Aqua Lung Sport Nabul Mask - Diving Squad Report:
Diving Squad Rating:
Ah sweet memory lane – the Aqua Lung Sport Nabul was the first scuba mask I ever bought!
Twas back in 2020 when I was training to become a divemaster in the Philippines amidst covid lockdowns.
But enough of that I say! Let’s look at why the Aqua Lung Sport Nabul served me so well as it did.
This is a low-cost frameless dive mask with a mono-lens in an exaggerated teardrop shape that offers a bigger field of view than many other dive masks.
Its durable (I still have mine 3 years later), comfortable to wear and being frameless it exerts minimal pressure on ones face.
PROS
- Awesome value for money
- Huge field of view
- Comfortable
- Frameless:
- Streamlined
- Exerts minimal pressure on face
- Compact
CONS
- Does not accept corrective lenses
- Limited reviews online
- Some colours low in stock
“The Aqualung Sport Nabul is extremely comfortable to wear thanks to its extra soft silicone skirt and frameless design that exerts minimal pressure on the wearers face.
It has a huge range of view with better downward visiblity than many other scuba diving masks and despite lacking a frame is hardy and durable – as well as compact!
This was the first scuba diving mask I ever bought. It’s a lot cheaper since then and I still carry it with me as my main backup mask to this day”.
Alex Hatton: Founder and Grand Admiral of the Diving Squad
FEATURES:
Other Specs:
- Soft nose pocket for easy equalisation
- Range of colours
- Low volume
- Streamlined
- Compact
1. Mono-lens:
The Aqualung Sport Nubal features a mono lens – which in my opinion are better than dual lenses because they offer an unobstructed view.
Further more, the two teardrop points at the bottom of the lens comes down a good half inch further than that of most other dive masks offering enhanced vertical viewing.
On top of that, it’s also about a centimetre wider than many other dive masks.
The result is an absolutely massive field of view in all directions. Seriously, the Aqua Lung Nabul outcompetes so many other dive masks in terms of how wide its scope of vision is.
Its only real downside is that being a mono-lens, it can’t accept prescription lenses.
2. Soft silicone skirt:
The skirt of a mask refers to the soft part in between the lens and the frame – it’s what moulds to the wearers face so it needs to be both comfortable and watertight.
Just about every scuba diving mask skirt is constructed form soft silicone as this is a great material for such a task; being tough, watertight and soft making it comfortable to wear.
This is the very case for the Aqualung Sport Nabul – it’s skirt is made from soft silicone and feels very comfortable on one’s face. I’ve lent it to a couple of different people with varying face shapes and it always seems to fit them as well as it does me.
Maybe we all just have a generic face type (!) or maybe it’s thanks to the double feathering in the skirt – a feature that helps scuba diving masks fit a range of different face sizes.
3. Frameless design:
Most of the time there is a hard ridge between a dive mask lens and skirt – this is called the frame. However a few sucuba diving masks lack this feature and they are known as frameless masks. The Aqualung Sport Nabul is one such frameless mask.
The advantage of a scuba diving mask being frameless is that it is more compact, more streamlined, easy to clear and exerts less pressure on the wearers face. Pretty good right!?
The downside is that it is supposedly more prone to leaking and also not as durable.
However, I’ve had my AquaLung Nabul since 2018 – it’s been round the Philippines, Costa Rica, Panama and Nicaragua and in that time it has not attained any damage. This may be because it’s so high quality.
When I first bought it, it lay well within the upper mid-price category for a scuba diving mask.
It’s only in the last year or so that it’s dropped in price to being a budget scuba diving mask.
4. Adjustable strap:
The strap is extremely easy to adjust thanks to how flexible; it comes on a swivel and can also be pulled quite firmly up or down.
The large buttons are easy to operate – I imagine they’d be easy to push down on even with thick scuba diving gloves.
At the back the strap is double skirted which does a really nice job of evenly distributing the pressure of the mask against the back of my head.
The whole thing is made from soft silicone and is exceptionally comfortable to wear; which is nicely complimented by the lightness of wearing a frameless mask such as this.
FINAL VERDICT - Diving Squad
As you can probably tell, I absolutely love the Aqualung Sport Nabul but it’s love is well earned!
It’s served me incredibly well over the years; being comfortable, compact, streamlined and durable.
I also have yet to attain a scuba diving mask with a wider field of vision than it, even among my much more expensive models.
It gob-smacks me to see how much cheaper it is compared to 2020; this is now one of the cheapest scuba diving masks out there. It’s an absolute bargain: awesome value for money!
Or read reviews about other Frameless Scuba Masks:
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