Packing for a Scuba Dive Vacation
Wetsuits, Masks, Regulators, Fins, Tanks, Snorkels and Weights
What to pack for a scuba diving vacation to avoid health concerns: exposure suits, regulators and BCDs, mask and snorkel, possibly fins.
What you take on a dive vacation will depend on several factors including how much tolerance you have for:
- wearing items with which other people have been intimate
- rental fees
- over weight luggage fees
Wetsuits: It has been said there are two types of divers, those that pee in a wetsuit and those that lie about it. Most rental wetsuits will have seen more traffic than a stoplight in New York city and will have had more than seawater pass through them. Good dive operators will rinse and shampoo the wetsuits between uses, not so good dive operators will rinse the suits with fresh or saltwater and hang them up to dry. With any other form of dive operator, good luck!
In addition to the health issues with rental wetsuits there is also the used part of the equation. As a wetsuit is used the gas bubbles that give it insulating qualities breaks down, so after a while it may expose you to things you never knew existed in nature, but it won’t help keep you warm at depth.
Masks and snorkels: These are designed to be breathed through, hold the excretions from mouths and noses, and in general be plague carriers. The rinsing and cleaning options are much the same as for wetsuits.
Regulators and Buoyancy compensation devices or BCDs: These are life support devices, if they are poorly maintained then you are risking your life. Enough said.
Tanks and Weights: These are almost foolproof (as long as the tank is aluminum) and are about the only thing one should rent on a regular basis.
Fins: Fins are usually not a health concern, are safe and usually can be used without concern. That being said, they usually don’t weigh too much and can be laid flat in the bag, so you may want to pack yours.
So, as related to health and welfare concerns, take along exposure suits, regulators and BCDs and mask and snorkel, if you have room and aren’t over weight (luggage wise) then take your fins.
Rental Fees
Rental fees for a full kit run about $50-60 US dollars per day. Tanks and weights are usually included in the dive price. Shelling out for something you don’t get to keep or paying for something that might introduce you to the next flu strain that decimates the world or any of the mildly debilitating illnesses that can be passed by contact with dried saliva, urine or other less savory excretions is not optimal. At the above rate within 10 to 15 days of rental diving you could easily pay for your own gear.
Overweight Luggage Fees
Over weight fees usually run from $50 to $75 dollars. Usually you can pack BCDs, masks, fins and exposure suits (wetsuits usually) for two people and make it under the weight restrictions. Carry regulators as carry on along with a cameras and laptop and pack camera housings and strobes in a hard case still usually below weight restrictions. Of course some puddle jump airlines may have lower weight restrictions. If you have no tolerance for these fees, then rent equipment, otherwise they may be something you just have to put up with.
Of course most people really over pack for a trip; most dive locations are really laid back and don’t require much more than shorts, tee shirts and flip flops.
Base what you pack on your level of risk aversion. At the absolute minimum a mask, BCD (or back plate and wing) and regulator reduces direct exposure to disease and is guarantees life support gear.
Also pack suntan lotion, bug screen and toiletries and only take a laptop if you absolutely have to, you can wait to edit photos or check email when you're away from heat and humidity (and sugar ants in the tropics).
