6 Reasons to Use a Waterproof Phone Case + CaliCase Review & Discount

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Disclosure: This post is sponsored by CaliCase. We received a CaliCase to use & share our experience & opinion with our readers. All experiences & opinions are our own. 

6 Reasons to Use a Waterproof Phone Case

Are you a family that loves outdoor adventures? Or maybe you love to go swimming with your kids and would love to capture some of those photos of your kids enjoying the water? Our family loves outdoor adventures & during the summertime, especially, we love to get out anywhere we can near the water.

We got inflatable kayaks a few years ago to bring on our outdoor adventures (we love them because they pack up so easily & we can bring them on our trips to kayak anywhere we find a good lake). But the problem we have run into is that we don’t want to leave our phones on the shore (for emergencies, as you never know if you were to get stuck or have an issue with our kayaks) and I love to take photos & capture those memories on the water.

So, we have found there are so many times that we have needed a good waterproof phone case. We were sent the CaliCase to try out & see what we thought of having a specific waterproof phone case & to share about our experiences with all of you & it made me realize just how much this comes in handy for so many outdoor adventures. So, I wanted to share with you the opportunities that it would be best to use a waterproof phone case so you can get prepared for summertime adventures now! I’ll share our experience with the CaliCase below our reasons for needing to use a waterproof phone case.

Underwater Swimming Photos & Videos in the Water

Of course, the most obvious reason for using a waterproof phone case is to take photos underwater in pools, in the ocean, swimming in lakes & more. If you are taking a tropical vacation to Hawaii or Florida, for example, these could be such unique photos if you are wanting to capture the sea life you see underwater. There have been so many times when I have been somewhere tropical & I wished I had a camera to capture the amazing beauty of the creatures I have found while snorkeling.

But, even here in the Northwest, it would be so fun to have some cool underwater photos of your kids swimming in a pool, the Puget Sound or a lake. Or the ocean (although I tend to think of the ocean as too cold for much swimming ;) ) but you could get some great splashing & wave pictures!

They do have the disposable underwater cameras that I used to use when I was younger for taking photos, but then you have to send them in to get developed which is time-consuming & a pain to have to do, when you could just bring your phone and an underwater phone case & then you’l have them ready to upload to your favorite social media sites or your computer & more.

Using a waterproof  phone case that can go underwater is such a more affordable option to take occasional underwater photos versus buying a camera specifically for that purpose. Or buying a specific GoPro that can go underwater. That can get pricey as well.

But instead you can buy an affordable underwater phone case & then you can easily bring it with you on vacation without taking up space & being a much more affordable alternative for having some underwater photos on your vacation.

Phone Safety & Photos while doing Boating Activities

If you love to be out on the water in the summer, it is absolutely imperative that you have a way to protect your phone while you’re on the water. Whether you are going boating, kayaking, riding a SUP board (stand up paddle board), canoeing & more, this is such an important item to bring with you.

We received inflatable kayaks for Christmas a few years ago, so our favorite thing is to bring them along with us on any road trips we do, since they pack up so easily to bring in the car. We have kayaked everywhere from outside of Yellowstone at our campground on a lake to Two Medicine Lake in Glacier National Park to Lake Tahoe.

But, we quickly learned on our first trip – you must have a way to protect your phone. You always need to bring at least one phone with you when you are out on the water for safety reasons. You never know if you will have any problems while you are out on the water & you need to be able to call 911 or reach someone if you are having any issues.

Or if it took you longer than you thought to paddle out & back, you need to be able to reach family or friends to let them know why you are delayed, so they don’t become concerned & start searching for you. So many important reasons to always have a phone with you for safety on the water!

I also love to have a phone with me when we are out on the water because I love the photo opportunities. You can get some awesome photos from such a unique vantage point of being on the water as well as some fun videos. We love being on the water, so we love to have photos that capture our love of the time on the water & remind us of those special memories.

When we started kayaking, we bought a “dry bag” which is a bag to keep all your valuables safe & it floats if it fell in the water, so we would keep our phones in there, too. But the problem is that in order to use your phone to take photos, you would then have to open the dry bag constantly & take it out for pictures & then put it back in the dry bag. It’s just not very convenient & puts your phone & all your other valuables at risk every time you open the bag as you could risk dropping something in the water.

So, I am so excited to have these waterproof phone cases that float to try out on the water the next time we go kayaking this summer! I can keep my phone on the lanyard around my neck in the case & be able to take photos whenever I want. So much easier & safer for any of our valuables we need to bring with us !

Phone Safety & Photos While on Outdoor Adventures

For the same reasons as bringing a phone on boating activities, I think it’s also important to bring your phone with you when you do any other outdoor activities that might involve water such as fishing, whitewater rafting, river floating & more. My husband loves to go salmon fishing (although he doesn’t get to go too often). But when he has gone fishing, they put on the big waders & wade out into the river for the best salmon fishing opportunities.

This is definitely the time you want a waterproof phone case on the lanyard around your neck, so you have easy access to your phone if you need to check in at home or call a buddy further down the river to meet up. Or there have been times he has wanted to take photos of the fish he caught, so this would be an easy way to do that without worry of the phone falling in the river & being swept away.

We went floating down the river in Winthrop last summer, which was one of the most fun summer activities I’ve done (such a blast!). But that is most definitely an activity you absolutely need to have at least one phone with you. You get dropped off at one location (if you rent the tubes) & then float down to another location. But you’ll always want to bring a phone with you, in case you were to get separated or in case of emergency.

In this case, we used a “dry bag” again, but ran into the same issue of constantly taking the phone out to take photos & then you run the risk of dropping your phone in the water every time you do that. So, I really wish I had had a waterproof camera case on me & I could have put the lanyard around my neck & not had the worry of constantly holding on tight to my phone to grab those photos.

