PRESCRIPTION GOGGLES

As any beach bum with less-than-perfect vision can tell you, a day at the beach can present a challenge. Wearing contact lenses in the ocean is not an easy task. The sand, salt water, and wind are enemy to those with contact lenses, causing discomfort and even possible harm. Plus, there is always the risk of losing a lens in the water. Regular glasses always have the potential of coming off and getting lost in the surf. So what is a water athlete to do?

Have no fear. Glasses or no glasses, taking care of your eyes when you jet ski can be done easily and for little money. All you need is a good pair of goggles.

For those with less-than-perfect vision, you may want to choose a goggle that is available with a prescription lens. Unfortunately, this is not a readily available option from all goggle companies. It is even more difficult if the powers differ greatly between your two eyes. In that case, the goggle must allow for you to put a seperate prescription lens in each eye. This is unfortunately a more expensive and hard to come by feature. Due to this, if you are wanting to have prescription lenses put in a pair of goggles, it is wise to make sure the goggles seal properly before making a prescription in the lens. However, if you have trouble finding a style you want that comes with prescription lenses, or if the cost of a custom pair is more than you want to spend, there are other options to consider.

Some goggles come in step diopter options. These are pre-fabricated, usually in half-diopter steps (i.e. -2.00, -2.50, etc.). If you decide to go with step diopter goggles, it is important to get the best match to your vision. The general rule is that it is better to round down than up. For example, if you have a -2.25 prescription, use a -2.00 goggle lens. However, keep in mind that step diopter goggles are not made to an exact prescription. Due to this, it will only work for those with little or no astigmatism. Those with a large amount of astigmatism (greater than -1.00) would not be able to use step diopter goggles.

Another less expensive option is to simply wear a comfortable pair of contact lenses and ensure that your goggles have proper seal. If you do this, the goggles must be watertight. Anything but is bad news.