The 5 Most Recommended Freediving Masks by PROs
We all have different faces and no mask fits everybody. Hence, it is difficult to highlight what the best freedive masks are. You might like a mask that your buddy would never use and vice-versa! But still, the experience shows that some freediving masks are recommended over others, seem to fit the best, and satisfy divers’ needs the most.
Best Freediving Masks – The Top 5
Finding a comfortable low-volume mask is a crucial step in order to fully enjoy your diving sessions. The most important is that it seals great and provides you with maximum comfort (check out our freediving mask buying guide for tips on choosing a good-fitting model).
Based on reviews, feedbacks, statistics, and of course personal experience, these are the 5 best freediving masks on the market today:
- Technisub/Aqualung Micromask
- Aqua Sphera freediving mask
- Cressi Nano mask
- Mares Viper
- Sporasub Mystic mask
Technisub/Aqualung Micromask
The Aqualung Micromask is a popular and outstanding model, not by coincidence! If you are picky about your freedive gear, consider buying this mask! Although this is the priciest among the best freedive masks, it is absolutely recommended by freedivers and people say it is definitely worth the money!
The Micromask is a great fit for a small face but has plenty of room in the nose area, therefore it is a good choice if you have a high nose bride. Great buckles, very low volume, good field of view, good quality: the Aqualung Micromask offers everything you need, the very best of the best freedive masks according to freedivers/spearfishermen.
The lenses sit very close to the eyes, the field of vision is just amazing. You can just forget that you’re wearing it. The very low interior volume makes equalizing easy. Thanks to the minimal profile, it creates minimum drag.
The only downside people use to mention is that the silicone skirt is a bit stiffer which can cause discomfort for those who use to spend really long time in the water (more than 2-3 hours).
Thanks to the big success of Aqualung Micromask, several copies appeared with the same design but using different materials resulting in lower prices, one of them is IST M-99.
Aqua Sphera freediving mask
The Sphera is the bestselling freediving mask with many advantages that make it one of the best freedive masks, but also a few downsides compared to other masks. It is popular among advanced divers, but a Number 1 freedive mask of pro freedivers and instructors too. Originally, The Aqua Sphera was designed for swimmers, but it turned out a top-notch low-volume mask for freedivers too.
Why Aqua Sphere Sphera is one of the most recommended masks currently available?
The main reason is that Sphera offers the widest, 180 degrees of peripheral field of view thanks to the curved lenses. Its internal volume is the lowest of any mask (only 76 ml!) meaning it requires almost no equalization. According to some divers, they don’t equalize wearing the Aqua Sphera up to 40m / 130ft (most low-volume masks need to be equalized around 15-20m /50-65 ft). For the most comfortable hands-free equalization, you can use it with a freediving nose clip too. Moreover, it is very flexible, compress well with depth. The Sphera is a good fit for medium and wide faces.
But it has a little drawback: the curved lens design can be solved only with plastic lenses, therefore they scratch easily. For some divers, the view could be a bit disordered due to the curved plastic lenses. Although the field of view is very wide, the view is not as clear as through glass lenses. Sphera is more fragile because of its super lightweight plastic construction.
How do freedivers solve these problems? They say the eyes adapt quickly to the lenses after a view dives. To avoid scratches, rinse the mask after each dive and keep it in a box. And since it is not really durable, they just keep buying it! This is not a joke, we know freedivers who use to order 2-3 every year to always have a spare one just in case.
Cressi Nano mask
Despite the new futuristic design trend in the freediving mask market, Cressi is still following the traditional line. The Nano has a classic look, yet a modern design to meet advanced divers needs. A popular mask in the micromask category along with the highly recommended Aqualung Micromask, Omer Zero or Sporasub Piranha, but comparing to these competitors, Cressi Nano comes with a nice and softer skirt provides better coverage and a perfect seal.
Cressi Nano is one of the best freedive masks for small-medium faced divers. The frame is small and snug fitting, the volume is very low, very easy to compensate. Equipped with flexible, virtually indestructible buckles. The clear tempered glass lenses provide an excellent view.
Mares Viper
This ultra-low volume mask was designed by freedivers for freedivers. Nice and tough construction, high-quality materials, and futuristic design make the Mares Viper one of the best freedive masks available today, modeled with meticulous attention to face ergonomics. Freedivers who use Mares gear tend to choose the Viper over Mares X-Free because of the cool-looking “Batman design”.
Thanks to the flexible skirt, the Viper is a great fit for narrow and medium-wide face divers too. It has an advanced nose-forehead connection and a larger nose attachment area for maximum comfort. The frame is built into the skirt for low internal volume, while the strap is molded into the skirt to reduce the weight.
The Mares Viper is made of soft-touch materials and has an antiglare coating. It features a special self-equalizing effect thanks to the no internal lip design. Maximum hydrodynamics, no drag while ascending, and a good mask to choose!
Sporasub Mystic mask
The Sporasub Mystic freediving mask is very popular among spearfishermen, and highly recommended by freedivers too because it fits a wide variety of faces and has a durable construction. The super soft skirt makes wearing it comfortable.
Thanks to the skirt’s flexibility, the Mystic is a great fit for narrow, medium, and wide-face divers with high nose bridge too. The nose pocket is easily accessible, even if you’re wearing thick gloves.
It has an internal volume of 130 cm3 which is lower than most traditional low volume masks, while the view of field is extremely large, 70 degrees thanks to the no lens rings design. The clear, scratch resistant lenses sit close to the eyes.
The silicone skirt is extremely soft, some freedivers who use to dive with longer facial hair find it too soft. The silicone cannot create a good seal if the facial hair is long, in this case, go for the Technisub Micromask which has a stiff skirt compared to Sporasub Mystic, Available in 3D camouflage patterns too.
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