Diving Masks – A Guide to Choosing the Right One

Every dive starts with the mask. If it leaks, if it constantly fogs up, if it pinches or doesn’t fit properly, the whole dive can be pretty miserable. Let’s be honest – a coral reef, a shipwreck or spearfishing don’t depend nearly as much on the shape of your fins as they do on whether your mask leaks or is fogged up like a bathroom mirror after a hot shower.

A good diving mask has that magic quality where you almost forget you’re wearing it. That way you can focus completely on your surroundings and finding the best spot to watch. That’s exactly the kind of diving masks we carry.

Types and Selection

• For spearfishing: most spearos want a low-volume mask that equalises with half a breath and gives razor-sharp focus on the prey.
• For snorkelling: younger divers and beginners love full-face masks – perfect for relaxed viewing of the underwater world.
• The most popular choice: frameless masks – light, easy to pack into a backpack and give you the widest possible field of view.

Sometimes you just want to swim on the surface for an hour and work on your stroke. In that case, swimming goggles for the sea are a better idea.

Fit and Materials

We have masks that fit round faces, small faces, kids’ faces and full-face versions. The most important part is the soft silicone that gently moulds to your face. Mask lenses are almost always tempered glass; plastic ones you’ll only find on swimming goggles. Masks with fabric straps are a lifesaver for long-haired divers – no more hair-pulling.

The mask that suits you isn’t the cheapest one. It’s the one that fits you perfectly and does the job flawlessly.

Tips

One last tip from the shop floor: spitting in the mask still works best.

Anti-fog spray is fine too – but spit is free and never fails.