Review on Explore The Depths With Seavenger Aviator Snorkeling Set And Gear Bag! by Andrew Amzallag

Bought these for our 10 and nearly 12 year old kids for a birthday gift & spring break vacation. They are on a swim team, so solid swimmers and used to wearing regular swim goggles and swimmers' workout fins. Based on the reviews and answers to questions, I was hopeful this was a good starter set that would work for kids, and that we were buying the right sizes. However, despite the "junior" listing, they really never worked for our kids from the get go, and seemed to be made mainly for adults. Normally, I would have immediately returned. But we were on a 10 day island trip and the set was the one birthday gift we had brought along, so we tried to make the best of it. Here were the issues: We purchased based on the recommended size of the set based on the kids' feet size for the fins. However, the set included mask, fin, and snorkel all in one size range. Both masks were way big/wide for their faces, therefore unwearable: they couldn't suction and leaked every time we tried despite multiple adjustments. The fins were also not a great fit, again being way wide. And they were harder plastic and uncomfortable. The hardness led to our younger child bending the fins by using them to push off the bottom of the pool (they should have treated them better, but the more flexible swimmer fins like Finis and Speedo hold up to kid abuse better). We were able to cinch them tight enough to stay on feet, but only with adult effort. Our older child attempted this alone and popped the clip off one side of the fin (only on the 3rd time of use). The snorkels were also fairly large for their mouths, and heavy. Because we could not find a way to fit the masks without leaking, the kids ended up wearing their normal swim goggles and we attempted to attach the snorkel to the side of those. This really didn't work b/c the weight of the snorkel was too much for the goggles, so it no longer sat positioned out of the water properly. Plus, then there was no nose coverage. So the child had to either attempt to suck air only from the mouth or swim with one hand while holding their nose closed with the other hand. They also needed adult help to attach the snorkel to the mask and position it properly in the water any time they tried wearing the set. Since they were not able to properly adjust any of these items themselves, it was quite frustrating for kids who can normally handle sport's gear and activities fairly independently. Finally, we realized it's hard for younger kids to immediately grasp the concept of staying on the surface and not attempting to breath if they submerge the snorkel. Our younger child could do it in the pool, but in the ocean kept submerging and inhaling water, coming up coughing and sputtering. This was probably due more to the technique and lack of knowledge, but made us realize that it probably would have been a better investment to just have the kids take a lesson with rental equipment. In all, for the amount of space this equipment took up in our suitcases, I wish I had left these at home or found something that worked. Seasoned snorkelers may have had more knowledge to try working with some of the issues we had, and perhaps the perfect size would have eliminated many of the problems, but for beginner snorkelers and especially for children, this equipment was more a hindrance than a help.