Wearing glasses and snorkeling

Glasses have been universally accepted as being extremely effective tools to improving vision. Common defects in vision include nearsightedness and farsightedness often accompanied by astigmatism. In these defects the image is not focussed onto the retina but either in front of it or behind it. In astigmatism the cornea is differently shaped and thus the image is blurred and not clear. Glasses serve to correct this. They help the eye focus the image onto the retina to achieve a clear image.
However as useful as glasses have been, there are certain drawbacks that accompany it. Several people who wear glasses report how difficult it is to play sports in them since there is a high risk of them falling off the face and breaking. A lot of people also report not being able to swim wearing glasses and if you have a moderate to severe difficulty with vision this can be a problem.
A similar problem is faced with wearing glasses and snorkeling. Snorkeling is a recreational activity that is gaining increasing popularity each day. While snorkeling, the swimmer wears a diving mask, a tube called a snorkel, and swimfins. If the water is cold, a wetsuit is advisable. The swimmer generally swims on the surface of the water with his face inside it. Because of the mask and tube, it is very easy to look at the underwater attractions like corals and fish for long periods of time.
However wearing glasses and snorkeling has been reported to be difficult. Several people who want to go snorkeling are unable to do so because they wear glasses.
However there are some suggestions to find a solution to wearing glasses and snorkeling.
Firstly, if your eye power is not very high then glasses may not be needed since being in the water will magnify images up to 25%. This will automatically correct your vision when inside the water.
Another alternative to wearing glasses and snorkeling is contact lenses. But these too have their own risks if water enters your eyes, or they come off etc.
Also because of increasing need, a lot of diving gear companies have diving masks that are fitted with prescription glasses. These however can be expensive for a one time off shore activity.
One alternative to wearing glasses and snorkeling is to take the ear pieces off your glasses and place the lenses inside your diving mask. This however is successful only some of the times because the lenses could get foggy and not serve any purpose!
So as much as glasses help you, sometime you have to work around them and the above are some simple techniques to help you if you're wearing glasses and snorkeling is on your vacation agenda.
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