Practice breath holds before you go, not only static but moving as well - go to the pool and do lengths underwater.
See if there's a diving pool or just go out to the ocean and practice equalising the pressure in your ears.
As for gear, you can skimp first of all on the snorkel, its a fucking tube. As for masks I prefer low profile ones, they make it easier to clear if your mask comes off for whatever reason.
http://www.aqualung.com/au/dive-gear/masks/sphera This is mine, decently cheap, never given me too many issues fogging up either. Weight belts go for a cheap option too, as long as it won't come undone (and make fucking sure you do it up securely before you jump in because once they fall off, unless it's shallow they're gone forever. As for fins just get some long proper spearfishing ones, being underwater you quickly discover that small quick movements use up way more oxygen than slow long ones, and the longer the fin is the longer your kick, therefore using up less oxygen, which equals more bottom time.
In general aqualung or beauchat is pretty cheap and good, so I would go with those two for any and all gear. You didn't mention if you needed a suit or not but if you do go with a two piece with an attached hood, it gets cold down there and hoods make all the difference.
Finally don't be dismayed if you don't get anything the first few times you go out, unless you jump right into a school or your friends have some secret spots that are filled with fish it's not uncommon to not even see any decent fish for a whole session. Just enjoy being out there
