Stupid Question - What do you do with your camera while snorkeling?
 

So I hear its not safe to leave your goods on the beach while snorkeling. (Im going to st john by the way)

So Im ok with putting our wallet/money/hotel keys in a ziploc....but what about the camera?!?

Without going out and spending $300 on a waterproof camera is there another solution?

Buy a couple single use underwater Kodak Cameras. They really work great down to 12 ft. or so, and also on the beach, you don't have to worry about sand.

It has a rubberband on that you can connect to your wrist when snorkeling. If you would happen to lose it, you're only out a few bucks. We've had very good luck with the pictures that we get with it.

Save your good camera for all those glorious sunsets!

We sometimes take an underwater camera disposal camera with us when we go snorkeling (no one ever wants to steal them). Most times, however, we don't bother with a camera while on the beach.

There's also something called a dry bag that you can get that is guaranteed watertight. Some people get them for daytrips between the BVI & USVI and keep their passports in them so they're always with them. The bags then can attach around your waist so you can wear them while snorkeling. Take a look at websites like www.magellans.com for dry bags.

We have a waterproof plastic carrying case with a string that goes over the neck. We put ID's, credit cards and cash it in. You can buy one at any dive shop, Sporting good store or tourist merchandise store. We bought our first one from Avon and the second one at a tourist store on BVI.

Before we purchased our waterproof digital camera, which I love and don't see how I ever lived without it on vacation before, we left the good camera in the hotel safe and used a waterproof disaposable.

check with a local dive shop. They usually have a variety of underwater dive bags.

Very easy solution, I do this all the time. I take a few heavy duty zip-loc freezer bags with me. Use the gallon size. You can easily fit your camera inside the case into these bags. Now just bury it in the sand a couple feet from your stuff, and mark it with a tiny stick or something. Problem solved.

Of course if some unscrupulous person happens to see you burying the camera your problems could just be starting.

You're right, so obviously you need to use a little discretion upon burying it (if there are people around). On St John, there are so few people on most of the beaches, this was never an issue. I used this trick a few times on busier beaches in Grand Cayman and also on St Thomas, and it worked like a charm. Again, don't be obvious about it, and it will work.

I read about this "portable safe" in one of the travel magazines (or maybe it was a newspaper article...can't recall, too much rum punch in my memory cells). It had a very good review. I've never used, so I can't vouch for it. But you may want to look it up.
http://www.corporatetravelsafety.com..._safe_100.html

If you really want to try the underwater photography without the expense of buying an(expensive) underwater camera and you are not happy with the results from "throw-aways", I have seen some dive shops in vacation locations that rent nice underwater cameras for the day. It is worth checking out- not sure about SJ. We finally broke down and bought one a couple of years ago so we leave the land camera at the house on water days and take the water camera with us- just depends on how much you are into the photos or the challenge of getting "good ones".

Just bought the Olympus SW790, about US$200... tiny camera, 7.1MP, and waterproof to 10 feet, perfect for snorkelling !

This is a "dry bag" type of camera case that will let you take your new camera in the water and use it to take pictures.

http://www.accessorygeeks.com/waterp...se-wp-500.html

We take our camera with us underwater! We have a Panasonic Lumix TZ3 and bought an underwater case for it (I think it was about $150). It has little thingys in it that make all the functions usable on the camera, and DH took wonderful pictures while snorkeling on a liveaboard (i.e. 3-4 times a day) in Australia. We wouldn't go in the water without it.
Sally in Seattle