Best Snorkel Masks: An Expert Snorkeler’s Review with Pros, Cons, and a Fit Test

→   Most people, most trips: SeaDive Oceanways SuperView-HD. My everyday mask, and the one I would buy again first.

→   Tight budget or first mask: Cressi F1. The least expensive mask here, folds flat, and it is the one I would hand a friend who is not sure they will snorkel twice.

→   Want the best strap system: Tusa M-1003 Freedom Elite. Push-button angle adjusters that I still miss on my Oceanways.

→   Plan to snorkel for years: Cressi F-Dual. Same mask as the F1 with a two-lip skirt that feels softer and seals a little better. Worth the step up if this is not a one-trip purchase.

→   Nearly the F-Dual in another brand: Scubapro Solo. A good mask with a nose pocket that runs a little narrow for me.

A note on price. Amazon prices change, so each mask gets a tier instead.

$ is the least expensive of the five and $$$ is the most.

Price tier: $$$

The SeaDive Oceanways Superview-HD mask has a plastic frame, one pane of tempered glass, a very soft silicone skirt, and a tinted, coated lens. The coating is the reason I keep reaching for it.

Colors look brighter through it than through my other masks, and I squint less on sunny days. SeaDive says the coating filters UV and glare and passes almost all available light through the glass.

I cannot measure that, but the difference in brightness is easy to see when I switch between masks on the same reef.

What I do not love: the buckles. They are the old style where you pull the strap end to tighten, rather than a push-button. Every other mask on this list has an easier adjuster. I have learned to set it once and leave it.

Two things to know before you buy:

→   SeaDive does not publish a face size for this mask. One dive shop that sells it describes the fit as medium to large. It works on my narrow-to-average face, so take that as one shop’s opinion, run the fit test below, or buy somewhere with free returns.

→   The lens ships with an anti-fog coating, so I did not pre-treat this mask with toothpaste the way I do with plain glass. I had read an old ScubaBoard thread where someone called SeaDive and was told not to use toothpaste on it.

That is one forum user reporting a phone call, not an official instruction I can point you to, but it was enough for me to skip the scrub, and the mask has not given me a reason to regret it.

On the black-skirt version the lens looks orange from the outside and reflects like a mirror. That is why my photo tripod shows up in my mask in the photo above. It does not look like that from the inside.

I have also included a photo of my husband wearing this same mask while we were snorkeling at Los Tuneles in the Galapagos. He has a wider face than I do, and it seals on him too, so that is two faces this mask fits and not one.

Price tier: $

Cressi has been making dive gear since 1946 (the year is in the company name), and the F1 mask is their least expensive frameless mask.

Frameless means the glass is bonded straight to the silicone skirt with no plastic frame in between. The result is a light mask that folds nearly flat, so great for packing.

The skirt is soft, the single lens gives a wide view, and the buckles are molded into the skirt with push-button adjusters. For the money, that is a lot of mask.

Cressi makes a second frameless mask, the F-Dual which I’ll discuss later more in detail, with the same lens, the same buckles, and the same split strap. The one change is the skirt edge, and it is the change you feel.

Here is how I would choose: if cost is the concern, buy the F1. If you already know there are more snorkeling vacations coming, step up to the F-Dual.

Who should skip it: anyone who has already decided snorkeling is their thing. The F1 is a very good first mask. It is not the Cressi I pack first.

Price tier: $$$

The Tusa M-1003 snorkel mask has a thin plastic frame, a single tempered-glass lens, and the reason it earns a spot is the hardware.

Each buckle has a five-position angle adjuster you change with a button press, and the buckle itself rotates 180 degrees. I get a great seal with it.

Tusa calls its skirt design Freedom Technology. Strip the marketing and it means a dimpled skirt surface with a rounded sealing edge. The dimpled skirt is soft and flexible (reduces pressure points) and helps minimize leakage.

The drawback: the field of view feels narrower to me than the other frameless masks here. The sides of the frame sit more upright, so I notice the edge of the mask more when I look sideways.

Tusa calls this a medium-large frame. It fits my narrow-to-average face without leaking. If yours is narrower than that, run the fit test first.

Price tier: $$

The Cressi F-Dual snorkel mask is the F1 with one change. The skirt has a double-feathered edge (makes it feel buttery soft), which means two thin sealing lips against your face instead of one.

Everything else is the same: frameless, single tempered-glass lens, push-button buckles molded into the skirt, wide split strap. It folds flat like the F1 and packs the same.

The two lips are the whole point. On my face the F-Dual feels softer than the F1 and seals slightly better, and that gap shows up on long days rather than short ones. A seal that is a little more forgiving at hour one is a lot more forgiving at hour three.

