doing buisness with a local shop would be that they would be able to fit the mask to my face better than a store that's over 4 thousand miles away in the middle of the Pacific.

Thanks to everyone who replied!

One more question, I assume the Discovery Cove wouldn't have aproblem if I brought my own make. Am I correct?

 

[tdelano]

Can you snorkel with the less expensive swim goggles... not the prescripton mask??

 

[prymsu]

a couple of years ago, i went through a local dive shop. i picked out a pair of goggles. Then i provided them with a copy of my prescription lenses, they sent off with the goggles. A couple weeks later i got the snorkel mask back, and my prescription lenses had been glued into the inside of the mask, and now i can really see whenever i go snorkeling. If i remember correctly, the cost was around 55 bucks.

 

[Werner Weiss]

Originally posted by tdelano
Can you snorkel with the less expensive swim goggles... not the prescripton mask??

The swim goggles that only cover your eyes are designed to protect your eyes while swimming on the surface of the water.

Snorkel masks/goggles cover your eyes and nose, and they have a significant airspace so even if some water leaks in, your eyes are still in a part of the mask without water. The lenses are much larger than on swim goggles. They are designed for underwater viewing.

As noted earlier in this thread, swim goggles and snorkel masks are both available with optional corrective lenses -- but the masks you get at Discovery Cove just have plain lenses that don't provide any vision correction.

So far, I haven't really answered tdelano's question. I've never tried to snorkel with swim goggles, and I haven't seen other people do so. I suppose that swim goggles might work in a pinch, but I assume the results would be much less satisfactory than using something that's meant for underwater viewing.

Any other thoughts?