Snorkel Set Buying Guide
Save Money But Sacrifice Good Fit
Buying a snorkel set can be a good idea if you are on a tight budget, instead of buying your pieces of snorkeling gear separately. You can buy mask, snorkel, and fins sets, with a decent bag for it, all for under $50. We bought our first snorkeling gear as a set from Costco many years ago. And looking back we see what a bargain it was. Just to compare, when buying quality snorkel gear individually you can easily spend $50-$100 on a mask, $40 is typical for a good snorkel, $75 is average for quality fins, and then a bag is $30 to $50. That all adds up to $200-250 or more.
But, for the best fit and quality, we recommend you buy your pieces individually. If you are a new snorkeler, it may seem a good idea to get cheap equipment to see if you like the sport first. But if you get poor fitting, uncomfortable, leaky gear, you may end up disliking snorkeling because of it.
Pros of Buying a Snorkel Set
- Save Money - As mentioned above, you could spend a lot less than buying gear separately.
- Better Than Renting - For the cost of renting gear for a couple of days you could buy your own set, and the quality of the gear may be better.
Cons of Buying an Inexpensive Snorkel Set
- Fitting Issues - It normally takes trying on many different masks and fins to find a good fit for your face and feet, so buying it all together you very likely will have fitting issues with one or more parts of the set. Snorkels can also be very specific to your mouth and body size.
- Quality Issues - If it costs 1/4 the price, there is a reason. Likely the mask skirt will not have a high percentage of silicone, or will be plastic. The same goes for the mouthpiece and flexible tube on the snorkel. Inexpensive dry snorkels rarely work well. The fins also may have hard plastic sections that will not last as long as quality fins and may be uncomfortable.
- Safety Issues - We would avoid buying a full face snorkel mask set unless you are absolutely sure it is a brand that tests for CO2 build-up (like the SEAC below). There are many really cheap options in sets that are very questionable in terms of safety.
- Short Fins - Many snorkel sets come with short travel fins. We don't recommend these. They do not provide enough power for when you are in a current, which is another safety issue.
You can buy snorkel sets in higher price ranges that do include higher quality pieces, and we have tried to link to some of those below. You can also buy sets that are just a mask and snorkel, and buy your fins separately.
Note: We do not test snorkel sets. On our mask, full face mask, snorkel, and fins pages we recommend equipment that we use ourselves, or have tested snorkeling. You can help us if you purchase from the links below. We may make a small commission, at no extra cost to you. Thank you.
Suggested Full Foot Fin Snorkel Sets
US Divers Cozumel Snorkel Set - In this very affordable set you get the basics: mask,
full foot fins, snorkel and a simple gear bag. The snorkel has a semi-dry top and a purge valve in the bottom, and a solid tube. Quality is not great, but the
price is hard to beat. There are many color choices and sizes available.
Mares Super-Channel Fins Set - We have tested the Super-Channel fins and many snorkelers love them. They are a high quality product with excellent propulsion, if the foot pockets work for your feet. The mask has a 100% silicone skirt, the snorkel has a silicone flexible tube, purge valve, and semi-dry top. The set costs over twice the price of the U.S. Divers gear above, but it is still a good discount compared to buying those pieces by themselves. The fins go for around $70 by themselves normally. There are other colors available.
Suggested Open Foot Snorkel Sets
Mares Volo One Marlin Snorkel Set With Bag - This is a super affordable open foot snorkel set made by a well respected manufacturer of snorkel gear. You really can't get gear for much less than this.
Cressi Palau Long Fin Snorkel Set - This set includes the popular open foot Cressi Palau long fins along with their Onda silicone skirt mask, and the Gamma dry snorkel with purge valve and silicone flexible tube. This is a good deal for a respected brand of gear.
Full Face Mask Snorkel Sets
SEAC Unica & Sprint Fins Set - The SEAC Unica Full Face Mask is one we have tried. SEAC is a quality Italian manufacturer, and their masks have been tested for safe CO2 levels. We also really like the SEAC fins. They have a lot of power for their size and are compact for traveling.
