Snorkeling Will Never Look the Same Again!

I recently learned about something very, very cool, and something I wish I had known about before traveling to Aruba: prescription goggles! As someone who’s worn glasses and contacts since I was 8 years old and who loves to snorkel, this is very exciting. Prescription goggles and prescription masks enable snorkelers to be able to see perfectly without having to worry about their contacts. I don’t know about you, but I have enough problems to worry about when I snorkel: foggy lenses, staying afloat, fish that want to nibble on my toes. I detest having to wear contacts when I’m at the beach because all it takes is one tiny grain of sand and I have to take out my contact, rinse, and then put it back in my now red and severely aggravated eye. I’ve actually never had a problem of losing my contacts in the water (yet!), but I know that’s always a possibility, and it’s nerve-wracking.

I’m still at the beginning stages of my research, but it looks as though you can get prescription goggle for prescriptions as bad as -10; this is actually better than my vision but it’s close enough! Seeing clearly underwater without worries. This is sounding better and better.

The only hiccup I can think of with this product is this: what do you do if you have to take your goggles off? Or what do you do when you get out of the water? Put on glasses? People like me with really bad eyes are, for all intents and purposes, blind without contacts, and I’m not sure how I feel about bringing a pair of glasses with me to the beach…but it’s got to be a better solution than wearing contacts underwater.

It looks like prescription goggles run around $25-$50, but masks range from $100-$300, so they’re more of an investment. Definitely something to think about as I plan my next snorkel expedition.

Photo: Sarah_Ackerman