My first trip to Bonaire is in early feb. and my husband and I are avid snorkelers We plan to be in the water most of our days. I was planning on getting one of the olympus cameras 770 790 that are water and shock proof, etc. However I read recently that even though they can go up to 10 feet under many people had leakage when they were in the water over an hour. I dont know what to do. I dont want anything fancy since I am not a photographer, just a point and shoot but it will really upset me if on our first trip to Bonaire our camera floods and we have no pics. What should I do? Are any of the cameras made for long periods under water?

IMHO Susan get one and take your chances. On the internet you will only hear of the ones that flood, you will not hear of the hundreds that work fine. Also if you go to Bonaire during the warranty period they will repair it if it floods. The other thing to remember is a flood does not necessarily destroy the memory card and your pictures should still be safe.

Hi Susan
I am a snorkeler also & opted last Feb to get something other than those disposable u/w cameras.
I did some research & bought the Olympus 770SW & am very happy with it. I snorkeled every day sometimes a total of 4 hours over the course of the day & always had the camera with me. Had one minor problem (not really a problem) but it started making a funny very low hissing noise intermittently. I continued using it and it worked fine. I haven't sent it back yet but will. I am still using the camera when I go to the beach or on walks as it is very light & fits easily into my pocket. It does not have a viewer so in bright sun it was difficult to see but hey, it's digital so just shoot away. The LCD screen is a decent size. I also got the 2GB xd card & shot at a high resolution & was very happy with the pics & capacity.
Hope this helps. If you have any more ??? you can post here or e-mail me privately.
Happy snorkeling

P.S. the 770SW is waterproof to 33' as opposed to 10'. Not that I free dive to that depth but felt that is was a bit of a better camera

(Message edited by judytraff on September 28, 2008)