snuba

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noun

A combination of snorkeling and scuba diving where the swimmer uses the fins, mask, and breathing apparatus commonly used in scuba diving, but the oxygen tanks usually strapped to the back are instead attached to floating rafts that remain on the water's surface.

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Meanings

nounsnuba (uncountable)
  1. uncountablehobbiesA combination of snorkeling and scuba diving where the swimmer uses the fins, mask, and breathing apparatus commonly used in scuba diving, but the oxygen tanks usually strapped to the back are instead attached to floating rafts that remain on the water's surface.

    This isn’t scuba, or even snuba, but simply underwater walking!

    2001, Christie Stilson, Maui and Lanaʻi, Ninth Edition, Prima, page 400
    2 more examples

    One raft will support two snuba-divers. ¶ […] Orientation for the snuba activity is usually about 30 min, followed by a 30-min undersea experience.

    2008, Charles Hammersley, “Snuba”, in Michael Lück, editor, The Encyclopedia of Tourism and Recreation in Marine Environments, CABI, →ISBN, page 439

    A fun alternative in the sea is a “snuba” tour, where snorkelers can go underwater tethered by a breathing tube to an air-supply float on the surface.

    2010, Marcie and Rick Carroll, The Unofficial Guide to Hawaii, John Wiley and Sons, →ISBN, page 290

Origin

Blend of snorkel + scuba

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Busanbasun
Cite this entry
APA

snuba. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/snuba

MLA

“snuba.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/snuba. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “snuba,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/snuba.

Source: snuba on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.