Snorkel vest with CO2 system

Hi folks,

Newsgroup newbie here. My wife and I will be going to Puerto Vallarta
soon, so I want to buy some new snorkeling gear for both of us. I'm
looking for a good online website place to shop for gear, and I would
also like to get some advice from this group on the types of gear that
I should be looking for.

Vests:
I've never owned a snorkel vest, but I have used them before. I'd like
to get a couple nice ones, maybe even with CO2 inflation systems. Also,
do they make any with pockets for small stuff like keys, small cameras,
etc.? If so, where might I find such a vest?

Masks:
Both of us currently have black rubber, single-lens purge masks. I
think they're probably better suited to scuba diving, but I really like
the purge valve. Unfortunately, they're several years old and it's time
to modernize. In the little bit of looking around I've done I've seen
very few single lens masks. Are the double and/or triple lens masks
better? Are there any especially good masks that I should consider
buying?

Fins:
I must be getting old, because I had never heard of propellor or hinged
fins before yesterday. What's a good fin for snorkeling, and again,
where to shop?

Snorkels:
Regular, semi-dry, or full-dry? Anyone especially like a certain type?

Any gear advice will be much appreciated. Also, if you know any
'don't-miss' spots to snorkel while we're in Puerto Vallarta, please
let me know.

Thanks!

"Mick" wrote

> Vests:
> I've never owned a snorkel vest, but I have used them before. I'd like
> to get a couple nice ones, maybe even with CO2 inflation systems. Also,
> do they make any with pockets for small stuff like keys, small cameras,
> etc.? If so, where might I find such a vest?

Personally, I would not buy a snorkeling vest. It's not something I would
ever use except when forced, as sometimes happens on tourist snorkeling
boats. I'd use whatever the boat required and provided.

If you want something to keep equipment in while snorkeling, look around for
the wide variety of pockets and pouches that are available for threading
onto weight belts or, perhaps as good or better in your case, a nylon fanny
pack with a plastic zipper.

> Masks:
> Both of us currently have black rubber, single-lens purge masks. I
> think they're probably better suited to scuba diving, but I really like
> the purge valve. Unfortunately, they're several years old and it's time
> to modernize. In the little bit of looking around I've done I've seen
> very few single lens masks. Are the double and/or triple lens masks
> better? Are there any especially good masks that I should consider
> buying?

With masks, fit is everything. Most divers and probably most active
snorkelers purchase masks without purge valves. The choise is yours, but
once you learn to clear your mask without a purge, the value of a purge
valve diminishes, leaveing only their tendency to collect bits of sand and
shell that keep them from sealing properly and/or their tendency to wear out
before the rest of the mask.

Don't buy a mask on line unless you know, from first hand experience, that
it will fit. Find the fit first, then worry about the brand. The mask
should be made of silicon and have a tempered glass lens or lenses. Plastic
is cheaper, but less durable and more prone to fogging up.

> Fins:
> I must be getting old, because I had never heard of propellor or hinged
> fins before yesterday. What's a good fin for snorkeling, and again,
> where to shop?

Chosing a fin is a very personal decision. I like Mares Plana Avante or TRE
full foot fins for snorkeling. You may like someting else. I do not
recommend the larger power or freediving fins. While they're very efficient
under the water, they're not as good on the surface and can be a pain in the
rear in your luggage as well as on the deck of a boat.

> Snorkels:
> Regular, semi-dry, or full-dry? Anyone especially like a certain type?

Cheap, large bore, with a flex hose on the bottom and no purge valve.

Lee

Hi Lee,

Last night we decided to go ahead and get scuba certified while we're
in Puerto Vallarta, so I reserved two certification courses at Chico's
Dive Shop. They have NAUI and PADI certification courses, and I'm not
sure which one we want. Any advice?

Thanks for the informative reply. Your advice about getting a mask that
fits makes sense, so I think we'll find a dive shop or sporting goods
store around here to buy that stuff.

They say the water temperature around Puerto Vallarta averages 68º to
75º in January. Do you think we should consider buying wetsuits?

Mick

"Mick" <micknewton@direcway.com> wrote in message
news:1134318627.329436.150600@g14g2000cwa.googlegr oups.com...
Hi Lee,

>Last night we decided to go ahead and get scuba certified while we're
>in Puerto Vallarta, so I reserved two certification courses at Chico's
>Dive Shop. They have NAUI and PADI certification courses, and I'm not
>sure which one we want. Any advice?

Neither, but it sounds like you may not have time for the preferred
alternative if you're going in January. The preferred alternative being
taking your course at home and doing your certification dives with Chico's.
That frees up your vacation time for something more fun than learning how
many ways you can die underwater, builds a relationship with a local dive
shop, allows you to take a more comprehensive course or at least one that
allows more practice time to gain the experience that you can't get in a
two-day resort special.