Otherwise these two masks are close enough that I would not call one better. I would call one cheaper.

If you are buying for one trip, the F1 is the smarter spend. If snorkeling is going to be a habit, buy the F-Dual.

Price tier: $$

The Scubapro Solo has a frameless, single lens, with a double-sealed skirt and easy buckles. It seals well and it stays sealed when I snorkel a long session.

In the water, I could not tell it apart from the Cressi F-Dual.

The only difference I found is the nose pocket, which on the Solo is a little too narrow for my comfort.

If the F-Dual’s nose pocket feels roomy/loose on you, you will probably prefer the fit of the Scubapro.

I am a bigger fan of Scubapro’s fins than its masks, which is a different story. See my best snorkeling fins for travel post.

Do not buy on looks or price. An expensive mask that leaks is worse than a cheap one that seals. I used to be the person surfacing every five minutes to reset my mask. Fit is what fixed it.

You can do this test in a store or at home during a return window:

1. Put the mask on your face without using the strap. Inhale gently through your nose and take your hands away. The mask should stay on by suction alone.

2. Tilt your face toward the floor while still inhaling gently. It should stay put. Do not inhale hard. A hard inhale will hold almost any mask on and tells you nothing. When you exhale, the mask should release.

3. Have someone check the inner seal. Most masks have two sealing edges, a narrow inner one and a wider outer one. Both need to touch skin all the way around, especially under the eyes. If the inner seal floats over your eye socket, that mask will leak.

4. Check what the seal is touching. It should not touch your eyebrows or hairline, and the nose pocket should not press on the bridge of your nose. Then attach a snorkel and confirm nothing has shifted.

If a mask passes all four, it will probably work for you. If it fails step three, no amount of strap tightening will save it.

Two more things break a seal on a mask that otherwise fits.

One baby hair stuck to your face under the skirt will let water in, so push your hair back before the mask goes on.

And smiling or moving your face changes the shape the skirt is sealed to. If you spot a turtle and grin, expect a trickle. Everyone does it. Just know it is the grin and not the mask.

Skirt material 

The skirt is the portion of the mask that is coming into direct contact with your skin. Buy silicone, which is a longer-lasting material over rubber.

Also, the wider the skirt, the better the seal because of the increased material coming into contact with your skin.

Clear silicone lets in more light and feels less closed in. Black silicone cuts side glare, which some underwater photographers prefer.

I have used both but prefer the black silicone on my Oceanways. The photo above is my old Atomic Aquatics mask with a clear silicone skirt, so you can see the difference.

Single lens vs. double lens vs. frameless 

A single lens is one pane of glass across both eyes.

A double lens has a plastic divider at the bridge of your nose. I started with a double-lens mask and switched to single lens years ago because that divider sits right in the middle of the view.

Frameless masks are single lens with the glass bonded straight to the skirt, which makes them lighter and lets them fold flat for packing. 

Strap

You do not need anything fancy. It should adjust easily and stay put. If you snorkel with a ponytail, a wide split strap lets your hair go through the gap. 

My Oceanways has a plain strap. That does not matter to me, because I put a neoprene cover over the strap and wear my hair in a high bun above it, but it may matter to you.

My fine hair tangles in a bare silicone strap and I used to lose strands every time I pulled a mask off.

A neoprene cover slides over the strap and the mask glides on and off. Cheap, and it also solves the split-strap question above.

Diluted baby shampoo in a small squeeze bottle

Every mask fogs eventually, coated or not. A squirt on a dry lens, a swish, and a rinse right before I get in keeps mine clear, and the bottle clips to my waterproof pouch for a mid-snorkel reapply.

The full routine, including how I prep a brand new mask, is in my guide to keeping a snorkel mask from fogging.

Can I use a scuba diving mask for snorkeling? The features that matter for a snorkeler, a soft skirt, a good seal, and a wide view, are the same ones a diver wants.

Do I need a mask with an anti-fog coating? No. My Oceanways has one and my Cressis do not, and both fog if I skip the baby shampoo. Prep and rinsing matter more.

Is a full-face snorkel mask better? I cannot tell you. I have not tested one and probably never will. They are a different product with serious safety concerns.

Can I get a prescription snorkel mask? Yes, some framed masks accept corrective lenses, but I have never used one and will not review what I have not worn. Start at a dive shop that can fit you.

If I were buying my first, it would be the Cressi F1.

The rest depends on your face, and no review, including this one, can tell you how a mask seals on you. Run the four-step fit test, buy from somewhere with free returns, and treat the first trip as the real test.

Happy snorkeling!

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