Yep, that’s me with a full beard. If you surf around on the site you will see lots of photos of me both with and without a beard. I grow one if I’m in the mood. I can grow a full beard in about a month, I’m blessed. That is unless I’m going snorkeling or diving with said moustache and beard.
If you’ve snorkeled or dived with facial hair you know the curse of getting water into your mask. Water intrusion is always going to be an issue for people with facial hair when snorkeling or diving.
The purpose of this post is to give you some tips and tricks to make it more pleasant to dive and snorkel with a beard. I have a thorough tutorial for using a traditional mask while snorkeling, freediving or scuba diving and teach you some skills to mitigate water intrusion as well as a couple of other alternatives for stress free snorkeling.
Why is This is a Problem?
What happens when you are snorkeling using a traditional snorkeling or diving mask as well as a full-face mask is the hairs of your moustache or beard create small gaps where water can migrate from outside of your mask to the inside.
If you were clean shaven (oh the horror) the skirt of the mask has a much easier time sealing to the surface of your skin. The more hair you have the more water is likely to seep inside of the mask.
You will always get a better seal with a clean-shaven face, but that is a bridge too far to cross for many individuals. I don’t blame you for wanting to keep that great beard or stache.
Tip #1 – Use Petroleum Jelly
Your first line of defense is plain old petroleum jelly. This is best done with a traditional mask as you only need to smear the jelly on your moustache and maybe a little bit on your cheeks depending on how high up your beard goes. The petroleum jelly fills most of the gaps and greatly reduces the problem.
Tip #2 – How to Clear Your Mask
Even if you have a clean shaven face you are going to get water in your mask. It’s going to happen.
A great skill to learn, whether you have facial hair or not, is how to easily clear your mask. Even clean shaven blokes need to master this skill. This is something we teach in a snorkeling or open water scuba diver course. It is best used in the prone, vertical or semi-vertical position. Basically you can do it in any position except upside down.
This is for use with a traditional mask.
When lying in water face down (prone position) 1. press your fingertips lightly against the top of your mask pushing it towards your forehead. This places pressure on the top ensuring it will not move. 2. Tilt your head up, this puts the portion of the mask resting on your upper lip and moustache at the bottom. 3. Blow out gently through your nose. This fills the mask up with air and it will force water out the bottom of the mask.
You are using the air to force the water out.
You can also use this technique while diving down to get a closer look at something. On your way back up to the surface use the same technique to remove the water from your mask.
This is a skill every snorkeler should master.
Tip #3 – Use Proper Gear
In my opinion the best type of mask for snorkeling or diving is a low-profile mask. A low-profile mask has a lower volume, so the amount of water that can get in your mask is less. Less water in the mask means less water that you have to remove from the mask, pretty simple.
I switched to a low-profile mask 20+ years ago and never looked back.
Fit is Everything
Getting a proper fit is key to minimizing water intrusion. When I managed a dive shop and someone would come in to purchase a mask I would pick out at least six or eight and have them try them on. The proper way to see if you get a good seal is to place the mask against your face without the strap and gently suck in through your nose. If there is no air leakage chances are there will be no water leakage.
If the mask falls off of your face that means there was not a good seal and the mask isn’t a good fit. There are dozens of designs for masks from a plethora of manufacturers. You don’t need to spend a ton of money on a mask, but get one that fits well.
Full Face Masks
If you are only sporting a moustache the full-face mask snorkel may be the ticket for you. It eliminates the seal around your upper lip avoiding many of the problems discussed above. If you wear a beard this probably is going to be worse for you as it seals around your jaw line.
Also, if you plan on diving down a full-face mask isn’t going to work for you. They are only effective for surface snorkeling.
A word of caution: there have been reports of people snorkeling with full face masks who have experienced shortness of breath to a possible buildup of carbon dioxide. Basically, they weren’t getting enough oxygen because their breath wasn’t fully exhaled. The instances I have read about were during strenuous situations dealing with current. I don’t believe there has been enough study in this area, but I would be aware of it.
Swimming Goggles
The last option is to use swimming goggles while snorkeling. Goggles entirely eliminate the facial hair problem.
Unfortunately using goggles while snorkeling prohibits you from diving down while snorkeling. What happens is the air in the goggles compresses and can potentially give you a black eye. So goggles are only to be used at the surface.
You do need to use a nose clip to keep the water from coming in your nose. Otherwise when you breathe in through your snorkel you will also take in water through your nose.
Final Thoughts
Personally, I think the best equipment for snorkeling with a moustache and beard is to use a traditional mask and snorkel with the techniques I mentioned up above. This will allow you to feel comfortable and dive down to look at stuff. That’s what snorkeling is all about anyway.
I have been utilizing these methods for more than 30 years in practice, plus I have taught hundreds of people how to snorkel and dive. I find these the most comfortable and effective methods out there.
If you plan on snorkeling on a regular basis I would buy a nice mask that you feel comfortable with and fits well. It will minimize the amount of leakage and you will have that mask for decades if you take care of it.