No. They're difficult sleeping with. Answer removed in protest of AB staff's lack of action protecting the membership from the COAT gang and their skewing answers.

for me, scuba divers need to wear snorkels all the time. when i did my rescue diver course, i just realized the importance of it. in case of emergency, like if someone drowns and is unconcious underwater and you dont have any first aid kit with you, you can use your snorkel (w/o drain valves) for mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. and also if you are out of air, you can also use ur snorkel to swim back to the shore or to the boat.

NO. They get in the way for certain types of dive ie. Penetration of a wreck or cave. I've not used one or needed one in the last 2000 dives I have done.

Snorkels should not be associated with "newbies". Other than penetration wreck diving or cave diving where a snorkel can be a tangle hazard, when are snorkels hazardous or risky? I have been diving for ten years and an instructor for 5 years and I always wear a snorkel. You never know when you're going to need to surface swim back to the boat. You also might need to swim to the descent line and if the weather is rough, I'd rather have the snorkel to help me breathe. You could use your reg but I'd rather save my air for the dive.

Though the purpose of a snorkel is to conserve on air while at the surface, they can be irritating. People with longer hair may end up getting hair tangled in them where they connect to the mask. There are snorkels out there that are on the top heavy side as well, which can interfere with getting a good seal on your mask. Those working in the education end of scuba are required to have a snorkel but it is not required to have that snorkel attached to the mask. I see more people using what are called pocket snorkels. The link below will show you an example. http://www.visibilityunlimited.com/page/scuba/PROD/Oceanic-Pocket-Snorkel I wouldn't suggest these for the avid snorkeler but for the diver who feels naked without one or the scuba educator who is required to have a snorkel they are a great alternative. I was on a drift dive once in Honduras, where, upon surfacing, we found the dive boat had broken down and was quite a distance away from the dive group. The divemaster, who was not wearing a snorkel ended up asking if he could borrow mine to swim back to the boat to try and get it started. P.S. He didn't get the boat started but a second dive boat was able to tow it to us.

I had a friend that got severe stomach cramps while returning to the boat. He was out of air and with the cramping was not able to lift his head above the water. His snorkel was the only piece of equipment that kept him from drowning. I have thousands of dives and I "Will not leave home / the boat without out it". Grant