Ocean Reef Aria UNO Full Face Snorkel Mask

The Ocean Reef Aria UNO is a full face snorkeling mask made in Italy, with the snorkel built into the frame rather than held in your teeth. It covers the whole face, you breathe through your mouth or your nose or both, and Ocean Reef have over 25 years in full face integrated masks behind them.

Who this suits

Ocean Reef list the Aria UNO for beginners and experienced snorkelers alike, and that is fair. A first-timer gets to skip the two things that put people off snorkelling, the mouthpiece and the flooded tube, while someone who already snorkels regularly gets a mask that does not fog.

It suits anyone who has spent a swim clearing water out of a snorkel. The dry top does that job for you, which on a choppy surface is the difference between watching the reef and managing your equipment.

Skip it if you want to swim down. Full face snorkel masks as a category are surface equipment: the air space inside is large, there is no way to equalise it the way you would pinch your nose behind a standard mask, and going below the surface in one is not what the design is for. If any of your snorkelling involves duck-diving, buy a traditional mask and snorkel.

The dry top, and why it matters at the surface

The snorkel is integrated into the top of the mask and fitted with a dry top. Ocean Reef describe it plainly: the dry top closes when submerged to prevent water entry.

That is one valve doing the work of a skill. Clearing a flooded snorkel is a technique that takes practice and, on a first outing, causes most of the panic. A tube that shuts when a wave goes over you removes the reason to practise it.

The mask also lists face dry protection, meaning the seal is meant to keep your face dry inside rather than merely keeping the water out of your airway.

Two air paths, one clear lens

The Aria UNO uses a breathing circulation system that separates incoming and outgoing air. Air you breathe in travels one path, air you breathe out travels another, and the two do not meet across the lens.

That is the whole anti-fog story, and it is a mechanical one rather than a coating. Warm humid breath never reaches the lens, so there is no defogger to buy, no spitting in the mask before you get in, and nothing that wears off over time. Vision is listed as panoramic, so what stays clear is a wide view rather than a porthole.

Ocean Reef list the design as patented and independently laboratory-tested, so the airflow claim has been checked by someone other than the company making it.

Sizing and the accessories that fit it

The Aria UNO comes in multiple sizes, and this page covers the mask rather than one specific size. Getting that right is the only thing standing between you and a leak, because a full face mask seals on the shape of your face and no strap adjustment rescues a skirt that sits wrong. Measure against Ocean Reef's own sizing guide before ordering.

The Aria line takes accessories that fit this mask: an action cam support, a selfie stick and coloured markers. The markers are the underrated one, since a group of snorkelers on the surface all look identical from a boat.

The bottom line

A well-made full face mask from a company with 70 years behind it and over 25 of those in full face integrated masks. The dry top and the split airflow are the two features worth the money, and both solve problems beginners actually hit.

It is surface equipment and nothing else. It is also a mask that makes you harder to read from a distance, since a companion cannot see your face clearly, so snorkel with a buddy and stay where people can see you. For floating over a reef and looking down, it is a good tool.

Specifications