Which is the best affordable under-water digital camera?

I am planning a snorkeling trip to the Red Sea, and I would love to take pictures of the underwater world out there.
Please let me know which affordable camera (under $500.00)would be the most appropriate. Good pixel resolution and small size are definitely important. Thanks, Ang_2000

To be honest if your not diving a underwater bag would be fine as you can normally take a bag housing to 10m/30ft and they are dirt cheap. However, if you want to compare check out http://www.digideep.com which has all the digital housings available with reviews. Make sure whatever you buy has a good "grab time" ie the time it takes from pressing the shutter to taking the pic as fish move fast.

Finally, enjoy the red sea I have been twice and it is excellent!
PS. always barter with taxi drivers they expect it.

get a regular camera and buy one of those waterproof bags to put it in. try www.adorama.com or a local camera store or even ebay. have fun!

If you don't want to deal with buying "housing" for a digital camera, go with a Pentax WP series camera. All of them are under $299 [through Ritz Camera]. They are waterproof and I believe they are shockproof, too!

Hi Angela, 2 years ago,I bought a PENTAX OPTIO S50 together with a special underwater case from PENTAX.

What I would buy today is:

http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_sectio...

Do you free dive when snorkeling? I have a friend and she took a 720sw down to 30ft, without problems and without damage, so I guess you could also go a bit deeper with a 770.

Happy snorkeling!

Peter