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Snorkel Savvy: A Guide to Selecting the Perfect Snorkel for Your Underwater Adventures
There are commonly considered 3 different types of snorkel designed to be used for snorkelling to ensure you are able to breathe as normal while you have your face in the water :
- A simple, straightforward, plain tube design
- A semi-dry purge valve snorkel
- And a Dry top purge valve snorkel
There’s no better or worse design – it usually comes down to what you want to pay for or if you have any personal reason why you prefer/choose one over another.
The ‘tube’ design is just that - a simple snorkel ‘breathing’ tube with no purge valve/semi-dry top – examples below:
https://www.watersportswarehouse.co.uk/collections/snorkeling-snorkels/products/mares-dual-snorkel
A ‘semi-dry’ or ‘dry’ snorkel refers to the type of design the snorkel may have on the top of the snorkel and would also have a purge/exhaust valve, usually positioned at the bottom of the snorkel. The purge valve is a simple mechanism, usually a flap of silicone which remains closed as you snorkel due to external water pressure but then can be forced open as you exhale to aid clearing water from the snorkel. Naturally, water will find whichever is the easier route out – top or bottom – but the purge valve helps to ‘purge’ the snorkel more easily of excess water as you exhale normally.
A ‘semi-dry’ snorkel would usually have some kind of shaping/venting on the top which helps to deflect water away from the main part of the tube as you snorkel on the surface, as well as the purge/exhaust valve in the bottom section – examples below:
A ‘dry’ snorkel has a mechanism which remains open while you are on the surface to allow you to breathe, which will then close off when sufficient external water pressure is applied to prevent water entering the tube. The ‘dry’ mechanism, usually a form of float, would therefore usually operate as you duck dive down off the surface and under the water when there is sufficient external water pressure/and gravity, as well as the purge/exhaust valve in the bottom section – examples below:
The vast majority of snorkels we sell are considered ‘semi-dry’ with a contoured, shaped top design and a purge valve - we have 2/3 types of ‘dry’ snorkel and a couple of basic ‘tube’ type snorkels. All have soft silicone mouthpieces and many have flexible corrugated sections to aid positioning the snorkel in the mouth – the majority are designed to be worn on the LHS of the face/mask.
HYPERDRY ELITE DRY TOP TECHNOLOGY
Tusa’s Hyperdry Elite Dry Top maintains the same superior dry performance and keeps the snorkel completely void of water by quickly and efficiently closing the float when submerged or hit by waves.
Lifting the float will close the valve and prevent water from flooding
A more refined and streamlined version of the previous Tusa Hyperdry MAX snorkel, the Tusa Hyperdry Elite maintains the same superior dry performance and keeps the snorkel completely void of water by quickly and efficiently closing the gasket when submerged or hit by waves.
HYPERDRY SYSTEM TECHNOLOGY
Tusa’s Hyperdry System keeps the main pipe dry by ejecting water through an independent escape pipe. This unique design utilizes the angle of the snorkel pipe and the resilience of the water surface to eject water.
HIGH FLOW PURGE TECHNOLOGY
The High Flow Purge design used on TUSA snorkels offers a covered large diameter purge valve for simple, quick clearing, reducing the amount of water remaining in the mouthpiece in an instant.
The periphery of the valve always remains at the lowest point even when snorkelling upright at the water surface, so water is easily cleared at all times. It prevents gurgling or sucking water when breathing.
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