Snorkel Vest Rental

Newbie0 Joined: 27 Sep 2008 Posts: 12 Location: Maryland

We have masks, snorkels and fins, but we may want to rent snorkel vests for some off shore snorkeling in deeper water (wife is nervous). Are there places where we can rent just the vests? Do they have rentals for more than 1 day?

Posted: Mon Nov 17, 2008 11:07 pm Post subject:

DanS1 - From what I've read, the price may be right to buy them rather than trust a rental. I'm sure they're all tested and everything, but I personally wouldn't trust a rental inflatable vest. Again, it may just be me.

Plus, if you're looking at cost effectiveness, at the price that I've seen them stateside, you may save some money buying them outright, even if they never see the mainland after your trip.

Newbie0 Joined: 27 Sep 2008 Posts: 12 Location: Maryland

Thanks, so far I have only seen vests in dive shops for about $50. I see them for $30 online, but I am leaving Thursday morning, so I don't have time to order them. Do any big stores, WalMart, Costco, BJs, etc. carry them, or do you have any other ideas?

Posted: Tue Nov 18, 2008 3:57 pm Post subject:

What about a place like Sportmart? Don't know if they would still have them in your area at this time of year though.

Shelly :-)

Posted: Tue Nov 18, 2008 6:31 pm Post subject:

I think it's very possible that any of the dive shops would be happy to rent a snorkel vest for multiple days, allowing you to keep it rather than return it each day. I'm pretty sure that Sundivers up at the Turtle Reef at the Cracked Conch would do that......tell them that Char (Charlene to them) said they would Wink

Here's our information on that dive/snorkel site

One reason that I would recommend renting one rather than buying, is that as people feel more comfortable in the water, they often don't feel that they need the vest anymore. In fact, many find it annoying......it would be a shame to buy one and then only use it once or twice. Not saying that it's not a good thing to use or that anything is wrong with using one......it's just very common for people to think that they need one, only to find out that they're just fine without it.

Char

Native0 Joined: 31 Jan 2007 Posts: 1026 Location: Illinois

Do you have a shop that sells dive and snorkel equipment close to you? That's where we bought ours......I would much rather have my own due to the fact you are blowing air into them....I'm a real germ freak about that kind of stuff......never know if it's cleaned properly.

Newbie0 Joined: 27 Sep 2008 Posts: 12 Location: Maryland

Post deleted. Member given time out to read our TOS.

- Joe

Newbie0 Joined: 27 Sep 2008 Posts: 12 Location: Maryland

We went without snorkel vests, and we were fine. I feared that my wife wouldn't want to swim out very far to a reef, but we went in at Cemetary Beach, and she quickly saw how easy it is to float in the salt water, and there was no real current or waves to deal with. We stayed in the water for a long time and never got tired, and we are old folks. You can lay motionless and watch the fish for as long as you like. We did have fins, which I highly recommend.