Walkie Talkie – Snorkel Planet

The company "Ocean Reef" somehow manages to come up with new snorkel gadgets on a regular basis. After being the first company to come up with a solution to snorkel with glasses, they now offer a snorkel walkie talkie too. Before we start, how about an introduction video. It only takes a minute to watch and summarizes what to expect. In this article we go into more detail and explain everything you need to know. Does It Work With Every Mask? Unfortunately not. This gadget is specifically designed for the "Aria" full face snorkel mask, also manufactured by "Ocean Reef". We mentioned this mask quite a few times in the past because of it's quality fabric and optimized airflow. In case you own the mask already, you can simply attach the walkie talkie and you're all set. Tip: If you're curious about full face snorkel masks, this link will take you to our full review which includes the Aria model. How Does It Work? You simply clip the "Snorkie Torkie" onto your snorkel tip and attach the other end to your ear. That's about it. The earpiece provides a microphone in order to hear your snorkel buddies. You reply by talking into your own mask, no additional microphone is needed. The snorkel tip will send your message out to the world. In order to talk you need to press a button on the earpiece. Can Everyone Join? Yes, anyone who owns this product can join in on the fun. There's no limit on the amount of people listening or talking. However, remember the following. You are able to select a frequency. There are 4 possible frequencies to choose from. Let's say you select number 2, make sure that all your friends set it to 2 as well. If the next day you set it to 3, well, you guessed it right, so would your buddies. Can You Talk When Diving? No, you can only talk whilst your snorkel tip is in the open air. In other words, if you simply float or swim the ocean surface you're fine. Once you take a dive the talking option won't work. In the end it doesn't matter that much since snorkelers usually spend most of their time at the water surface. Taking dives is ok though since the product is waterproof up to 10 feet. How Far Apart Can We Snorkel? As long as your snorkel buddies stay within a 500 feet range, you'll all be fine. With 500 feet we mean any direction. You could have one snorkel buddy to your left and one to your right, both 500 feet away, and you can still communicate. Usually when snorkeling we stay close to each other. It's a safe thing to do. The range especially works well if you have friends that stay on the shore. Let's say they ordered some drinks, well, as long as they are within your speaker range they can inform you about that. So How Do I Communicate With People On The Shore? Well, besides the attachable "Snorkie Torkie" you can also buy a separate "Walkie Talkie". Ocean Reef made sure to also develop a so called "land unit". It looks just like a regular walkie talkie, however, it connects to the snorkel radio. Here's a picture of how both the "Snorkie Torkie" and the "Land Radio" look like. How Much Are They? They are not cheap, but we guess everyone's budget is different. The Snorkie Talkie sells for around $80 and the land unit for around $33. Prices do fluctuate, so who knows by now they have gone down. If you are interested, here are a few links. You can find the Snorkie Talkie on Amazon by clicking here. The land unit can be found here. Keep in mind that for this product it's best to use the Ocean Reef "Aria" full face snorkel mask. They cost around $70. Here's a link to Amazon that showcases the orange edition, which nicely matches the walkie talkie colors. If you want to buy the whole set, you'll end up spending about $180 including the mask. But yes, a whole lot of fun will be waiting for you. Here's a picture of the Aria mask in different colors. Other Specifications You can adjust the speaker volume according to your wishes. There's a button on the earpiece to do so. The product comes with a rechargeable battery. The micro-USB cable for recharging is included, which takes about 4 hours. After that you can enjoy this gadget up to 8 hours. Should be enough for a few exciting snorkel adventures. Do You Need One? Well, let's start by saying that probably nobody really needs one in the first place. It's a fun and interesting accessory to have, but that's about it. There are a couple of ways to communicate when snorkeling, from giving underwater signs to simply talking above sea level. However, yes, this sounds like big fun. We don't own one ourselves. Will we ever buy one? Probably not. Even though it seems so cool. But spending $180 on a luxury item is just too much for us. Besides that, we don't often use full face snorkel masks. But to be totally honest, we think it's great what Ocean Reef is doing. They really contribute to the snorkel world. That's something we highly appreciate and why they deserve some attention. How About Rain? Good question. When snorkeling in the rain there could be a lot of noise in the background. Since the snorkel tip is in the open air most of the time, don't be surprised if you don't understand each other perfectly. Luckily most snorkel locations come with lots of sunshine and enjoyable oceans. In case of rain or storms, it's always best to quit snorkeling anyways. Don't take any risks and return to the shore. Even though we always recommend to closely watch your surroundings, sometimes snorkeling can distract us from what happens in the air. Having some friends on the shore that warn about dark clouds can be a life saver. So yes, these gadgets have their advantages. Does It Help beginners? Now this could be a reason to get one. If you're just starting out and you're pretty insecure about the whole thing, why not stay in touch with a friend or an instructor. Even though you watch the marine life, you can still communicate and share your thoughts. We once wrote an article called "Is snorkeling easy?", and another one called "Are you scared to snorkel?". We guess that when these questions come to your mind, yes, any kind of walkie talkie gear can help you out. How About Kids? Snorkeling with your children can be big fun. Maybe they are just learning the basics, or who knows they can already manage on their own. But should you buy this kind of gear for them? In our opinion you should always keep an eye on your kids, with or without a "Snorkie Talkie". Sure, it's fun to talk, but should kids be spoiled with all kinds of gear that their friends don't have? We guess probably not. Anxious kids could gain some confidence if they're able to talk to one of their parents. But you can do that in the open air as well. If you practice in a pool at first, and if you take the time, who knows you'll be just fine. Final Thoughts The Snorkie Talkie seems like an amazing gadget to us. Still we believe it's a luxury item that most of us don't need in the first place (you can also find it in our snorkel gifts article). It can definitely help out a good amount of people that are either scared or beginners.