Top 9 Snorkelling Equipment For Travelling, Holidays and Liveaboards
Warm, tropical holidays are all about the ocean. So when you’re going to a place surrounded by lots of wonderful ocean life, you want to be prepared by packing some essential snorkelling equipment. And as it’s a holiday, you don’t want your snorkelling equipment taking up too much room and weight in your luggage allowance.
You’re going to want to find the most lightweight, small and compact items so that it takes up minimal room in your luggage. Lucky for you, I’ve already done the research and come up with a list of the most compact, lightweight and small snorkelling equipment that you can find on the market! Keep reading to find my travel snorkelling equipment recommendations.
Travel Snorkelling Mask
Firstly, and most importantly, you’re going to need to invest in a snorkelling mask. I believe that it’s one of the most important items that you need to invest in when starting your snorkelling adventures. After all, it’s the piece of snorkelling equipment that allows you to see that underwater world.
Most high-quality snorkelling masks these days are lightweight and highly transportable. But here are a few top lightweight options for snorkelling masks.
Scubapro Crystal VU Mask & Snorkel Set
The Crystal Vu Mask has an amazing field of vision thanks to its seamless three panel lens, making it one of our best selling single lens masks in the shop.
The Spectra Dry Snorkel is a large bore tube for effortless breathing with a dry top valve designed to deflected splashed water away from the opening and seal it up entirely if it drops below the water surface, making clearing really easy. It also features a purge chamber and one-way valve below the mouthpiece to drain and clear any water that does manage to get in.
Fourth Element Scout Mask
The Fourth Element SCOUT mask is a highly flexible design that won’t take up too much room in your luggage. The mask also comes with a smal, lightweight case that’s easy for transporting.
Scubapro Ghost Dive Mask
The Scubapro Ghost is a frameless single lens mask that has been designed to have a low internal volume, be lightweight and flexible - making it perfect for travel or as a back-up mask.
Important to note that when choosing a mask, you need to ensure that the mask fits your face shape properly and feels comfortable. There’s nothing worse than having a poorly fitted mask! When selecting a mask, try it on and see how it feels.
Travel Snorkel
Snorkels are again, another snorkelling item that’s pretty lightweight. But when choosing a travel snorkel, you might want something flexible so it can store and bend easily in luggage. Here are a few of my recommendations based on flexibility and weight.
Fourth Element Float Snorkel
A simple yet effective design. The Fourth Element Float snorkel is not only super lightweight but it’s also made of a flexible, yet sturdy material so that it can be stored away in your luggage.
Mares Snorkel
This is the perfect travel snorkel that is lightweight and flexible, allowing it to be rolled away into a storage shell.
Scubapro Snorkels
Scubapro offer an outstanding collection of snorkels. We have an outstanding collection of snorkels suitable for breathing from the surface when shallow diving. There are 3 different types of Scubapro snorkels to choose from; the Purge Snorkel, Semi-Dry and Dry Snorkels.
Travel Snorkelling Fins
Fins are used to make your snorkelling experience a whole lot better (and safer). Using fins means that you can swim faster with less effort, so you can cover more ground when you’re snorkelling. When packing for your snorkelling holiday, you may decide that you want to ditch the fins altogether, but not with these fins! Here are a few of my fin recommendations based on size and weight.
The Tusa Sport Snorkelling Fins
These fins are exclusively designed for travel with a short blade design, soft comfortable open-heel foot pocket, and adjustable silicone strap.
Scubapro Go Travel Fin
The fin that says it in the name, the Scubapro Go Travel Fin is perfect for travelling. The Monprene makes them very light, their short length makes them easy to pack away even into carry-on luggage and the fins interlock for better stowing.
Snorkelling fins are a crucial part of your snorkelling kit and whilst you might think that you can do without them, they do make a huge difference to your manoeuvrability and safety in the water. Most snorkelling fins are designed to be worn with bare feet and incorporate a soft rubber pocket that wraps around your foot, but there are a few fins that have an elasticated or adjustable strap around the heel.
Travel Snorkelling Exposure Protection
Whether you’re snorkelling in warm tropical waters or temperate, I highly recommend that you invest in exposure protection. For warmer waters, rash vests are the perfect option to keep you protected. They're sure to keep warm in the water and ensure longer ocean adventures.
With an added extra layer for protection, it’ll protect you from harmful UV rays and is a great alternative to using sunscreen as it offers a 50% UV protection factor. Also with an added extra layer, it helps you to stay free from rashes caused by bites or stings. Most rash vests are lightweight, but I’ve chosen this one as it's quick-drying, so they’re much easier to transport.
This Scubapro Rash Guard gives protection to your torso and upper arms against 98% of UV radiation thanks to its UPF 50 rating! The lightweight polyester material is comfortable and abrasion resistant for long life and quick drying.
Travel Camera
Let’s not forget one of the most important items to take on your snorkelling and travel holidays - a camera! You don’t want to forget your underwater memories, so taking a camera will do just the thing in capturing your experiences for life.
When selecting a camera, you’ll need something compact, lightweight and easy to transport. With all this in mind, we have the perfect underwater camera that’s perfect for your holidays.
The Sealife Micro 3.0 Underwater Camera
The Sealife Underwater Camera is a simple, easy-to-use, compact and highly portable camera that’s perfect for beginners. There’s no need for external housing with this camera as it goes down to 60m so there’s no need to have the learning curve of using and setting up a camera housing. The buttons were easy to press and it’s very simple to set up.
Bags for Transporting
Luggage allowance is only 20kg, yet 5kg of this allowance is taken up by the suitcase itself? Frustrating isn’t it! Well, say no more with these lightweight options that are perfect for taking all your snorkelling luggage without it taking up too much of your weight allowance. I’ve selected this travel bag based on weight, size and compartments.
TUSA Roller Duffle Bag
It features large compartments, able to swallow plenty of dive gear and has a heavy-duty wheel system. Offering 100 litres of packing space this is a great bag for travelling.
Snorkelling bags should be two things - lightweight so that they are easy to carry to and from the snorkelling site, but it also needs to be strong and capable of withstanding abuse from the sun, sea and sand. Mesh bags are a great idea as they are light, are usually made from a strong or coated material and also allow your snorkelling kit to drain and air which helps to prevent your equipment from becoming stale and mouldy if left for long periods of time before washing.
We’re Here to Help
If you have any questions about snorkelling, travel essentials or need tips and advice, please email us at support@mikesdivestore.com where we have a team of snorkelling professionals. Or if you live locally or in the surrounding areas of London, pop in and come visit us in-store where you can take a look at our range yourself and find the perfect travel snorkelling equipment for you.
For a full list of equipment specs, check out the products on our store.
