An essential piece of equipment for any scuba diver is a scuba diving mask. I strongly believe a scuba diving mask is the most important piece of equipment a scuba diver should buy.
Whether you are getting ready for your open water course or whether you are just thinking of buying a new mask, in this article we will cover all the details to choose the perfect scuba diving mask.
The single most important requirement to choose a perfect scuba diving mask is that irrespective of its shape, form, materials, or esthetics, the mask should perfectly fit the shape of your face, creating a perfect seal. This will not only avoid water leaking into your mask while diving but will also improve your air consumption.
We will cover the mask fitting technique later in this post, but for now let us take a look at the different elements that will help you choose the perfect scuba diving mask.
1. Choose Glass Lenses over Plastic Lenses
Lenses are the most important part of your scuba diving mask. They are made to withstand huge amounts of pressure during any type of dive without flexing or breaking.
This is why when choosing the perfect scuba diving mask, you should be looking for a mask with glass lenses over plastic lenses. Glass lenses are definitely more resistant, will not break because of pressure and will allow you to enjoy your mask for way more dives than plastic lenses.
You might come across some masks that have plastic lenses. They are usually cheaper and are made for snorkeling or swimming (for example swimming goggles).
In case you are wondering if you can use your snorkeling mask for scuba diving, you now also have the answer, which is a straight “no”. This is simply dangerous and not recommended.
2. Choose Flat Tempered Glass Lenses Over Curved and Non-Tempered Glass Lenses
Among all the available scuba diving masks, you will find that some have a curve shaped lens. I would definitely suggest avoiding those as they have some magnifying effect that adds to the magnifying effect of water. They make it virtually impossible to get a sense of distance underwater.
In case you need optical lenses, there are many specialized dealers offering this service. If needed, buying a scuba diving mask with optical lenses is definitely better than buying a scuba diving mask with curved lenses that do not necessarily match your optical needs.
In addition, when choosing your scuba diving mask, I strongly recommend that you go for a mask with tempered glass. Tempered glass is a type of glass that is toughened through either some thermal or chemical process. It is more resistant to pressure and safer in case it breaks.
You can tell if a scuba diving mask is made with tempered glass as it will usually have a small marking on the lenses saying “toughened” or “tempered”.
3. Normal tempered lenses versus UV or Mirrored Lenses
In choosing your scuba diving mask, you will surely come across some masks that have UV or Mirrored Lenses. These types of masks are generally more expensive and have the advantage of protecting your eyes from UVs and improve visibility while at the surface.
If you are mostly diving in tropical climates in full sunshine, you might want to consider UV or mirrored lenses.
As a diving instructor, however, I generally do not recommend UV or mirrored lenses. This is mostly due to two reasons.
First reason is safety. Particularly mirrored lenses make it very difficult for your instructor, or buddy to see your eyes during a dive. There are some occasions (e.g. panic) where looking at your buddy in the eyes is key to understand whether she is doing fine.
Second reason is price related. You will find that mirrored or UV lenses cost more than normal lenses. I personally think that such money is not worth the performance as the benefit of mirrored lenses is perceivable mostly at the surface, whereas you will be using your scuba diving mask mostly underwater.
If you are looking to buy an anti-UV mask, check out my post on the Top 8 Polarized Scuba Diving Masks.
4. Single lens versus double lenses
In choosing the perfect scuba mask, you will need to choose between single lenses mask and double lenses mask. The first type of masks have a single lens covering both eyes, whereas the second type of masks have two single lenses, one for each eye.
My suggestion is to try both types of masks in a dive shop, or order both types online and return the one you like the least. I personally prefer single lens masks as I find that they improve the field of vision as you are least likely to see the silicon strip that separates two single lenses.
But we are entering the field of personal choices and I will therefore let you decide. Again, best way is to try both types of masks and decide which one you prefer.
