USVI-On-Line

Hi! We are returning to St John in November and our 8 year old is excited about snorkeling. She is not a strong swimmer yet so I want to purchase a floatation belt for her before the trip. Does anyone have a recommendation on where to purchase? Thanks!

This is where I got mine: (Overtons)

http://www.overtons.com/modperl/product ... 008&r=view

They had the best price.

Jo Ann

I would recommend a flotation vest. I bought one for my wife from www.leisurepro.com
The vest can be inflated to whaterever level of flotation assistance you need. The belt didn't seem to provide the same level of "security blanket" feeling for my wife as the belt.

My wife slowly let air out as she became more confident in the water. Now she doesn't need it anymore.

I use a belt for long snorkeling excursions...I don’t want to get tired when I’m out in the middle of the ocean and have a tough time swimming back!

I like the belt because it is unobtrusive...it is just kind of there and I don’t even notice it. Actually, this year I kept forgetting to wear it and didn't even notice until I got done snorkeling and the belt was still in my snorkeling bag (that's how unobtrusive it is).

I’d just go with the least expensive option you can find. Mine is actually two child arm floats attached to each other (they Velcro together)...it cost me about $3 six years ago. My sister isn’t a strong swimmer and I knew she’d be scared to snorkel on her honeymoon a couple years ago so I wanted to buy her a belt…the only one I could find was a $30 water exercise belt...it worked great for her, but I’m perfectly happy with my $3 model

I made my own flotation device- it's made out of beer and pizza.......

We rented one from Crabby's for a week for my 11 year old daughter, instead of bringine one down in luggage. We had the same experience as we had for my older daughter (when she was 6) - as soon as she got comfortable in the water she wanted to take the flotation belt off. These are not swim team kids, but they can snorkel for hours... until they see an octopus, then its time to stand on Dad. But, having the flotation belt make the acclimation time much shorter.

You can also rent belts at Hurricane Alley in Mongoose and at Low Key.

Some fun for your 8 year old, this is a video from March when we were out with John Brandi of Palm Tree Charters.

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Cheers, RickG

If you're checking luggage, belts make great padding between bottles of rum for the trip home