Having the right accessories makes snorkeling and swimming so much more fun!
Snorkeling is one of those fun activities that nearly everyone can do regardless of their level of fitness. Adding some quality and useful accessories to your kit helps make a beach holiday a much more enjoyable activity for the whole family.
With snorkeling, you obviously need a good mask and snorkel, but have you thought about adding a pair of fins (flippers), booties, and a snorkel vest?
To help save you time, we've put together a list of the best quality brands of snorkel fins, masks, booties, and other accessories.
More...
Click the line item below to find the answer to take you to the accessory you're most interested in, or keep scrolling to see all of our recommendations.
Snorkeling Vests
Not a confident swimmer but still want to enjoy snorkeling?
Snorkel vests allow you to lower your head into the water and are specifically designed to help you manage your buoyancy in the water. They are inflated and deflated by the wearer using a tube on the chest area.
Even good swimmers benefit from snorkel vests. These take the hard work out of snorkeling in choppy water, or for longer periods. You'll find many fit young snorkelers use a vest as hit helps to prolong their snorkeling time.
Snorkel vests are not life preservers. Life preservers are designed to keep your head up and out of the water. Snorkel vests will let you adjust your buoyancy levels to allow you to go underwater
Snorkeling vests come in two styles - a full vest style with a front and back panel, or a horse-shoe style which has ties to hold it in place. If you're not a strong swimmer, then wearing and learning to control a snorkel vest will give you some peace of mind.
#1 - Jetty Snorkel Vest
The Jetty snorkel vest by Wildhorn Outfitters is adjustable and made from premium materials suited to snorkeling, swimming and other low impact water sports.
The lock valve is secure and positioned so you can easily adjust your buoyancy at any time. The valve is easy to open and close, and only takes seconds to inflate or deflate.
This snorkel vest is comfortable and one of the most compact snorkel vests on the market, so great for traveling. It's designed to fit snugly around the waist so it doesn't ride up, and has a single sided entry point which makes it easy and quick to get on and off.
#2 - ScubaPro Snorkel Vest
The ScubaPro snorkel vest is a quality product that offers a nice sense of security. It covers both the front and back of the swimmer giving extra sun protection. These are easy to inflate, and deflate and are very comfortable to wear.
The ScubaPro snorkel vest is a quality product and this is reflected in its price. This is a product that will last for more than one holiday season.
#3 - Cressi Snorkel Vest
The Cressi Snorkel Vest is ideal for new snorkelers. This vest has an adjustable waist band and crotch strap for a secure fit. The waist and crotch straps are squeeze-style" side-release buckles.
To read about any of these snorkel vests in more details, click the image link below.
Booties / Swimming Socks
#1 - Seavenger Premium 3mm Neoprene Bootie Socks
Not only can you match your booties to your fins, and you'll also avoid cutting your feet on coral or rocks with these Seavenger Premium 3 mm neoprene booties.
These are 4-way stretchable neoprene for great fit. They have a dotted silkscreen sole to provide some traction to avoid slipping on slimy rock surfaces. These also have blind-stitched seams to give extra strength, comfort and durability.
#2 - Fun Toes Snorkeling Socks
Fun Toes are 2.5 mm thick neoprene socks that will not only cut down on the chafing caused from fins, boards and water skis, but they'll also keep your feet warm. The water socks have grip soles to help stop slipping.
These snorkel socks have extra thick soles with reinforced stitching to give good protection for the bottom of your feet.
They come in a set of 2 pairs and will protect your feet against sharp rocks or coral even when you're not wearing snorkel fins.
#3 - L-RUN Unisex Water Shoes
L-RUN specialize in multi-functional barefoot water and fitness shoes.
One big advantage of these is that they have an anti-skid, ultra-lightweight and breathable outer sole. They are made with quick-drying vamps fabric - this will help keep the mold away.
Snorkel Fins (Flippers)
#1 - Wildhorn Outfitters Snorkel Fins/Socks
Wildhorn Outfitters not only produce quality products, they also have excellent customer service.
Their topside fins are something different from the ordinary. These are both a shoe or bootie and a fin. The neoprene bootie has some stretch allowing for a little flexibility in sizing.
These fit like a shoe and have a closed-in toe which will help prevent cramping and hypertension in your foot. Each fin has an adjustable Velcro strap around the ankle to provide further support.
#2 - Cressi Palau (SAF) Short Fins
Cressi Palau Short Fin is an adjustable fin great for using in the pool or at the beach. It has a soft short blade and foot pocket with a good heel strap making it easy to release or adjust when needed but won't slip or loosen as you swim.
These are short enough to fit in carry-on or regular luggage without taking up too much room.
These can be worn barefoot or over thin booties and come in 3 sizes and each size will adjust to fit 3 to 4 consecutive sizes taking the stress out of ordering online.
The Cressi Palau Short Fins come in 3 colors, yellow, blue and pink.
What is a Dry Top Snorkel and what stops water from getting in?
Many snorkel tubes have a dry top snorkel system. These snorkels have a hollow ball float inside the snorkel piece.
Each time as you go under water, the ball float rises and stops water from coming into the snorkel and into your mouth. As you surface, the float drops and allows air back into the tube. If a little water gets in to the snorkel tube, it's channeled out through a valve at the bottom.
These snorkels can be a little bulkier than a regular snorkel due to the float mechanism but this is barely noticeable.
Favorite Traditional Snorkeling Mask Sets
Promate Premium Range of Dry Top Snorkel Sets
The Promate Premium Dry Snorkel sets are a quality firm favorite. They have extra flex and a silicone mouth piece making them more comfortable for longer.
The mask is low volume and double lens. The nose pocket is soft enough to allow for equalizing which is ideal for both beginners and experienced divers.
This Promate Snorkel set comes in Pink, Blue and Black.
Cressi Mask & Fin Snorkel Sets
Cressi have been making quality masks, fins and other snorkeling and diving gear for a very long time. Cressi have a range of snorkel mask and fins sets available at Scuba.com (formerly LeisurePro).
Cressi Short Palau Mask, Fin & Snorkel Set
Cressi's Junior Snorkel Set comes in two sizes and is designed for kids aged from 6 to around 14.
The set includes a set of fins, a traditional style two window face mask with a silicone skirt edge that's designed for narrower faces.
The package also includes a curved Dry Top snorkel - it has a splash guard on the end with a valve that seals the snorkel as you go under water.
The snorkel is designed to go on left side of face so that it can be attached to the mask strap by a snorkel keeper clip.
The fins are composite duel vented blades. These give great power in your kicks and save energy while swimming. They have an open-heel with soft and comfortable foot pockets with easy to adjust buckles.
Comprehensive review
Nice roundup! I just got back from Sardinia of all places and this article helped me a lot before going.
So glad read this
I was so glad to read this before we went to Curacao. We would have only been able to use the resort’s for an hour and our room was clear across the property. We were able to swim without fins when we wanted with our own masks and snorkels.
To store them, we left them in our carry bags along with our water shoes.
Thank you!