I bought one of those disposable film based underwater cameras (~$15) when I was snorkeling in Hawaii last year, and was pretty disappointed by the picture quality as well as the limited number of photos (27), and the total cost when you consider developing as well.
For my recent trip to Puerto Rico, I looked at underwater cases for my Canon Powershot digital camera and most of the hard cases were over $100, which is more than I wanted to spend for something I would only use maybe once a year. Investing in a watertight digital camera was even more expensive. Then I found Dicapac - they make cheap waterproof cases that fit common sizes of point and shoot digital cameras. I bought one on amazon for $30 and it is basically an industrial ziploc bag with a lens port on the front. The bag is translucent and flexible so you can see the LCD screen on the back of your camera and operate the controls underwater. I thought it did a good job for swimming and snorkeling - the image quality was much better than the disposable film camera, and you could take a lot more shots. I don't think the bag is rated for scuba depths, but for a day at the beach or the rainforest or river rafting, it would do fine.
I have no connection to this company, but thought others might appreciate the tip for their next beach trip. A company called Ewa-marine has similiar products - they seemed to be more expensive but offer greater depth protection for serious divers.
http://www.dicapacusa.com/
For my recent trip to Puerto Rico, I looked at underwater cases for my Canon Powershot digital camera and most of the hard cases were over $100, which is more than I wanted to spend for something I would only use maybe once a year. Investing in a watertight digital camera was even more expensive. Then I found Dicapac - they make cheap waterproof cases that fit common sizes of point and shoot digital cameras. I bought one on amazon for $30 and it is basically an industrial ziploc bag with a lens port on the front. The bag is translucent and flexible so you can see the LCD screen on the back of your camera and operate the controls underwater. I thought it did a good job for swimming and snorkeling - the image quality was much better than the disposable film camera, and you could take a lot more shots. I don't think the bag is rated for scuba depths, but for a day at the beach or the rainforest or river rafting, it would do fine.
I have no connection to this company, but thought others might appreciate the tip for their next beach trip. A company called Ewa-marine has similiar products - they seemed to be more expensive but offer greater depth protection for serious divers.
http://www.dicapacusa.com/