Best diving snorkels according to redditors

Man, that's a pipe dream for me, congrats! I'm still working hard to get scuba gear on my Amazon wish list:

https://www.amazon.com/Greatever-Panoramic-Breathing-Professional-Snorkeling/dp/B07GVFV31X/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=snorkel+gear&qid=1564407251&s=gateway&sr=8-3

While you learn the strokes, try swimming with a front-mounted snorkel, e.g.: http://www.amazon.com/FINIS-1-05-009-Yellow-Finis-Swimmers-Snorkel/dp/B004O6G95Q

This article seems pretty decent on explaining the benefits: http://triathlete-europe.competitor.com/2010/09/10/time-start-training-snorkel/

You can also try doing drills to practice breathing to the side. One trick I use when teaching swim lessons is to get a "noodle" or kickboard and hold it out in front of you with your arms completely extended.

While leaving one arm holding onto the noodle or kick board, take the other arm and do a freestyle stroke and then breathe to the side. Once your arm is back on the kickboard then your face should be back in the water.

Example image

Lastly, don't give up! Good luck :)

My recommendation looks like this:

1. Buy your own gear. Once you go, you're going to want to return, especially once it's free. Check craigslist and local dive shops that sell used gear if you want to save a little money. Don't buy junk. Companies that don't make junk: Riffe, ScubaPro, Mares, Cressi. Go for black silicone as it ages much, much better than clear, which yellows. Don't mess about with dry snorkels (the ones that close with a float when you go underwater), they just get in the way and cost more money. You'll need fins (full heel if you don't want to buy booties), mask, snorkel.
   
   
2. Start off at Marine Room (parking is easier), go out a couple dozen yards and start swimming north. You'll see some sharks!
   
   
3. Head on over to the cove, the scenery is lots prettier, there's a larger variety of fish but there's fewer sharks and rays.
   
   This is my set-up: Snorkel, mask, fins. But I like overkill. You'd do fine with this: Mask + Snorkel, fins. I'd also recommend some socks to prevent chafing.
   
   Once you're in, you're in so expect to be buying weight belts, wetsuits and spearguns in the near future. Have fun and see you out there!

You'll find your sweet spot soon with the breathing. A lot of pros train with breathers, maybe you could try that until looking straight down becomes habit. Trying to do a bunch of changes at once can kinda screw with your equilibrium.

https://www.amazon.com/Speedo-Bullet-Swimmers-Snorkel-Shocking/dp/B00KRNBO6Y/ref=asc_df_B00KRNBO6Y

And thank you. I'm sorry to hear your scoliosis is causing issues as well. Have a great day man.

If you read into what seasoned snorkelers say, they don’t recommend full face snorkel masks, but that’s exactly what I use. I think it’s perfectly safe for the type of snorkeling you’ll be doing in Curaçao. Also, there can be a breathing learning curve for some people to snorkel with the traditional style snorkel masks. I jumped right in with a full face with ease, as did my boyfriend. This was our very first time snorkeling, too! We snorkeled everywhere.

I liked having flippers for zipping around faster in the water, but you definitely don’t need them at all. They can be awkward when you’re getting in and out of the shore, or taking rest breaks. I found that I abandoned them sometimes for convenience.

You are going to have so much fun snorkeling! You’ll find that snorkeling gets more interesting when you go closer to the rocks. My personal favorite snorkeling was at Playa Lagun (trunkfish, parrotfish, gold spotted snake eels) and Cas Abou and of course the sea turtles at Grandi. Klein is a great place to break in your snorkel chops, but the sea life was minimal. Seeing turtles isn’t guaranteed there. It’s just so wide open that it makes practicing a breeze. I recommend hitting the sea turtles after you’ve learned snorkeling elsewhere as you need to navigate people and turtles and will wanna make sure you have no leaky mask and have adjusted it correctly! When you do hit Grandi, arrive at noon. You’ll definitely see the turtles as the fisherman are feeding around 12-1pm. Definitely do your GoPro there. Sea Turtles have no fear and bump right into you!

Maybe for shore dives. Though they should be ditched if there's a chance for overhead obstacles/ceilings.

A simple tube with mouthpiece like this Cressi Gringo is sufficient.

My team used these and they were great. Surprisingly comfortable and easy to adjust and clean. Wore this for many many laps, probably should get a new one now that you mention it.

I've used this one for a while, haven't encountered any real issues.

Update: I ordered this adapter and it seems to be working!
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B016HL49OS/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Thanks!

I play on vga monitors. Prefer it much more than to big tvs where you're feet away. I use this converter and have never noticed input lag and I mostly play pvp games. Sitting on a 1.5kd in Destiny 2's trials.

Or just buy one of these for $30

I have your solution right here:

https://www.amazon.com.au/Swimming-Silicone-Mouthpiece-Breathing-Equipment/dp/B06Y44SKDP/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1537931369&sr=8-9&keywords=snorkel

Here

So you can breathe while your head is buried in the sand.