Snorkel Gear... Bring your own or rent?

allisonpickup80

Do you think it's worth bringing your own snorkel gear so that you are more free to snorkel wherever you'd like? Or are there enough places to rent? Not so sure about sharing germs with other people but I guess everyone does it.... right? lol

kimmykupcakes

We bought snorkel gear the day we arrived for our wedding planning trip on Maui at Costco. It was a great set, we used it lots and will be bringing it back with us next month for the wedding.

allisonpickup80

Good thinking, about how much was it? Do they do day passes at costco?

FSForever

@Allison, No they don't do day passes at Costco, but they do have a great deal and it may be worth it to join just to get the gear. 

Funny thing, I bought 5 sets a few years ago at Costco and it is the only thing my ex won't give back to me. He hates snorkeling so I know its just to irk me. 

mauigirl2012

I rented and had no problems. There are many places to rent them and are loacted near or even on most beaches (at least in West Maui).

dianalynm

We rent everytime since we try not to pack a check-in luggage.

We rent at the snorkel shop right across from Aloha Mixed Plate. It's pretty cheap and I like not having the extra baggage when we go home!

kimmykupcakes

You actually can get a day pass at Costco, you pay an extra percentage of how much you spend in there. Costco can be one of the best places to shop on Maui. We get a lot of our food there. Plan on getting tons from there for our OOT bags, welcome BBQ, alcohol of the wedding and mahalo brunch.

allisonpickup80

Stephanie that's so funny, jerk! Good thing u got rid of him!

FSForever

@Allison, You have no idea. 

@Kimmy, Who knew. I am old school Price/Costco and it still amazes me that the general public can now shop there. I remember when you had to be a state employee, school worker, etc...

h1jung

My FI and I have our own pair and it's nice because we go snorkeling almost everyday. I have a basic pair so could probably rent instead, but my FI has special ones with prescription glasses (he doesn't wear contacts) and fins that are super long. It is nice to not have to carry them around, so if you're not picky, you can probably rent them.

dcole01

We bought ours when we got there. It was too expensive to rent, so we bought them from the ABC store...not sure if those are on Maui.

lorena224

We rented since we packed a lot of wedding stuff to take with us. It wasn't very expensive to rent on the few occasions we went and it was nice having one less big thing to stuff in our luggage after all the things we brought back with us.

carrieoz_76

In the end, either option is fine, especially on Maui where there are Maui Dive Shops.  We rented from them during both of our visits, and their gear is great.  On both trips, we rented our gear for the duration of the trip - it's not all that expensive, and you never know when you'r gonna want to snorkel!

We didn't realize how good we had it at Maui Dive Shop until we went to Kauai and they don't have Maui Dive Shops there.  My masks from Snorkel Bob's kept leaking (suuuper annoying), and the flippers were the shorter kind (not as powerful).  If we go to Kauai again, I might at least bring my own mask, and I'll insist on getting their longer flippers.

If you need glasses, you should buy your own mask.  You can have your prescription lens put into the mask, then you'll be able to see perfectly underwater.  My mom had this done to her mask, and she loves it.  A good local snorkel/dive shop should be able to do this for you.