I've desnorkled mine the day I bought the car. Just yanked the sucker out. No issues with water/debri for me. There was a confirmed dyno test a forum user did a while back on his S model and got 5 whp.
http://986forum.com/forums/performance-technical-chat/9671-finally-dyno-charts-de-snorked-986s.html
Honestly I think it should be no problem if you don't throw cigarette butts out the window or wash your car and spray water directly in the air intake grill.