Jargon Busting Guide To Choosing A Snorkel

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 :

• Traditional Tube Design: A simple, straightforward, plain "J" tube design
• Semi-Dry Snorkels: A semi-dry purge valve snorkel
• Dry Snorkels: A Dry top purge valve snorkel

There’s no better or worse design – it usually comes down to what activity you'll be doing, freedivers & octopush players would usually opt for traditional J tube, 'no-frills' type snorkel.  If you're leisure snorkelling on holiday you may prefer to use a Dry snorkel, many people like the confidence of using a dry snorkel.  Scuba divers, regular snorkellers would usually opt for a semi-dry snorkel.  However, ultimately using a snorkel, combined with a dive/snorkel mask, allows you to breathe naturally when your face is in the water. Virtually all snorkels are designed to be worn on the LEFT HAND side of the face/mask, many J-Tube snorkels can be worn on either side.

Traditional Tube Design:

The "J" tube design is just that - a simple snorkel ‘breathing’ tube with no purge valve/semi-dry top – examples below:

The Cressi Corsica Snorkel is a simple design of snorkel tube that will have particular appeal with free divers and underwater hockey or octopush players, as well as many recreational snorkellers. Hypoallergenic silicone mouthpiece for optimum comfort.

This traditional design of snorkel 'J' tube but constructed using the latest technical materials to produce this incredibly flexible snorkel that has excellent 'memory'. Cressi tell us the Corsica is virtually indestructible but it's probably best if you don't put that to the test !  The Corsica Snorkel also includes a snorkel loop to attach the snorkel to your snorkelling or scuba diving mask - Buy Now

A ‘semi-dry’ or ‘dry’ snorkel refers to the type of design the snorkel has on the top of the snorkel.  Both these types of snorkel would usually 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.  All have soft silicone mouthpieces and may also have a flexible corrugated mid-section to aid comfort and positioning the snorkel in the mouth – virtually all snorkels are designed to be worn on the LEFT HAND side of the face/mask.

A ‘semi-dry’ snorkel usually has some kind of shaping/venting on the top which helps to deflect water away from the main part of the tube while you snorkel on the surface, as well as the purge/exhaust valve in the bottom section – examples below:

Tusa Platina II Hyperdry Snorkel

TUSA Platina II Hyperdry Purge semi-dry Snorkel, incorporating Tusa's Hyperdry top system while still technically a semi dry top, helps to keep the main breathing tube drier by deflecting water away from the main part of the snorkel tube, combined with the purge valve system this helps deliver a superb reliable snorkel - Buy Now

Mares Ergo Splash Snorkel

Dry Snorkels:

A ‘dry’ snorkel has a mechanism on the top which remains open while you are on the surface to allow you to breathe.  The 'dry' mechanism will close off when you leave the surface, sufficient external water pressure combined with gravity will activate the dry mechanism to close off the tube to prevent water entering.  The ‘dry’ mechanism, usually a form of float, operates as you duck dive down off the surface.  The purge exhaust valve in the bottom section/mouthpiece area of the snorkel helps you to more easily purge the snorkel of potential water  – examples below:

Tusa Hyperdry Elite II Dry Snorkel

Tusa Elite II Hyperdry Dry Snorkel, Tusa's newly re-designed Dry Snorkel - the driest snorkel just got drier! TUSA's new revolutionary dry snorkel. The Tusa Hyperdry Elite II Dry snorkel is a lighter weight, slightly more streamlined design of dry snorkel than their previous design and still remains 'the dry snorkel' - Buy Now

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 – virtually all snorkels are designed to be worn on the LEFT HAND side of the face/mask. 

Tusa's Dry Top Snorkel 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

Tusa's Hyperdry Elite & Hyperdry Sport snorkels offer superior dry performance and keeps the snorkel completely void of water by quickly and efficiently closing the gasket when submerged or hit by waves

Tusa's Hyperdry System Technology 

Tusa’s Hyperdry Semi-Dry 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.  This shaping/design of snorkel is mirrored in many other semi-dry top snorkels.

Tusa's High Flow Purge/Exhaust 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.