If you’re snuba diving, then you want to be able to see all of the wildlife around you. Those who wear glasses may worry that they’re going to be unable to see without them. As such, they may decide to wear glasses while snuba diving. This is a mistake.
You can’t wear glasses while snuba diving. The simple reason is that glasses weave around the sides of your head. It makes it impossible for the mask to securely wrap around your head. As a result, you have water filling your mask and making your sight impossible. It can also cause you to breathe in water through your nose which is another unpleasant experience.
Instead of snuba diving with glasses, there are a few other choices to ensure you can always see the best while snuba diving.
Types Of Masks Used With Snuba
Because snuba involves diving below the surface of the water, in many cases, a scuba mask is actually used. There are a few different types of snuba masks. The first is a single lens mask. This mask features one big lens that acts almost like a window to the world.
It’s a modern version of the old cyclops-like diving mask made famous in the old horror movies. This kind of mask uses silicon skirts to hug the mask tighter to your face. Since this mask is a single piece, prescription lenses can’t be added to it.
Unless you want to just see without your glasses or prescription lenses, this mask is likely not suitable for those with glasses.
The more popular mask is the twin-lens mask or the double-pane mask. This is the kind of snuba mask that you typically think of when taking a dive. It features two wide eyepieces that allow you wider views. It also sits lower on your face to give you a better idea of depth.
This kind of mask is typically chosen to be used with prescription lenses. However, you cannot wear your glasses underneath the mask.
One final type of snuba mask is the full-face mask. Diving instructors and commercial divers typically wear this kind. They’re more expensive though you may be able to find slightly cheaper full-face masks for recreational use.
This mask completely covers your head. You may be able to wear glasses under it, but you would have to try the mask on in question and perform a quick test under the water to see if it allows water to escape in the mask. Because the mask covers your entire face, the last thing you want is water filling up your mask.
One interesting aspect of the full-face mask is that it can also be used for communication. Water-friendly radios can be placed inside of the mask to allow divers to communicate with one another.
Can You Snuba With Contacts?
One option you may consider is switching out your glasses with contact lenses instead. After all, the arms won’t get in the way of the mask. While contact lenses can be worn under a mask, it’s important that you choose the right kind of contact lenses.
For one, you’ll want to avoid using hard contact lenses or those that are gas permeable. Both of these can start to squeeze your eyes the deeper you go into the water. Even though snuba diving only allows you to go to a depth of 20 feet, your eyes may start to feel the pressure all the same.
Your vision may become blurry and you may experience some pain.
Top Tips To Snuba When You Have Prescription Glasses Or Contact Lenses
Here are a few tips you should consider when you want to snuba with other prescription glasses or contact lenses.
- Don’t wear glasses at all
- Don’t use gas permeable contact lenses
- Don’t use hard contact lenses
- Never open your eyes when taking your mask off under the water
- Close your eyes if your mask fills with water to avoid losing your contact lenses
- Always wash your contact lenses after diving to avoid eye infections
- You may not even need to wear lenses because water can amplify your vision
- Try your mask on underwater to see if your glasses make your mask fill with water
- Try your mask on underwater to see how your contact lenses perform under pressure
Rx Goggles and Masks With Prescription Lenses
Another option to see clearly under the water if you have glasses is by buying prescription lenses for your snuba mask or Rx goggles. However, for many divers, the price may be a bit too high for a single adventure.
Prices on stock prescription goggles range from $50-$200. The problem with many stock prescription lenses is that they have the same strength of lens for each eye. If you have a different prescription for each eye, then you’re likely going to need custom masks. The price only goes up from there.
Prescription lens masks work by either making the entire lens of the mask a prescription lens or by removing a small piece where your eyes primarily look through and replacing that part with the prescription lens. When you look through your mask, it’s basically like looking through your glasses.
There are other prescription lenses, too, that don’t correct for eyesight but rather for color correction. This can be useful for professional divers who find that their vision is obscured because of the way the color obscures their vision. Or if a diver is color blind or faces some other sort of color vision condition.
You can find prescription goggles online. Because not all diving agencies carry prescription masks, it’s unlikely that you’ll find the mask you need abroad. One option may be to purchase your mask and have them deliver to your hotel if they’re able to ship there.
Otherwise, your best option is to head to your local diving store or find an online store that sells prescription lenses. Be sure you know how to size your mask.