Let’s Get You the Right Camera and Take Some Beautiful Pictures
I hope this snorkeling camera guide helps make your choice easy. Because picking a camera and getting good colorful pictures just about drove us nuts. Most underwater camera advice comes from divers. But snorkelers’ needs are different because we have plenty of light at the surface.
After years of snorkel trips, many cameras, and tens of thousands of pictures later, we know a few things to help you out. That’s Galen above, doing what he loves, taking a picture of the turtle (taken by Nicole).
We will help you get a camera that:
- Is reasonably priced
- Takes sharp, colorful pictures
- Is not too big
And answer these critical questions:
- How come my pictures are all blue?
- Why are my fish blurry?
- How do I make my pictures more beautiful?
- How do I prevent my camera from flooding with water?
- How come my lens and screen are fogging up?
Snorkeling Camera Options
2026 Best Snorkeling Cameras – Quick Buying Guide
If you are in a rush, this is where I share my top picks of all snorkeling camera types.
To learn more about each type of camera, and to see more options in other prices ranges, make sure and check out the pages below.
Waterproof Snorkel Cameras – Great Pictures and Affordable
This camera type is already waterproof, and does not need a separate housing. All of its little buttons and other doors have waterproof seals.
You can get excellent pictures, but these are not as durable as a camera with a separate housing. But for the price, this type of camera is best for most snorkelers.
DJI Osmo Action Cameras – Better Than a GoPro
The new DJI Action 6 camera has a number of features that make it stand out as a better snorkeling action camera than the newest GoPro models.
It has a larger sensor, for better low light and high contrast situations. It has a built-in white balance sensor, for amazing colors. And it is waterproof to twice the depth, has faster charging batteries, and better screens and menus. It is not perfect, so read about their flaws.
GoPro Action Cameras – Tiny, Light, Great Videos, Reasonable Cost
GoPro makes great little cameras, that take amazing 5K videos and good pictures. They are used extensively in action sports.
They are waterproof and you can add a housing. They are reasonable in price, but are very limited in controls.
Insta360 X5 Camera – Revolutionary Video System
360 degree cameras offer snorkelers some very creative ways to create travel videos, both underwater and above. And Insta360 has a set of new tools that are rather ground breaking.
These types of video cameras have their pros and cons for sure. The big pro is that you don’t have to carefully watch your camera, and can watch the underwater world instead. One of the big cons, is that they require more editing time.
iPhone Housings – Waterproof Case for a Great Camera
If you have an iPhone, you have a pretty good snorkeling camera already, with the correct waterproof housing. Read our tips for what housing to buy, and how to get the best pictures from it.
Android Phone Housings – Two Great Options
Use your Android phone as a snorkeling camera with one of our two favorite waterproof smartphone housings. These both work with almost any Android phone, like Samsung Galaxy, Google Pixel and many others.
There is an excellent and really affordable option, and one that cost a bit more, but provides full touch screen capability underwater.
Compact Cameras and Waterproof Housings – Excellent Pictures, Most Control, But Now Hard To Find
This category of camera is what we use and like for snorkeling. Unfortunately nearly every compact camera has now been discontinued, making it hard to find this kind of camera anymore, unless you happen to get a camera used and a housing.
If you can get one of these types of cameras they offer good image quality and excellent durability, in a fairly small package.
What Cameras Do We Use Snorkeling?
Canon G7X With Housing
We currently use the wonderful Canon G7X as our snorkeling camera. We wrote a full page review of it. It has a fast lens through its zoom range, a large one inch sensor, and fast focusing and shooting speeds. We use the Canon housing; it works well for this camera and was not very expensive.
Snorkeling Photography Tips
Snorkeling Camera Feature Descriptions
If you don’t understand what a fast F2.0 lens is, or why high ISO performance might matter, I go through all the important features of a good camera for snorkeling.
Underwater Camera and Housing Care and Maintenance
Learn how to prevent camera floods and fogging, and find some more tips on basic camera care.
Improve Your Snorkeling Photography
Learn how to get better color, create better compositions, and many more techniques for getting pictures that make people say wow!
Using an Underwater Tripod for Great Snorkeling Videos
We use a mini tripod to get very fishy videos. The videos are not all shaky like handheld videos. Learn how we do it and what underwater tripod we use.
Hey, if you have not learned enough yet about snorkeling cameras and photography, we share lots of those tips in our free monthly snorkeling newsletter.