Dive and Swim

Dive and Swim

Dive and Swim gear is a must to have on  hand for your beach and surf time. When the waves are small explore your local reefs and rocks with your mask, snorkel and flippers. Or put on your swim goggles and do laps and a great beach swim to keep your body surf-fit ready for the next swell.

If you surf you know there’s nothing like the beauty and mystery of the underwater vista. Whether it’s understanding the contours of your local rock and reef break, or the beauty of marine life and sea grass gardens. With your Dive and Swim gear another whole set of options opens up. Swim goggles can also be used for your underwater visibility. Small and convenient, they fit in your boardies’ pocket. They’re great too for keeping you in top shape with swimming aiding your paddle, breathing, and muscle fitness.

Quality

With advents in technology, high quality gear is now available to you at great value. What previously would have been considered Pro level gear is now the standard quality you experience.

Lens Quality

Quality covers the clarity of vision you get. Mask and goggle lenses are crystal clear allowing you to see long distances underwater.

So from schools to individual fish you can make out different colours, patterns and species. Rock outcrops, caves and overhangs can be peered into checking crustaceans or octopus. Rock formations and bottom contour patterns can give insight into wave formation. In this way helping you position yourself right on the spot in your next surf.

Of if you’re swimming, the goggles can give you a similar level of clarity. If you’re in the pool, indoor or outdoor, doing lane laps, clarity of vision can keep you on track, not bumping into other swimmers.

The lenses are also scratch resistant so when left with your gear they’re less likely to end up with haze spots that have gone opaque. With your swimming goggles put in your boardshort pocket or car tidy bin, they’ll stay useable, longer. Much less likely to get scratched up. Similarly if your gear gets a drop or bang there’s very little chance of a scratch or breakage.

The lenses are also very light. So for fun there’s no added weight on your head or neck. For performance you can focus on your fitness and speed rather than getting any strain.

Tinted lenses are also available. There’s smoke tints to reduce glare from the sun or bright indoor lights. There’s bright tints to highlight underwater lane lines. Through to crystal clear lenses.

Fit & Comfort

All our Dive & Swim gear uses silicone, silitex or a similar high grade material. It gives you a hypoallergenic feel, meaning against your skin there’s no reaction. There’s no rash or irritation as from cheap plastics. The material is also super soft. So when you’re in the water, whether going under or swimming on top, you aren’t thinking about your goggle. You can dive and swim for as long as you like in complete comfort.

The soft feel also gives great fit. So around your brow, eye sockets, under your nose, your mask moulds to the contours of your face. Similarly, this great fit helps you with the countless repetitions of your head going side to side with each stroke, not letting in water.

Snorkels also use these great materials. The mouth piece and snorkel keeper, that attaches your snorkel to your mask strap, have stable form yet are super soft. When you grip them in your mouth less bite pressure is needed greatly increasing your comfort. On the side of your head the snorkel keeper is soft and streamlined too so it’s not pressing into your temple.

Design

Across the board all products have greatly improved in design.

Masks & Goggles

Masks and goggles feature larger skirts around the lenses. These flare out to be super thin against your skin while still having the form to keep your lens safely in place. These large skirts hug your facial contours and prevent water entry. Even without having the strap on in most cases the mask and goggles will suck on your face indicating the quality of fit.

Masks also have been trending to single lenses. One lens running across the mask. Without the bridge splitting the lens you get a great uninterrupted underwater view.  This is especially helpful if you have the problem of the bridge piece always affecting your focus. These single lens options are available for both snorkeling and swimming goggles.

For fit, the goggles all feature a split strap with the split going over the top and bottom of the back of your head. This reduces direct pressure on the front of your face while also more evenly distributing it giving better fit. Micro adjustments in strap length means you can get the length exactly right for you, your head size. There’s also angle adjustments in the strap fixture points to match your preferred mask position, high or low on your face.

Snorkels

Snorkels have gone through a redesign too. They’re no longer stodgy thick tubes, but streamlined sleek assist for your breathing.

All include great splash guards that prevent the splash of water entering the top of your snorkel. There’s also dive guards so that when you dive under, water is also prevented from entering.

In the event water does enter, the bottom of the snorkel has a purge valve. This is a one way valve that only allows water out. So with a sharp exhale you can easily remove water from your snorkel.

Snorkels also have had a change in diameter. All are smaller making it much easier to clear the water from them with less breath. This smaller diameter makes them sleeker, moving easily through the water with you.

Flippers

Whether stand alone or as part of a set flippers have been dramatically improving.

They give you great freedom of movement in the water. You can go faster from on spot to another. Keep up with following a fish, or dive deeper with your breath. They can help you go where you want to go against a rip or current. Or with minimal effort you can paddle around focusing on what you want rather than having to kick.

Materials

Improvements copied from other surf sports have improved your flipper experience. For example the use of dual compound rubbers in Bodyboard fins has filtered through to swim fins. This means the area of your foot well, or foot sock, can be soft and supple, giving you a great snug fit. Then the lower area of the fin where the blade is, and especially the blade side edges can be a stiffer compound. In this way they’ll give you the maximum propulsion from each kick.

The fins can be lighter weight while still giving you the stiffness needed to translate your kick into propulsion. The less weight in your fin the less energy spent just moving it. Some compounds float so that in the event of losing your fin in the surf or a wave surge, you can still grab it out of the water. This is a great feature.

Design

Enclosed fins more closely match your foot shape and size. So from your shoe size you can slide them on and get a good experience. Open fins, with an open heel, expand your use. You can use them for your snorkeling or use the diving. The open heel allows you to fit your feet with booties on. This is very handy for diving where you are full suited up and want every part of your body warm. It’s also handy if you’re wearing booties or beach shoes to swim and snorkel around rocks, reef or especially sharp beach where you need extra foot protection.

The flipper blades have also seen design enhancements. There’s flutes that allow some water to pass through your fin, and so provide a type of squirt power. These flutes and holes also allow your flipper to change shape as it moves in the water, using less energy, reducing fatigue while also propelling your forward.

Kids

All the great features mentioned above are applicable to adults and kids. Kids complete dive sets and swim goggles can really help your kids on the path of appreciating the ocean. They can open up a whole new world.

With kids fit and comfort are vital and all our brands come in Kids sizing to ensure both fit and comfort.

Your Dive & Swim

Come in-store to feel the difference in quality to match your budget or your dream. As with all surf items used in the real world, sizing is vital. Our expertise with each product, how they expand or contract over time in the water, can ensure you get the perfect water experience whether snorkeling or swimming.