My wife and I just returned from a week in Kauai and we loved almost everything we did (luau was a big let down). In our first day there we did a boat tour of Napali coast, and the last thing on the tour was a 30 minute stop near the marina to do a little snorkeling. My wife and I had never done it before but we both loved it so much that we rented some gear that evening for the rest of the week and ended up snorkeling 8 different beaches on 4 days.

I’d like to start doing it more. I don’t love on the coast of CA, but the nearest coast is an easy 2 hour drive, albeit with much colder water.

Help catch me up! What do I need to snorkel in the colder waters of CA (Monterey Bay is currently 54 degrees).

Can masks be purchased online or is it really a better idea to go to a retail location with options and fit them? We have one scuba shop in town but can easily drive to Santa Cruz where I imagine there are several scuba and surf shops.

I've snorkeled, and free dived, most of my life. I took up scuba about 6 years ago. I would recommend going to a good dive shop- you will need to get wet suits for the cold water, and get properly fitted for a mask and good fins.

There isn't much water pressure at the surface, but as you gain comfort, you may start diving down deeper when you snorkel. This is when a good fitting mask will be a big deal.

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Diving off coastal CA is....well, it's not warm that's for sure, it's also pretty rocky and isn't known to be gentile. Unless you like getting tangled in kelp and seeing your skin turn translucent due to the cold, your best snorkeling options are going to be Channel Islands and south. From the Channel Islands northward, you'll need a full-suit, to include booties, gloves and a hood, visibility is best around August. Anybody seen with snorkeling gear Northward is assumed to be abalone diving...which is a sport unto itself. Did I mention those pesky sea otters and asshole sea lions?

Best to take a trip to the coast, pop into a dive shop and ask about conditions, locations and other info. In Monterey, my go-to shop is Bamboo Reef.

quote:

Originally posted by TigerDore:
I've snorkeled, and free dived, most of my life. I took up scuba about 6 years ago. I would recommend going to a good dive shop- you will need to get wet suits for the cold water, and get properly fitted for a mask and good fins.

There isn't much water pressure at the surface, but as you gain comfort, you may start diving down deeper when you snorkel. This is when a good fitting mask will be a big deal.

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I’m pretty comfortable in waters having swam (pools) all my life… I was happily holding my breath and diving down periodically. Fogging was an issue at times, but the mask was solid, though maybe not the most comfortable. There was, though, occasional issues throughout the week with don’t water seeping in… I think maybe around the nose but I’m not sure.

Buoyancy was an issue when trying to dive down…. Guess I’m carrying around too much fat!

quote:

Originally posted by corsair:
Diving off coastal CA is....well, it's not warm that's for sure, it's also pretty rocky and isn't known to be gentile. Unless you like getting tangled in kelp and seeing your skin turn translucent due to the cold, your best snorkeling options are going to be Channel Islands and south. From the Channel Islands northward, you'll need a full-suit, to include booties, gloves and a hood, visibility is best around August. Anybody seen with snorkeling gear Northward is assumed to be abalone diving...which is a sport unto itself. Did I mention those pesky sea otters and asshole sea lions?

Best to take a trip to the coast, pop into a dive shop and ask about conditions, locations and other info. In Monterey, my go-to shop is Bamboo Reef.

Thanks for the info. We have a visit to the Channel Islands on our radar from even before snorkeling, so it’s good to know it is an option to get in the water there. What about Catalina?

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Originally posted by thumperfbc:
I’m pretty comfortable in waters having swam (pools) all my life… I was happily holding my breath and diving down periodically. Fogging was an issue at times, but the mask was solid, though maybe not the most comfortable. There was, though, occasional issues throughout the week with don’t water seeping in… I think maybe around the nose but I’m not sure.

Buoyancy was an issue when trying to dive down…. Guess I’m carrying around too much fat!

There are solutions you can put in your mask to prevent the fogging. Face shapes can be so different that comfort and a tight fit can end up being a trade-off.

I enjoy snorkeling. I hope you continue to have a blast with it!


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The water at Catalina is reasonably warm. A thin wetsuit would work, plus cap. Gloves are optional. Check out the various freedive specialty stores. Many dive shops have both free dive and scuba masks. For mask and fins, best to buy them in person, especially for the mask. For fins, long flexible fins are best, they use 1/3 the energy of scuba fins.

I used to have a boat in Baha, and free dove a lot. Lots and lots of spearfishing, etc. I dove in NorCal a lot but eventually had to go to a drysuit because of the cold. This is Steve, local organizer for many Opspec training classes at RRGC. Send me an email if you like, I can give more info over the telephone.

Visit a shop and try on some masks. People's faces are shaped differently so the mask I love and have dived for 10+ years may not work for you. Some shops have great staff that will help you some are just there to sell you whatever they can. If you don't feel like they are trying to help you get the right gear find another shop.

A hint when trying them on push the strap up on top of the mask out of the way. Then put the mask on your face like you would wear it. Do not use the strap. Suck in through your nose. Let go of the mask. Does it stay on, it should. How does it feel. A mask should pinch or be uncomfortable.

You don't need the most expensive gear or mask just one that works for you.

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Originally posted by comet24:
A hint when trying them on push the strap up on top of the mask out of the way. Then put the mask on your face like you would wear it. Do not use the strap. Suck in through your nose. Let go of the mask. Does it stay on, it should. How does it feel. A mask should pinch or be uncomfortable.

