PIKE JUNIOR SNORKEL

The Aqua Lung Pike Junior is a snorkel sized for a child rather than an adult snorkel cut short. Bore diameter is the reason: a tube sized for adult lungs makes a child work harder to move air, which is what tires them out first.

The top carries an anti-splash valve, shaped to keep surface water out when a wave breaks across the snorkel rather than sending it straight down the tube. Below the mouthpiece sits a one-way purge valve, so water leaves on a light breath rather than a hard blast that a child may not manage. The mouthpiece is hypoallergenic silicone, soft enough not to fatigue a small jaw over a long swim and unlikely to raise a reaction. The two colourways are high-contrast on purpose, which is what makes a child easy to keep track of from a boat or a beach.

The result is a snorkel a child clears on their own rather than pulling out and coughing, which is what usually ends a first snorkel.

Supplied in blue or black. It attaches to a mask strap through the retainer supplied. The Cub Combo and the Hero Junior Set include a snorkel of this type alongside a mask.