Snorkel Mask Fitting Guide

Below you will find our snorkel mask fitting and buying guide. But if you have not yet read our page that describes all the snorkel mask parts do that first here.

Snorkel Mask Fitting - Step 1 - Measure Your Face
First, take a good look at your face. Is it narrow or wide? Are your eyes close together or wide apart? Nicole has a wider face than mine, and my eyes are much closer together than hers. Her mask will not seal on my face, and mine is too narrow for hers.

Is your nose bigger or smaller? Do you have much space under your nose above your lip? Try to pick a mask based on these things first, instead of how many windows there are or how the mask appears.

Now test it on your face. Pull the straps over the top of the mask and try the mask on your face (without putting the strap around your head). You must look in a mirror and notice where the skirt foot lies. Is it too narrow around the sides of your eyes? What about your nose, does it have plenty of room? You should not be pulling the nose pocket up against the underside of your nose. How about the bridge of your nose? Does the hard frame or glass rest on your nose anywhere? How about when you push the mask in a little bit? Because when you are snorkeling, water pressure will press the mask onto your face a bit.

Snorkel Mask Fitting - Step 3 - Do The Suction Test
Now, with the strap still over the top (not over your head yet), put the mask to your face, press slightly, inhale a small amount through your nose to suction it to your face, and release your hands. The mask should stay on your face without continuing to inhale. You should be able to move around a bit without it following off. Try moving your face muscles a bit. Does that break the seal? Try smiling. That will often break a seal on even a good fitting mask. But see what it does. (Sometimes Nicole and I try to get each other to laugh when snorkeling to cause each other's face mask to flood).

Snorkel Mask Fitting - Step 4 - Put It On Fully
Good so far? Notice that a good fitting mask will stay on with just a little suction. Now try it with the mask strap on your head. You should get an airtight fit with very light strap pressure. If you have to pull the straps tight to get a fit, or if you have big red marks when it comes off, you have it too tight. A leaky mask is more often a case of straps too tight than too loose. Also, make sure with the mask fully on that you can easily pinch your nose so that you can clear your ears when diving underwater.

Snorkel Mask Fitting - Step 5 - Try It With A Snorkel
Finally, with your mask on with the straps, see what happens to the seal when you put a snorkel in your mouth. Most folks don't do this, but it can really change the shape of your face and break the seal of some masks. If it does, try another mask.

Snorkel Mask Fitting - Step 6 - Found A Fit?
This step is easy. If you have found a mask that fits you perfectly, buy it! The price does not matter if it fits well. (OK. If the price does matter, you can note the exact model, size, and manufacturer and check online to see how much you might save. The place we like best for buying snorkeling equipment online is Amazon.com.) Also take a careful look at what the mask looks like because the same mask is often sold branded with different names by different companies.

And if you are buying all new equipment, consider buying a snorkel set. You will save money.

Now finish the video that we started watching earlier. It goes through fitting a mask to a person. It pretty much covers what I have written, minus a few steps.

Continue to our Snorkel Guide

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