You don't need the most expensive gear or mask just one that works for you.

Excellent tip.


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My advice is to avoid sharks…I understand you guys have the big ones off CA.

I went into the water during EMT school in Petaluma, IIRC we went out of Station Bodega Bay, and the water was frigid. And they told us later they had whites.

But basically what the others have said. Go to a dive shop and try on masks and suits. I remember I had a 6mil suit when I was diving bc I was skinny and had no body fat. I got cold in 70° Crystal River even in the suit.

Since the mask has been covered pretty well, talk about fins.

You want them to not be too long and flexible.

As your legs get stronger you can go longer and stiffer.

A too-long or stiff fin tires you out more quickly until you build up your muscles.

I would buy a mask and snorkel and rent the fins vest and wet suit until you figure out what works best for you.

Where you dive and when will determine what thickness of wet suit you need.

Wet suit thickness is important, too thin and you will be cold and want to end the dive too thick and you will be sweating inside the suit and be uncomfortable most of the time.

Decades ago I was a PADI Divemaster.

I grew up diving in COLD WATER, after spending weeks diving in warm water, I was less thrilled with cold water.

Snorkeling in cold water is very different than warm water.

Try it a few times before you invest in anything besides the mask and snorkel.

Have fun, snorkeling and diving are great sports.

Go to a few dive shops before you buy anything.

Most dive shops only carry a couple of lines of manufacturers. There are a few dozen lines of gear.

Find shops near where you want to snorkel.
Nothing replaces local knowledge.

Snorkeling in Hawaii is not only comfortable because of 80-degree water, it’s interesting because of the variety of fish, coral and other sea life. Mind you, apparently it’s a tiny fraction of the variety one can see in the Philippines.

I would ask our SF brothers and sisters if they would describe what kind of sea life one can see off the coast of California. We live in San Diego—-I’ve never snorkeled here! Ha!

My hunch is it’s not going to be very interesting—I’d love to be wrong about that.

I’ve got friends/ohana in Hawaii, some natives too. They don’t do luaus. Luaus are tourist/haole turf.

Get a wetsuit. I have 1/2, and full, depending on the water temps. If you ever go back, and go to Maui, do not book Molokini trips until you are there, never prior to being on the island. Call every day and figure out what the wind is doing because 9/10, they’ll take you to Coral Gardens to snorkel and it sucks there.

You can get cheap wetsuits on Amazon. They may be just fine if you only go out a few times. If you stick with it, get a better suit.

At 54 degrees, you probably want 3-5mm depending on your personal comfort, exertion level and flexibility needs.

Oh, and a rash guard of some type under the suit is a must. It makes getting the suit on easier and helps keep the seams and zippers from rubbing you raw.

Some good advice so far.

I agree big time with investing the time and money in a well fitting mask. I prefer a low volume mask for snorkeling with side glass and a lighter color, which I think makes the mask less noticeable when wearing it. If you need reading glasses you can get masks with corrections in the glass along the bottom part of the mask. Definitely buy one in person somewhere with the most options to try out. I replace the mask straps with after market straps made out of neoprene for comfort.

A snorkel with a flexible hose will be more comfortable and a purge valve makes it easier to clear. You can get different sized mouthpieces which can make the snorkel more comfortable.

Full foot or open foot fins? I use open foot and a pair of booties. I do shote entries and like the footwear when climbing over rocky shorelines to get into deeper water. We don't take our fins when we fly and use whatever the tour operator has. Usually full foot fins which are fine since we are snorkeling off of a boat.

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Originally posted by MikeinNC:
My advice is to avoid sharks…I understand you guys have the big ones off CA.

Generally not an issue. Whites will avoid the kelp forests, which is where most of the interesting stuff is. Shark encounters usually occur because they're in hot-pursuit of a seal or, it's an unusually dumb juvenile that isn't long to live. Leopard sharks on the other hand are much more common and they're harmless bottom feeders in/around the shallows.

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Originally posted by sjtill:
I would ask our SF brothers and sisters if they would describe what kind of sea life one can see off the coast of California. We live in San Diego—-I’ve never snorkeled here! Ha!

My hunch is it’s not going to be very interesting—I’d love to be wrong about that.

One the big side, you'll encounter seals and sea otters, occasionally turtles, sea lions and whales if you're far enough from shore.
Most diving is close to shore where the kelp forests provide protection and food for the sea life. Getting around can be tough for the inexperienced thus, you stay down around the sea floor where the 'trunks' of the kelp are less of a problem than the leaves & pods which are closer to the surface.
All manor of rockfish and lingcod are present, jellies depending on currents and conditions, lots of urchins, anemones, sponges, nudibranchs and dendronotids, occasionally an octopus or eel, crabs, mussels, certain locations lobsters and abalone. Further off-shore there's a number of sea mounts where there's coral reefs.

Being in San Diego, you'll have a much higher concentration of spiny lobsters, the bright orange state fish, Garibaldi and the occasional ray and turtle.

We traveled to Hawaii with a list of six things we wanted to see and do on two of the islands during our 7 day stay.

Snorkeling canceled out four of the other items,
Four days of snorkeling was a dream come true for an eastern Iowa bumpkin.