Prescription diving mask?

[Julius Chen]

Stumbled into here from the aquarium sections, but love what i see here.

I am near sighted and wear prescrpition glasses. Always wondered if a prescriprion diving mask is easily orainable, and how well do they work in real diving trips. How expensive are they?

I did see some on amazon, but not sure if those are toys or the real thing.

Many thanks!

 

[Ron Reefman]

They are available and some years ago I considered it. But they were expensive and I did have contact lenses I wore before I went back to glasses. Now I just take a pair or 2 of contacts with me on the trip. In the morning before we leave the motel I put in a set of contacts. I take the spare set and my glasses along with me as well, just in case I lose one or something happens. I then take them out when I get back to the motel. I've found wearing them up to 8 hours for 2 or 3 days in a row isn't an issue for my eyes. It's the only time I wear the contacts.

My wife wears a mask with 'reading' lens cut in them so she can see stuff up close, like wearing the inexpensive reading glasses. She likes them very much. My contacts are mono lenses, one eye sees up close and one sees far away.

 

[ace_92101]

I have both Tusa and Oceanic masks. Some models are available with "reasonable" lenses that you can insert. As fit is very important, I'd make sure to try on the mask before buying.

 

[PeterHall]

I think I payed ~$100 for my prescription mask and love it. I don't wear contacts day to day so it was well worth it. I've put 80 dives or so on the same mask with zero problems.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

 

[Deinonych]

You can get prescription lenses for most of the major brands. My wife uses an Atomic SubFrame with prescription lenses. The lenses had to be ordered separately from the mask, but our local dive shop was able to get them in pretty quickly (about a week).

 

[bimborocks]

I looked into this a while ago and for the cost to get lenses made for my mask I couldn't really justify the cost for the few times a year I snorkel. I just wear contact lenses which does the job nicely

 

[Ron Reefman]

I looked into this a while ago and for the cost to get lenses made for my mask I couldn't really justify the cost for the few times a year I snorkel. I just wear contact lenses which does the job nicely

+1
I used to wear contacts some years ago but have gone back to glasses. Now I use the contacts just when we go snorkeling. Put them in before I leave the motel and take them out when we get back to the motel 6-8 hours later. Even doing it 3 or 4 days in a row has not been an issue for me.

 

[Deinonych]

+2 on contacts while diving/snorkeling.

 

[reefteaser]

Got a new mask and snorkel and paid the extra for prescription lenses. They only had "whole number" diopter lenses, so I picked what was just a little less than my eyeglasses. I think the natural magnification of the water made up the difference. Three years later, I'm still glad I spent the extra $$. It was worth it, and not terribly expensive. Pay the extra fee (I think it was $10) to have them installed. No matter how well you think you can out them in without breaking something, you're wrong!

 

[bhbell]

I'm now a retired Instructor, but have been using a prescription mask since my first non training dive. It's awfully nice to be able to clearly see where the dive boat is at when you pop to the surface.

 

[fabjr]

Definitely get prescription lenses. Here is a valuable tip, too.

Get different prescription lenses for left eye and right eye. You want the left eye to see your gauges and computer clearly. You want your right eye to have clear distance vision. A good opthamologist can tell you which prescriptions to get for your mask lenses. Do remind your doctor of the magnification factor underwater, though.

I had 20/700 vision in one eye. The other was worse. I used a TUSA liberator mask with their prescription lenses for many years, for thousands of dives all over the world in all kinds of waters, even in the alps. They made all the difference in the world.

Eventually I had operations that did a lot to improve my unaided vision. I got new prescription lenses, again different for left and right eyes ... Worked perfectly.

 

[sam.basye]

Definitely get prescription lenses. Here is a valuable tip, too.

Get different prescription lenses for left eye and right eye. You want the left eye to see your gauges and computer clearly. You want your right eye to have clear distance vision. A good opthamologist can tell you which prescriptions to get for your mask lenses. Do remind your doctor of the magnification factor underwater, though.

I had 20/700 vision in one eye. The other was worse. I used a TUSA liberator mask with their prescription lenses for many years, for thousands of dives all over the world in all kinds of waters, even in the alps. They made all the difference in the world.

Eventually I had operations that did a lot to improve my unaided vision. I got new prescription lenses, again different for left and right eyes ... Worked perfectly.

Won't this give you a headache?

I've heard, and experienced, that when wearing only one contact the difference in vision will give you a headache.

The eyes constantly adjusting between two different magnifications (assuming vision in both eyes are the same) ends up in a headache.

I imagine this goes for glasses, and a dive mask, as well.

Bifocals would work, but not so sure about two different magnifications.

Unless you're closing one eye depending on the task, which isn't very practical. Lol