While out diving, a friend dipped into his kit bag and passed me this new space-age looking mask and snorkel. Give it a try he said, and so I did. I wasn’t sure at first – another gimmick, something different just for the sake of it? Not so; I was pleasantly surprised.

Manufacturer of the Easybreath Tribord say this is the first full face snorkel mask for breathing underwater as easily and naturally as you would on land with your nose and mouth. But I do remember, as a kid, swimming off my local beach in Torquay with a full face snorkel mask – admittedly, not so sophisticated, but nevertheless……. I remember the snorkel top was curved down and had a ping pong ball inserted to stop the water going in when you duck dived. Never did work well and leaked like a sieve.

The Tribord Easybreath is different. Very comfortable, doesn’t leak and the modern equivalent of the ping pong ball works well. They do say in the instructions that the Easybreath should not be used underwater as I have done in the top photo. I had to try and it did work well. But – do follow the makers instructions…….It is important that you use the correct size of mask though, one size does not fit all.

The mask gives good vision and is very easy to breathe through. Nice not having to grip the usual snorkel between your teeth. It does take a little getting used to as it feels a little claustrophobic at first, but after a few minutes I found I was totally relaxed with it.

I can see this being very popular at coastal resorts where families want to snorkel together and the high visibility orange top allows parents to keep a good eye on where the kids are.

As with any new mask, I had fogging problems but with the usual anti-fog paste and a good rinse the mask stayed clear.

To find out more about the Easybreath visit www.tribord.com/en.