Seaview 180 V3 Full Face Snorkel Mask

The Seaview 180 V3 is a full face snorkel mask for adults, the third version of Seaview's 180 design, built around a 180 degree panoramic view and a two-chamber breathing system the company calls Flowtech. You breathe through your nose or mouth with nothing between your teeth, and it is designed and tested in the USA.

Who this suits

Adults who snorkel on holiday rather than every weekend, and who would rather look at the reef than manage a mouthpiece. The wide lens and the absence of a bite grip are what people buy this category for.

It suits camera people in particular. The GoPro mount sits near the chin rather than on top of the head, which is the difference between footage of the reef and footage of the surface.

Skip it if you want to swim down. Full face snorkel masks are surface equipment, with a large internal air space and no way to equalise it the way you can pinch your nose behind a standard mask. Skip it too if you are buying for a child, since the mask is listed for adults and the three sizes are adult sizes.

Two chambers, four valves, and what that buys you

The Flowtech system splits the mask into two chambers fed by four intake valves, all of them one-way. One chamber handles what you breathe, the other keeps fresh air moving across the lens.

The one-way valves are the important part. They force air in a single direction, so the warm humid breath you exhale leaves rather than circulating back across the lens. That is the whole anti-fog mechanism, and being mechanical it does not wear off the way a coating or a defogger does. Seaview also list an anti-leak feature and an ergonomic leak-free fit.

Seaview rate the system at up to 600% easier breathing than other full face masks, backed by third-party airflow and CO2 measurement testing. Treat that as a manufacturer's best case against unnamed competitors. The CO2 testing behind it matters more: a full face mask that traps exhaled air is the real hazard here, and Seaview have had that measured independently.

A 180 degree view, 20% more viewing area than the previous versions

The field of view is 180 degrees panoramic, which Seaview list as 20% larger than their previous versions. Note that comparison: it is against earlier Seaview masks, not against every full face mask on the market.

The extra width means less turning your head. A fish moving past your shoulder stays in view, which matters when you are face-down and breathing through a tube that has to stay pointing up.

Sizing, and the one test worth doing first

The V3 comes in three sizes, small, medium and large. This page covers the mask rather than one specific size.

Seaview's sizing method is a single measurement: from the bridge of your nose to the tip of your chin. Measure along the side of the nose rather than over it, since going over the top adds length you do not have.

Seaview also recommend testing the mask in a pool before open water use. Follow that literally: a mask that leaks in a pool leaks in the sea, and finding out on the first morning of a trip is how a snorkelling holiday becomes a shopping trip.

The camera mount and the angled snorkel

The V3 carries a swivel GoPro mount near the chin. It keeps the camera closer to the waterline and pointing where you are looking, and it swivels, so you can change the angle without removing the mask.

The snorkel tube is angled rather than straight, which holds the opening further back and higher when you turn your head. Seaview list the head movement freedom that comes with it as a design goal rather than a side effect, and on a swim where you are following something, it is the part you notice.

The bottom line

A carefully worked-out full face mask: three adult sizes, a breathing system measured by someone other than the manufacturer, and a camera mount in the right place. The V3 label reflects real changes rather than a repaint.

It is not a freediving mask, not a scuba mask and not a children's mask. Measure your face, test it in a pool, and it does the one thing it is built for properly.

Specifications