Actually, you do still have time. Find a local shop that can certify you
over several weekends and/or nights before you leave town and that can
arrange for your certification dives with Chico's. Often this route can
even save you money, since resorts usually charge resort prices for their
dive instruction.

>They say the water temperature around Puerto Vallarta averages 68º to
>75º in January. Do you think we should consider buying wetsuits?

You might be OK for snorkeling since the sun is on your back, though some
would wear a "shorty"-type suit as a minimum. 68 is pretty chilly for
extended periods of time. For diving, it's practically essential since your
body is totally submerged and temperatures often get cooler with depth.
Chico's should be able to rent you a wetsuit for your scuba activities
unless you're really odd-shaped.

"Lee Bell" wrote in message
news:ztVmf.25608$cA2.13849@bignews3.bellsouth.net. ..
> Cheap, large bore, with a flex hose on the bottom and no purge valve.

Bought a snorkel for Kaitlyn down in Coz recently... It looked like a
silicone one, but in fact was plastic... It gave a taste of plastic, so I
would have to suggest that someone not go with this sort of material...
Silicone or even the old black rubber ones are better...

On 11 Dec 2005 08:30:27 -0800, "Mick" <micknewton@direcway.com> wrote:

>Hi Lee,
>
>Last night we decided to go ahead and get scuba certified while we're
>in Puerto Vallarta, so I reserved two certification courses at Chico's
>Dive Shop. They have NAUI and PADI certification courses, and I'm not
>sure which one we want. Any advice?
>
>Thanks for the informative reply. Your advice about getting a mask that
>fits makes sense, so I think we'll find a dive shop or sporting goods
>store around here to buy that stuff.
>
>They say the water temperature around Puerto Vallarta averages 68=BA to
>75=BA in January. Do you think we should consider buying wetsuits?
>
>Mick
>
Find a local dive shop and take your class room and pool stuff at home
before you go. Then when you get there you just have to take your open
water cert dives, no class romm crap while on vacation.

Thanks for the advice folks! Much appreciated.

"Mick" <micknewton@direcway.com> wrote in message
news:1134342793.578751.279170@g44g2000cwa.googlegr oups.com...

> That's a good idea, but unfortunately there isn't a dive shop that
> could even remotely be considered 'local' to us. We live out in the
> boonies, just off the Columbia River between Portland and Astoria
> Oregon. There may be a way we can work it out though. I'll check into
> it.

Supposedly there's a Gateway Scuba Center in Longview, but their website is
down and I know nothing about them. There's also some Oregon-based dive
club that's posted stuff here before so it can't hurt to Google for more
info. Believe it or not, there are divers in the frigid Pacific Northwest,
some of whom are even crazy enough to dive in the frigid local waters. Some
people are even crazy enough to dive in rivers. Maybe you can dive the
Columbia.

"Mick" <micknewton@direcway.com> wrote in message
news:1134350496.247897.163890@z14g2000cwz.googlegr oups.com...

> We fish for salmon and steelhead in the Columbia all the time from our
> boat. I've swam between anchored boats with fins and snorkel a few
> times. During the summer the water can get up into the low 70's, but
> the current is unbelievable and there's no visibility. The water is
> very cold for the rest of the year. I had to dive under my boat once
> during the spring to pull weeds out of the jet pump intake. Talk about
> teeth chattering cold!
>
> There are often large trees (deadheads) floating down the river, huge
> ships, hundreds of crazy fishermen and other boaters blasting around,
> etc.. Thanks anyway, but you would have to be nuts to want to dive in
> the Columbia River. :)

Come on up to Hood Canal, this time of year the vis is best, and fewer
people in the water.

http://www.hoodsportndive.com/

In article <11pondrk9qhurdd@corp.supernews.com>,
Greg Mossman <mossman@qnet.com> wrote:
>"Mick" <micknewton@direcway.com> wrote in message
>news:1134318627.329436.150600@g14g2000cwa.googleg roups.com...
>Hi Lee,
>
[snip]
>
>>They say the water temperature around Puerto Vallarta averages 68º to
>>75º in January. Do you think we should consider buying wetsuits?
>
>You might be OK for snorkeling since the sun is on your back, though some
>would wear a "shorty"-type suit as a minimum. 68 is pretty chilly for
>extended periods of time. For diving, it's practically essential since your
>body is totally submerged and temperatures often get cooler with depth.
>Chico's should be able to rent you a wetsuit for your scuba activities
>unless you're really odd-shaped.

Ugh, that is 20-23 degrees righopondian; that is not shorty
territory, that is full wetsuit with hood and gloves, preferrably
a semidry, real farmer john.

And I am the one living in the arctic!

-- mrr
Today was the first argon dive of the season.