Anybody have experience with these? I found some here

https://www.swimoutlet.com/pre...-swim-goggles-c9623/

I also found them on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=n...5&crid=1PHT5JPXJM36H

I believe the goggles would work for me, occasional sight seeing and shallow reef diving.

They ask for the Diopter number, where is this on your normal prescription? Spherical? I am near sighted with SPH -3.0 and -2.5

Any knowledge is appreciated

Use the numbers from your normal prescription, I guess -3.0 and -2.5 from your example. The swim goggles will give underwater correction that is appropriate for those numbers.

I spent some time in the dive industry and sold a lot of corrective lenses for dive masks. They work quite well.

Have you used goggles before? You said it's for occasional sight seeing and shallow reef diving, but in my experience, a mask would be much better, even in what would be a snorkeling scenario, since keeping water out of your nose is important underwater. I'd highly recommend a dive mask rather than goggles, even though they are somewhat more expensive. Keep in mind that fit is much more important than price -- for me, the low- to medium-priced masks worked better than the expensive ones.

Getting back to corrective lenses, they don't correct for astigmatism unless you get them custom-made. For most astigmatisms, though, simply increasing the diopter number slightly will correct sufficiently. Most dive shops should be able to fit lenses (they snap in) to your new mask, so all you have to do is interchange them at the shop until you get a good result.

I'll check back this evening in case you have any specific questions I can help with.

Have fun! I really miss scuba diving!

P.S. I just found that the mask I used years ago, my all-time favorite, is still available! Here's a link to the manufacturer's page, but I caution again that fit is more important than price. Find a local dealer and check it out there:

https://tusa.com/us-en/TUSA/Masks/Liberator_Plus

quote:

occasional sight seeing and shallow reef diving.

I would discourage goggles for these activities. I worked full time in the scuba industry as a dive shop manager and instructor for more than a decade. Sold HUNDREDS of Rx masks. Also sold a lot of Rx goggles for swimmers. Goggles are NOT designed to provide you any sort of good view of the landscape around you. They are designed for swimmers to keep the water out of your eyes and to allow you to stop, look up and be able to see.

That Liberator Plus is a good mask, and you can find inserts where you replace the glass and insert the Rx. It may or may not be your exact Rx, as they come in negative diopters in .5 increments. (-1.5, -2.0, -2.5, -3.0 and so on.) There are different versions of the Liberator available and made by different companies. Go with a good quality version with a surgical silicone skirt.

I would NOT buy a mask online. Although the Liberator Plus fits a very wide variety of faces, my experience was that it would not work for three of 10.

You can do different diopter inserts for L or R.

If you have the means - and depending on your Rx - I would suggest you head to a local dive shop and try on masks to see what fits. Comfort and fit is everything. Clean and prep the mask correctly and try it in a pool, lake or wherever to ensure it fits. Do not tighten the strap to get it to seal, the mask should seal on its own with just the pressure of the surrounding water. Strap is there to hold it on your head.

If it's good-to-go, buy the diopter inserts as it is a reasonable priced option.

Ideally, you may want to have the local dive shop work with Scuba Optics in Rock Falls, Ill. to have your Rx ground correctly and bonded to the original lenses of the mask. There are different options other than bonding too. If your lenses are really thick, the Liberator Plus may not work for you as the mask is already pretty low profile.

Every customer that went that route - for snorkeling or diving - said going with the Rx mask was something they should have done a long time ago.

Scuba Optics is the go-to company in the industry that does this kind of stuff, unless you go the "pop-in lens" route.

If you wear contacts, you can just wear them if you'd like. Many folks do, especially those with daily lenses that they would be ok if they lost one.

This is some great info, thank you. I do have astigmatism, didn't think of that. The mask option y'all suggested are great, depending on cost.

The wife started this conversation yesterday, suggesting that I get contacts for diving but, only for occasional use because she thinks I'm handsome with glasses

I will check out a dive shop, looks like one is on my way home

If you go the Scuba Optics route with a good mask and your exact Rx being ground, you can expect the price to be about the same as a new pair of glasses with lenses. Maybe a bit more.

If you went the pop-in lens route, I'm guessing that will be less than $110, but I've been out-of-the retail game for a bit.

One thing I forgot ... goggles are exclusively for swimming on the surface. A mask covers your nose to allow you to equalize the pressure in the mask as you descend. This is very important even if you're just going to the bottom of an 8-foot pool.

Steve provided good detail to my over-view, and all his points are correct, except one I disagree with, contact lenses. I forgot about Scuba Optics, but they were the best source when I was in the industry as well. For your prescription, though, I'd try pop-in lenses in a two-lens mask that fits before spending the extra money.

Many dive shops used to have access to a swimming pool, even on the same property, and I'd suggest trying out the mask that way if you can. It would also be a good way to judge if your astigmatism is compensated for; and if you need adjustment, the dive shop would be able to handle that on-the-spot.

As to using contact lenses, one stern word of advice: DON'T!!!

It's very easy to get water under them, and either lose them when they pop out, or get an infection from the sea water that collects. As we used to tell customers, "Don't forget that fish fuck in that water!"

I'd be interested to hear if Steve's experience is different (better than mine), and considering that my time was further in the past than his, and much shorter than his ten years, I'll go with it.

As long as the contacts are gas-permeable, soft lenses you're good-to-go. Dailies or contacts you're willing to loose are probably best.

Not saying it's impossible, but I've never seen any sort of eye infection associated with scuba or snorkeling even with contacts. I'm willing to bet I had 100 or more students that were wearing contacts during training. I just had them ensure their eyes were closed during mask drills.

Honestly, I can't even remember a student or diver loosing a contact. If they did, they did not make a big deal about it or even tell me that I can recall. I worked at a dive shop in the Bahamas for a year and can't recall an event happening there either.

If the Rx is pretty straight forward, I too think the pop-ins are a good solution. Save the original lenses of course, and if you elect to go the ground or bonded route, you can do that later. If you have a good bit of astigmatism, and the cylinder/axis numbers are severe, the ground Rx route may be preferred.

quote:

Originally posted by steve495:
As long as the contacts are gas-permeable, soft lenses you're good-to-go. Dailies or contacts you're willing to loose are probably best...

I'll keep that in mind if it ever comes up again. Haven't had the opportunity to dive in so many years, that I lost my certification card and never replaced it.