Dive Packing Guide: What to Pack?

By Kristy WoodJune 5, 2019

So, you’re booking a diving vacation abroad in some beautiful location for the first time, you may be wondering what you should be packing. Here’s our Ultimate Dive Packing Guide to help you out this dive season.

Okay, so you will need to pack much of the usual stuff as a normal vacation such as weather-appropriate clothes, toiletries, sun cream, camera, and other similar items. You’ll also need to base the amount you pack on how long you are going away for. In addition to normal things you need to pack, you obviously need to pack your essential diving gear. But where is the limit? You don’t want to be stung by extra costs for having overweight luggage – but you also don’t want to be without your important pieces of equipment.

The Ultimate Dive Packing Guide: Everything You Need For a Dive Trip

We’ve looked at all your different pieces of scuba diving gear and what best fits in your scuba dive bag, so if you’re unsure about the basics you should pack, you’ll find lots of valuable information here.

In the following post though, we are going to look at traveling with dive gear and the best way to pack everything, as well as some things you should probably just leave at home. Are you planning a winter trip? Make sure you check out our best places to dive in winter post!

1. Taking All Your Diving Gear

As diving with your own gear and equipment is recommended, you should pack your own snorkel, mask, scuba fins, regulator, BCD and, of course, wetsuits.

This not only makes for a more enjoyable and comfortable diving experience because you’re familiar with the stuff, but it also can help you save on expensive rental costs.

Ideally, you should consider packing two bags – one to keep your clothes, etc in and one for all your diving gear.

You need to be careful to monitor the weight of your bag, especially if you are taking everything with you on a plane, as there are airlines that allow you to have a scuba diving baggage allowance of up to 10kg. Always check the airline you are flying with offers this,

2. What if You Have Restricted Weight?

If, though, for some reason, you are restricted in the amount of weight you can carry, you will need to consider leaving some of your equipment behind.

The type of traveling and diving you are participating in will help determine the equipment and gear you should take with you and stuff you could rent.

What if You Have Restricted Weight

Mask and Snorkel

It’s generally a good idea to bring your mask and your snorkel. Rentals are never as good as your own gear and they can sometimes be faulty or just uncomfortable, and no one wants that.

Masks and snorkels are both lightweight enough that they won’t take up much room in your baggage anyway! So it makes sense that they come along with you on your dive trip.

BCD and Regulator

By far the two most important parts of your equipment. If possible, you should try to bring your own regulator and BCD. Nowadays, most BCDs are travel-friendly and compact ideal for these kinds of situations.

BCDs and regulators are also the most expensive pieces of equipment to rent, so you’ll save money by taking your own along with you.

Scuba Packing Guide

Dive Computer

Similarly, dive computers are another piece of kit that is expensive to rent. So it’s best to take your own one with you. Not only this, but your dive logs will be stored on your own device rather than someone else’s.

You’ll also not have the hassle of having to learn how to use it a new dive computer!

Fins

Fins are something of a grey area because if you know you are only going to be using open heel-style fins, it won’t be too problematic renting them if you’re bringing some boots.

However, poorly fitting fins can just make the whole experience stressful and as far away from being fun as possible. If you have your own, take them with you! They can easily slot in the sides of your bag and not take up too much space.

Wetsuits

Whether you bring your own wetsuits will depend really on the water temperature where you are diving. If the cold is going to be an issue, pack your own wetsuit.

However, if the water is going to be warm, leave your wetsuits behind and just rent one. Whether you take any of the above or choose rental options, is obviously down to your own preferences.

3. Items You Definitely Don’t Need to Bring

In order to figure out the most important items that you need to bring with you. You need to make a list, whether it’s a physical or mental one.

Now, we are going to discuss some of the items that you really don’t need to bring.

Weights and Tanks

These are normally included as part of most diving trips and you can get them from diving centers.

Taking along your own diving weights will only mean that lots of your baggage space is used up, make it heavier than it needs to be and will cause issues when it comes to security checks at the airport.

Scuba Diving Tools

Tools

You won’t need to bring any of your own diving tools as most centers have these in an abundance.

If you really feel it’s necessary to bring some of your own tools, stick to a smaller set with basics like O-rings, etc., rather than a big comprehensive one.

We hope the above post has been helpful. Even if you are still not sure what you’re going to bring on your diving vacation and what you’re going to leave behind, we’ve given you some food for thought.

Ultimately a lot of it depends on your own preferences and plans.

About the Author

Kristy Wood. Scuba diving is more than a passion to me, it’s a part of who I am. Since the day I took my very first underwater breath, I knew that my life would be focused around the ocean and everything that belongs to it. Now, I travel and dive as much as I can, exploring the rest of the world, trying new dive gear, discovering dive destinations and reviewing them here for you. All while educating people of the threats our marine life and oceans face every day and what we can do to help defend it.

About the Author

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