We are going to Playa del Carmen and Akumal in January. This is our first Carribean trip, and we have never snorkelled. I have a few questions:
- Is it better to rent equipment near the hotel, or to buy the gear off the web? Since we live in a northern mountainous area, we are not exactly in snorkelling country, but I heard that renting equipment can be very pricey.
- Do you need to be in deep water to see much? Neither of us are great swimmers.
- Any other tips?

1. Go to a local dive shop and buy your mask. A bad fit and leaky mask will ruin every snorkel trip - especially if you are a newbie.

2. You can buy your snorkel and fins off the web (Ebay has great deals), but you can also buy pretty cheap fins at dive shops - you will KNOW that they fit.

3. Take your new gear to the local Y or gym with a pool and get accustomed to swimming with it and breathing through the snorkel - it's a different sensation. If you don't have time to do that, do it in the pool or in shallow water once you get there.

4. The snorkeling in PDC is not very good, so your time in Akumal is where you can see a lot. Go to Yalku Lagoon and Half Moon Bay, and you will be able to see PLENTY in 5 to 10' of water.

You can see some of the best things in shallow water.
Please don't touch or step/stand on the coral - it is alive and will die if touched.
Rental equip. is not usually very expensive, but it is almost always cheap and the mouthpieces have questionable/no sanitizing between uses.
Masks are a very individual fit, so at the very least, buy a mask and a cheap snorkel (no need to buy a $25 "dry" snorkel, the cheapies work just as well), and rent your fins there - usually only a couple of bucks. Fins take up a lot of space in luggage, but masks and snorkels can usually be tucked in a nook of your luggage.

Don't worry about not being strong swimmers - there is almost no swell - and be sure to wear a white T shirt or put plenty of sunscreen on your back. It's easy to burn when you get out there and get all caught up in what you are looking at and forget the time.

Have a great time, and have a drink at La Buena Vida for me!

The snorkeling in Playa del Carmen is rather poor. I have never seen a rental place for snorkel gear in Playa. However, there is a nice state park in Cancun for snorkeling, great snorkeling around Cozumel, and the prettiest and most colorful fish in the parks south of Playa del Carmen. But buy and bring your gear ahead of time. Snorkeling is simple. Takes just a few minutes to get used to the breathing. But do buy a good mask since a leaky mask can ruin your experience.

We'll be snorkeling in Akumal in February, and I second all the preceding comments: buy a mask that fits you (you don't need anything fancy); cheapest snorkel is OK.

Fins can go either way. I used to just take my own mask and snorkel, but many places will not rent you fins separately and you have to pay for the whole package. I finally bought the cheapest pair of fins I could find - for snorkeling, anything will do. I was fortunate enough to get a good fit on a Web order, but the dive shop route might be safer.

Other tips: rub saliva on the inside of the glass of the mask to prevent fogging. Anyone in your party who has a mustache might want to consider shaving it off for the trip (less leakage). Moderately bad eyesight isn't a problem, but I did buy a prescription mask - probably not worth it if you're not sure how often you'll be doing this.

Also, you might want to see if your hotel supplies snorkel gear (but I'd still buy a mask and snorkel).

Buy your mask and snorkle before you leave. Our local dive shop provided a trial pair of used prescription lenses for me to use on my first outing with an option to return if things did not work out.

We go to Cozumel every winter and snorkel all the time. Here is some advice I've put together for friends and relatives that visit. I wholeheartedly agree with all the previous posters advice as well.

-I highly recommend that you consider buying your own snorkel gear. The cost of renting gear is high ($7 - $10 per day for mask & tube only) and I worry about the cleanliness.  The quality of rented gear isn't the greatest either.  It's very important to get a proper fit and seal on the snorkel mask otherwise you'll have salt water in your eyes all the time and will hate the whole experience.  SportMart (or other equal quality sporting goods store) has adequate sets of snorkel equipment (mask, tube, and fins) in the reasonable price range.  I've even seen them at Target at times.  Quality equipment is a good investment.  Buying equipment in the island is somewhat expensive, but excellent quality.  Most is dive quality equipment, masks will start in the $50 range, tubes are $20+.   A good bet is a silicone mask.  This is the softest rubber with the best seal.  You want it to fit snug but not tight.  The mask should never leave deep marks on your face after you wear it.  Test the seal by placing the mask on your face (without the strap around your head) inhale through your nose and hold your breath.  If the mask stays on your face, its good, there are no leaks so water won't get in.  Make sure that the snorkel tube mouthpiece is also made of soft silicone rubber.  It will be in your mouth and rubbing on your gums, you want it to be as soft as possible.  A good Internet source for snorkel equipment, one we've used for many years isnbsp; Divers Direct at www.diversdirect.com

-If you're not a great swimmer or are a bit nervous about getting into the water to snorkel, consider using a water skier's belt.  It is a simple floatation device that fits around the waist.  It adds just enough buoyancy to let you feel really secure, yet doesn't hold your head up at the exaggerated angle of a collar style life vest.  I'm not a good swimmer but I used one for years and it worked well.  Now I use a shorty wet suit.  These can be rented at dive shops for about $10 per day.  This gives me the added buoyancy and added warmth.  Even though the climate is tropical the water can be very cold if you stay in for more than a few minutes. I just can't say enough about the beauty underwater.  Do whatever it takes to make yourself feel secure enough to enjoy the spectacular sights. 

-If, like me, you are blind without your corrective lenses consider a dive mask with correction (much like "cheater" drug store reading glasses) or consider contacts for snorkeling.  The water gives a bit of magnification, but not enough to make things clear if you're dependent on corrective lenses.

-Try night snorkeling.  You can rent large underwater flashlights from most dive shops for about $10.  Many reef creatures only venture out at night - like amazing blue octopus.

-I suggest that you purchase an underwater guidebook for the trip.  A good, inexpensive one is "Snorkeling Guide to Marine Life, Florida, Caribbean, Bahamas" by Paul Humann & Ned DeLoach.  It is a small (80 pg.) paperback book that costs about $12 in the US.    This book has great color photos for the fish, coral and sea creatures that you will encounter.  Being able to identify the underwater inhabitants really increases the fun.  ISBN #1-878348-10-8 published by New World Publications, Inc., Jacksonville, Florida.   Phone: 904-737-6558. Also available at Amazon.com for $10.47. The "look inside" section of the Amazon listing is a bit misleading. Most of the book is photographs like the "excerpt" on page 13. The look inside part makes it appear that the book is mostly drawings. Not so.

-If you want to take underwater pictures, those one-use cameras work pretty well with these caveatsnbsp; only use them on very sunny days, don't try to take pictures of things more than 10 feet down.  Light is lost underwater very quickly and the further down the object the darker your picture will be.  More than 10 feet and its just not worth the effort.  The cameras are much cheaper at K-Mart in the states, than at souvenir shops on the island.  Kodak will develop your photos with a special process for underwater photos.  It restores a lot of the color.  You have to ask for it when you drop your film.