Whitewater rafting would be the same situation – you may want your camera with you for photos, but that is definitely a situation where it will be unstable so you wouldn’t want to risk holding on to a phone,. But with the waterproof phone case, you could put the lanyard over your neck & feel much more secure with your phone to take photos & capture those awesome memories.

Keeping your Phone Secure on Hikes 

Hiking thru a mini waterfall covering the trail

We love to go hiking around the Northwest & this year, we decided to not be as much of fair-weather hikers, but really try to get outside in all weather to keep up our outdoor time, which was so good for making it thru a wet winter for us. And I am that person that always loves to take a ton of pictures on any hike (or really any activity, who am I kidding? ;) ). So, there was definitely opportunities for my phone to get wet while on rainy hikes.

Plus, the more you hike, the more you will find that there are some hikes that may involve river crossings (over a log, over stones, etc) but it would have been so helpful to have a waterproof case with us to keep our phones protected from being dropped in the water. I love that you can use the lanyard in these situations & put the phone around your neck in the waterproof case & then feel secure knowing that it won’t drop in some of these wetter hiking situations.

Keep Your Phone Dry in the Snow

We love heading out to the snow in the mountains in the Northwest during the winter with activities like snowshoeing, sledding & skiing. And again, I love taking photos on the slopes or up snowshoeing in the mountains. But with those activities, there have been many times I have dropped my phone in the snow. Eek!

This is definitely where it would have been so handy to have a waterproof case to keep my phone protected from getting wet in the snow. You definitely want to bring a phone with you on those activities for emergencies, in case you get lost, etc, but a waterproof case would keep your phone protected at all times & help you to feel more comfortable about using it to take photos as you are out enjoying the snow.

Underwater Tide Pool Photos

Last month, we headed to the Oregon Coast & enjoyed walking along the beaches. We love to head to the beach at low tide, so we can examine some of the tide pools we find near the rocky areas. So, we had fun testing out using the waterproof case with some small tide pools. How cool to get a different perspective of the sea life from an underwater view. Typically you can’t get as close to the sea life in the tide pools, but with your phone in an underwater case, you can get right up next to it & snap some photos.

(attempting to take pictures underwater at the beach, but our pup decided to get in the picture too)

(Underwater sea life or underwater dog! :) )

Unfortunately for our pictures, the tide pools weren’t all that exciting that we found at the time, but there have been times we have found starfish, sea anemone, & so many other cool plants & sea life to photograph from a different view. I’m excited to try out the underwater case with some of the low tides we find on our future adventures & get some unique photographs of these creatures.

CaliCase Review:

As I mentioned earlier, we had the opportunity to try out the CaliCase, which is an affordable waterproof phone case to protect your phone in any water situations. These cases feature dual layered protection with layers of PVC plastic & a foam enclosure that allows the case to float, while being protected from the water. This makes it extra durable compared to many of the cases that are available on the market. You don’t have to worry about it sinking to the bottom of a lake but it will stay floating. Plus, it has a lanyard which you can use to put it around your neck to keep it close, too, for water adventures like being in the ocean or rivers where the water is fast moving.

So, while the CaliCase protects your phone, it also allows you to use your phone to take underwater photos and keep your phone protected. There are a number of fun colors to choose from, too!

Best of all, the CaliCase is so affordable compared to buying special underwater cameras or more expensive cases – it’s just $29.99! The CaliCase also has 4 1/2 stars out of over 2000+ ratings on Amazon, so that shows you how well people like this case, too!

As I mentioned, we got these cases last month to test it out on our Spring Break vacation to the Oregon Coast. We tried it out in the indoor pool while our girls were swimming & went totally underwater with the phone. It was a bit nervous as it was my phone – eek! But, the CaliCase did great & no water leaked in & my phone was completely protected. We had fun taking some silly underwater pictures of our girls. And they had fun splashing us! And testing the floating option out with the phone – it did great & again no leaks or issues at all! My phone was totally protected the whole time!

We also tested the phone case out on several trips to the beach. The weather was very cold when we were there (just above freezing – brrr!), so we didn’t go in the water to test it out. But we did take it near some tide pools to see what some of the underwater pictures would look like.  Unfortunately we didn’t find the super cool tide pools when we had the phone case out, but it was still fun to see some unique perspectives of the underwater plants.

I can’t wait to test it out with more interesting tide pool areas at low tide. The phone case did not have any issues going underwater in the tide pool areas at all. Plus, the bonus was that it protected my phone several times from crazy blowing sand & rain when we were in the middle of a downpour that drenched us while we were at the beach (no pictures of that as we were busy running for the car, ha!)

All in all, we were very happy with the CaliCase waterproof phone case & we have now thought of all these ways we can use the phone case now in place of our “dry bag” for kayaking, river floating & other water adventures to protect our phones more than we were doing. So I feel much more secure using this protection for our phone, so I can still take a lot of pictures, but won’t have to worry about dropping my phone in the water!

See the CaliCase in Action

Check out our video on YouTube to see the CaliCase in action on our recent adventure to the Oregon Coast!

 

CaliCase Discount for Thrifty NW Mom Readers:

 The CaliCase retails for $29.99 on the CaliCase.com website & also on Amazon.

They are offering a special discount for Thrifty NW Mom readers with 20% off the CaliCase on the CaliCase.com website. Use the promo code: thriftynwmom at checkout. This makes the CaliCase just $23.99 after the 20% off discount for this waterproof floating case for phones! {This discount will only work on CaliCase.com, not on Amazon}

Do you use a waterproof phone case – let us know what you think or other ways you use it!