Snorkel gear -- worth the space it takes?

We were on both Santorini and Naxos a couple years ago and did not notice anyone snorkeling. We didn't even think about bringing our gear. We travel light. What we did see on Naxos was windsurfers by our resort! That was fun to watch. We were on the far end of St. George Beach. Like you, we take our snorkeling gear to Hawaii. Sounds like a great itinerary! Great month to be in Greece.

I have snorkeled in Greece, as well as Grand Cayman and the Yucatan. My bad news is that snorkeling in Greece and, to be honest, maybe most of the Mediterranean, is pretty underwhelming.

Obviously little or no coral, some rocks, few fish, probably some Urchins, maybe an octopus; I suppose if you are lucky a wreck or other debris, really lucky I suppose some pottery...but you would have to travel specifically to those.

Unfortunately, most of the waters were terribly over-fished and never recovered.

So make an effort to take gear? (Meaning a good mask, Snorkel, fins, shoes, vest, etc.) probably not. Find a small pair of goggles that you can at least take a look? Sure.

At snorkel depths there's almost nothing to see under water besides algae-covered rocks and sea grasses, no colorful corals or schools of exotic fish.

At first I thought this was a "joke" thread. You'll know why when you read what Rick himself says about packing a snorkel:
https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/packing-light/packing-smart Whatever you decide it looks like you have a great trip planned!

No joke -- but I'm glad I got my suspicions confirmed. :-) Thanks for the feedback!

Thanks for posting this! We were contemplating just bring our mask and snorkel but were worried about the room in our back packs. This definitely resolved the question.