DIY Prescription Snorkel Mask

I wear glasses, (I have a pretty weird prescription, and I don’t have contacts either.) When we went on vacation to Maui, I was pretty disappointed to find that I couldn’t wear my glasses with a snorkel mask, (the mask has to fit tightly around your face to not let water in.). So I just snorkeled without them, and couldn’t see very well. Last year before we went on a vacation to Kauai, I went online to see how much prescription snorkel masks would be. They were pretty expensive for me to use only a few times, (even renting one seemed like too much...) So I decided to see if I could make one myself. Here’s how I did it:

Snorkel Mask (I got a cheap snorkel set at Costco for under 20.00, years ago.)

Old Pair of Glasses (The bigger the better.)

Eyeglass Screw Driver

Super Glue (optional)

Make sure your hair is out of the way. Put the mask to your face, press slightly; inhale a little bit through your nose. It should suction to your face, and stay on without continuing to inhale. (You would not be able to do this with your glasses on.) You don’t want any leaks. Test it out. While you’re at it, why don’t you paddle around in the bathtub? Or maybe just stick your face in a sink full of water, if there are no leaks, on to the next step.

Make sure you use your old glasses, because chances are you’ll lose those tiny screws. Use the little screw driver and unscrew the ear pieces to the old glasses.

That’s right; just wedge them on in there.

You may have to move them around a bit to get them in the right spot. Test them again and make sure they sit on your nose comfortably. Stick your head in the water again; can you see?

I intended to glue them in, but I found that they actually fit in there pretty tightly, so didn’t use any, but if yours don’t fit so snugly, glue them in by using super glue at the edges of the glasses where the stems were.

(If your glasses are too large or too small to fit into the mask, you may want to try taking the lenses out of the glasses and gluing those directly to the mask at the edges. I have not actually done this though, because mine fit.)

This was a no cost solution, and it worked just fine!