Snorkeling

We're not snorkelers (?) but our daughter is asking if a mask and snorkel can be rented anywhere in Zihua or Ixtapa. Prices? She doesn't want to go on a snorkeling tour per se, but just to try it at maybe Isla Ixtapa, Las Gatas or near the rocks on La Ropa. Swim fins aren't really necessary, right?
Or would she be better just buying her own mask and snorkel back home and bringing them down?

She can buy a decent mask, snorkel, fins and a nylon mesh bag to carry them in at Ixtapa Aqua Paradise at the Barceló in Ixtapa. It's always better to have your own equipment, though I also started out using borrowed stuff, and later I worked on tour boats that provided snorkeling gear to folks who didn't have their own.

At both Isla Ixtapa and Las Gatas gear can be rented. But I think the best deal would be to take a snorkeling trip on the Picante to Playa Manzanillo on Bahía de Potosí. They have snorkeling gear for their passengers who don't bring their own.