5. Choose Frameless Versus Framed Scuba Diving Masks
Scuba diving masks come in two main formats. Some are framed, meaning that the lenses are mounted on a rigid frame which is then mounted in the mask’s skirt, whereas some others are frameless. In frameless masks, the lens is mounted directly onto the mask skirt.
Frameless masks have several advantages, and this is why I recommend them over framed ones. First advantage is that they are more flexible and light weight meaning that you can easily carry them in your diving trips and they will not add too much lead to your luggage.
Additionally, at the end of a dive you can easily put them in your BCD’s pockets or wetsuit pockets as they occupy less space. In case you are looking to buy a second scuba diving mask for redundancy purposes, you should definitely consider a frameless one for ease of storage.
Second big advantage is that frameless masks are easier to clean and to maintain as they have less internal edges where dirt can go. This simply makes it easier to rinse, dry and store your mask after a dive.
6. Scuba Diving Mask Skirt: choose the right color and shape.
The “skirt” of a scuba diving mask is the silicone layer locate around the mask’s lens. Scuba diving mask skirts come in different materials, shapes, and colors.
When it comes to materials of mask skirts, you may come across a wealth of different fancy names such as Siliter or Softened PVC. My recommendation is to choose a scuba diving mask whose skirt is made of straight Silicone. Silicone is a soft and long lasting material that will make sure the scuba diving mask creates a perfect seal around your face.
When it comes to color, there are plenty of options you will be able to choose from. Mask skirts come in every possible color you can imagine. I would like however to make one important distinction at this stage.
When choosing your scuba diving mask, you might in fact be temped to choose a mask with a fully transparent silicone skirt. Although such masks have the benefit of widening your field of vision, please be aware that over time, transparent silicone tends to become yellowish. In some rare cases you might even see black/dark sports forming on the skirt of your mask.
This is the reason why I strongly recommend choosing a scuba diving mask with a dark colored or even black skirt.
In terms of size of the skirt, you will notice that some masks will have a wider skirt, and some others a thinner one. A wider skirt can definitely improve the fit of your scuba diving mask, however for divers that have a beard or mustache, note that a wider skirt might not be such a perfect fit given that it is most likely to interfere with your beard or moustache and generate water leaks.
7. Choose the smallest internal volume possible
Last but not least important element to choose the perfect scuba diving mask is the mask’s internal volume. I recommend choosing a mask with the smallest internal volume possible. This way, you will be able to equalize easily as you descend and will need to blow less air into your mask.
By requiring less air to be blown into the mask, a scuba diving mask with a small internal volume is also less likely to fog.
Please note that I am not suggesting here to purchase free diving masks for scuba diving purposes. In fact, whereas those definitely have smaller internal volume as compared to scuba diving masks, they are simply not fit for scuba diving.
Conclusion
A scuba diving mask is the single most important piece of equipment every scuba diver should own.
The perfect scuba diving mask will perfectly fit the shape of your face, creating a seal that avoids water leaks.
In terms of materials, the perfect scuba diving mask has tempered glass lenses, that are ideally non mirrored. It will also be frameless so that you need to put less efforts into cleaning it, it is more light weight and easily storable and transportable.
The skirt of the mask will be made of silicone. Although you are free to choose the color, I would recommend buying a scuba diving mask with a dark colored or black skirt so that it will last longer and will not form silicone mold.
The internal volume of the mask needs to be small so that you will easily be able to equalize your mask without the risk of fogging it and without wasting air throughout your dive.
As mentioned at the beginning of this post, please do not forget the single most important rule to buy the right scuba diving mask: prioritize perfect fit over aesthetics.
In order to check if a scuba diving mask perfectly fits you, the procedure is super simple. Take the scuba diving mask of your choice, position it on your face, gently push on the lenses or inhale from the nose and see if the mask remains on your face without the need of holding it or using the head straps.
If the mask remains on your face even if you slightly bend your head forwards, then it is definitely a perfect fit.