How to Find the Best Dive and Snorkel Mask for Mustache and Beard
You’ve grown your beard and keep it neat and tidy and suddenly you decide it would be great to go diving or snorkeling? Said and done, you go get a mask, jump into the water and figure out that you might as well not have a mask.
What’s happening? Do you have to shave to dive? How can you find a dive and snorkel mask for mustache and beard dudes without shaving? Let’s have a look!
How to Dive and Snorkel with a Mustache or Beard?
If you have a mustache then you certainly have wondered with the question on how to get a diving or snorkeling mask to fit tight without leaking. This leads to the next question of what the best scuba mask and mask for snorkeling is if you have a mustache.
Is there a pair of snorkel goggles for beards and mustaches that works?
What are the options?
The first option is that you shave. Simple as that… Problem solved… Just kidding. While this is a solution it’s most likely not the one you had in mind.
What are the different options for diving and snorkeling with a mustache?
In short, you have a few different solutions for both snorkeling and diving. We’ll highlight them in detail below but if you’re in a hurry, here’s what you can do:
- Use Vaseline to smoothen your facial hair so it can produce a good seal with the skirt
- Use a special Mustache Sealer to create the seal
- Shave a small strip right under your nose where the silicone skirt touches your skin
- Use your razor right before you dive
- Use a full-face mask for either snorkeling and/or scuba diving
If you love your mustache that much that you don’t want to mess with it, then using a full-face mask will be your best choice.
Best Snorkel Mask for a Mustache or Beard
If you are snorkeling and have facial hair then you might be in luck. The newest innovation of full-face snorkel masks can provide a tight seal even if you have a mustache.
It might not or most likely will not create a good seal if you have a full beard. But for a mustache, you should be able to get a full seal as the mask is stretched over your whole face.
Reviews and recommendations for the Best Full Face Snorkel Masks for Children
Best Prescription Dive and Snorkel Masks – Rx Lenses for Scuba Diving
The best choice that you can get for these masks is either the Seaview 180° or the Tribord Easybreath Snorkel Mask. In our Best Full-Face Snorkel Masks article, we specifically highlight the Seaview 180 Degree V2 and the Tribord Easybreath as our Editor Choices in our evaluations of the top-rated full-face snorkel masks.
Both of these cover your face completely. As such, the facial hair is not in the way at all and you get a good seal around your face.
Best Scuba Dive Mask for a Beard or Mustache
Some people use Vaseline on their facial hair to get it smooth and to tighten it up. We do not recommend that solution as Vaseline can interact with the silicone of the skirt and reduce the lifetime of your diving mask.
You can get specialized products like silicone grease Mustache Sealer to help with getting the seal between your mask and your mustache to be leak-free. Feedback on silicone grease is overall positive but it’s not a bullet-proof solution.
Shave to allow the Mask Skirt to Seal
A possible alternative is that you’re shaving a small area right underneath your nose on top of your facial hair. This usually provides enough clear skin to get a waterproof seal between the mask and your face.
The shaved area typically doesn’t have to be big and is often barely visible to others but it’s something you have to try to see whether it can work for you.
Full-Face Masks for Divers
For scuba, the answer is not as simple as a full face mask (Should you Buy a Full Face Snorkeling Mask?). Well, it can be. Have a look at full face dive masks with integrated regulators like the Ocean Reef Neptune Space G. divers mask or the OTS Guardian Full Face Scuba Mask.
Both are full-face scuba masks of the highest quality with a 2nd stage regulator built-in. Reviews on both of these masks are incredibly positive so if you have a mustache and you want to go diving then these full-face dive masks can be your best solution!
Conclusion
For both scuba diving and snorkeling, the best solution seems to be to switch to full-face masks if you have a beard and mustache or have other facial hair that prevents a tight mask seal between the silicone skirt and your face. All other possible solutions have some success but mostly are not bullet-proof.
Full face masks will need some getting used to but they are overall very comfortable to wear. You have to get used to a different way to equalize.
Equalizing with a Full-Face Mask
The scuba diving masks have a nose block feature for equalizing – some old-school diving masks do not though. In the case of the Ocean Reef mask you push the mask upwards which then blocks your nose and you can equalize. Slightly different than with a standard dive mask but it does work.
If you have a full beard you will most likely have a hard time getting the mask skirt to provide a waterproof seal even with a full-face mask. You will have to test it out for yourself.
Feedback on both the snorkel as well as the scuba full face masks is that it does work for some that have a full beard but not for everyone. In the worst case, you might consider shaving your beard a little shorter as this can help tremendously to produce a tight seal.
There is truly no best diving mask for a beard. There are some solutions that can help to deal with your facial hair but there’s not a universal solution that creates a tight mask seal and prevents water from getting into your mask.
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