Scuba gear on a cruise

[CanadianTwosome]

So... Now that our daughter is old enough and we've got her certified (well... one cert dive left in three weeks!), we're planning to dive in every port, but I'm a little stumped on what to do with our wet gear.

 

We're in a balcony cabin on our next cruise, so I was thinking we could put it outside, but even then, it's going to take up a lot of space. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Has anyone ever asked a ship's dive centre to hold their gear for them?

 

Thanks!

[MPM]

My wife and I have taken a couple of dive cruises. We had a balcony cabin both times. We got pretty good at rinsing the gear in the small shower. Masks, snorkels, and regulators dried in the sink while wet suits, fins, BCD's etc. dried on the balcony. You are not supposed to leave things on the balcony overnight (fire hazard if someone throws a cigarette over board), but I must confess we have done so on a few occasions.

[Laurie S.]

Same here, I rinsed my wetsuit, bc, and fins in the bathtub then put the wetsuit on a hanger and let it hang in the tub. I left the bc and fins in the tub to dry. Smaller items, like my diveskin, boots, etc., were easily washed in the sink and also left to dry. I took a heavier bungee cord along and could run it across the tub to hang things on. The last day, when I really wanted the bc to dry, I put it over the back of the chair on the balcony and it dried nicely.

 

The first time I washed stuff out, I was in a hurry to get ready for dinner so I left the wetsuit lying in the tub. My wonderful room steward put it up on the drying cord for me.

[CanadianTwosome]

Thank you both so much for the replies. I'll definitely be adding a bungee to my packing list. I'm sure between the bathroom and the balcony we'll be able to get our gear as dry as possible between ports.

 

I'm gathering from Laurie's post that at least the bc didn't dry completely inside - did it dry on the balcony? Did your wetsuits dry when hung inside? Did you have a full sea day before you returned to your home port?

 

We're diving with sharks in the Bahamas the afternoon before we disembark... return to dock is estimated at 5pm, so if we get back to the ship by 5:30 or 6, we're still only going to have about 8 hours before our bags need to be packed and put out; think we'll make it? On NCL we do have the option of carrying off our own bags... I'd rather not do that, but it may be our only option, what do you think?

[Laurie S.]

The bc was dry enough to pack in my suitcase with no problem. It felt dry, although there probably still was some moisture inside. The wetsuit and everything else (including the boots) dried completely. I did have a sea dry on the last day of the cruise.

[CanadianTwosome]

Thanks again! Our first two dives are going to be on consecutive days, so I guess we'll find out just how dry our stuff can get when we see how c-c-c-cold it is putting it on the second day! ha ha ha :p

[Laurie S.]

The wetsuits should dry. My 3 mm dries overnight with no problem at all, as does the diveskin. My boots might not be completely dry, however.

[cruzegirl]

I usually am in a group of divers. Here are several ideas.

For me/roommates, we rinse in the tub. We always let some of the initial water drip off in the tub. Then, we take the wetsuit, bc's, fins out to the balcony. We have the Bocca clips and hang stuff from the chairs/balcony. BC on the chair, fins stand in a corner, wetsuits draped or hung on the balcony. We often clip the booties or swimsuits to the table or arm of the chairs and they are left to dry. Rarely, is anything wet the next day. My dive skin stays inside as does the mask/regulator. It's worked very well.

Some of our group will go out to the pool area upon arrival back. They'll rinse their stuff there and set it out in the sun while having a drink then take it back to the room to the balcony to dry. So there are many ways. I haven't yet taken my stuff where I haven't had a balcony so that's a necessity to me.

[eastwest]

Hello! How do you all manage to bring all your gears on a cruise? Almost all airlines have less weight limit now. so do you all pay a lot for overweight? We are going on a transatlantic cruise then south Carib. cruise and plan to do some diving. We know for sure that we'll bring our computer for sure,and what else?...we'll decide when we are packing. We'll probably end up renting the most?!

Any dive centers you could recommend in Madeira,Tenerife,St Thomas,Barbados,Domenica?

Thanks.

[dirvin0500]

My DW and I bought American Tourister "Light" bags. We are able to pack everything in each bag to include: fins, boots, rash guard, wetsuit, BCD, Regulater, computer, primary and spare mask and snorkel, and a "duffel bag" for our gear when we get to port. The total bag weighs 42 pounds for my DW and 43 for me as I have a First Aid Kit in mine.

It meets size and weight limits fine.

[growinassets]

If you're making several dives during your cruise, security will get to know you. The first time back on the ship with your wet stuff... they remembered me with my DC Knife... when questioned I just told them that there were bigger knives in the dining room. We always have everything in a mesh bag (back pack) and rinse once at the dive dock and again in the cabin. Then with our various hooks and hangers, we get the stuff hung up to dry either on the balcony or in the shower. Most of the newer ships have great ventilation in the shower and stuff dries pretty quick.

Also, there is a new site for divers... it's not as crowded as others and really geared well for cruisers who like diving. check it out! DiveCritic I think they are supposed to launch their site sometime over this summer.

[Stevesan]

My DW and I bought American Tourister "Light" bags. We are able to pack everything in each bag to include: fins, boots, rash guard, wetsuit, BCD, Regulater, computer, primary and spare mask and snorkel, and a "duffel bag" for our gear when we get to port. The total bag weighs 42 pounds for my DW and 43 for me as I have a First Aid Kit in mine.

It meets size and weight limits fine.

 

 

I shared a snorkel/dive trip with a couple who had a double bag. It had two distinct sides, but closed up and carried/wheeled as a single bag.

[Laurie S.]

I have a scuba bag with wheels and loaded with fins, 3 mm wetsuit, diveskin, log book, boots, snorkel that I never use, beach towel, bc, and assorted accessories it only weighs 30 pounds. I know that because I'm on a dive trip right now in San Carlos, Mexico and decided to weigh my bag. I'll be able to load a lot of undies and socks in there when I fly and still be under the limit! ;)

[afiremedic323]

Rinse the gear off in the shower, and hang dry it on the balcony, I also strongly advise that you bring a bottle of wetsuit shampoo with because after a few days your gear will smell a little nasty, a quick scrub in the sink and then hanging it out to dry will do wonders.

[growinassets]

We just got a new dive gear system called the "DiveCaddy" which was designed to allow divers to do 'carry-on' when flying for a dive trip. This would not work for a cruise... but it seems to have what we'd want in our daily diving while on a cruise. There's a component called the "FinCaddy" which straps your regulator and fins together and has a small mesh bag for keeping your gear together for the rinse tank and handling (hanging to dry). Also, there's a zippered mesh pouch for the wetsuit and a place to strap in the BCD. This all folds up into a backpack which works really well for transporting from and back to the ship. The whole thing weighs 5 pounds.

 

I'm using it this month on a dive trip to Roatan and again in August to the Bahamas, so I'll do a followup report.

[islandwoman]

Rather than rinsing our gear in our shower and then carrying it, dripping, across the cabin, we rinse it in the shower by the the most convenient pool. Then we lay it across deck chairs. Once it stops dripping, we take it to the cabin and put it out on the balcony.

[Ottawa_cruise_man]

If you're making several dives during your cruise, security will get to know you. The first time back on the ship with your wet stuff... they remembered me with my DC Knife... when questioned I just told them that there were bigger knives in the dining room. We always have everything in a mesh bag (back pack) and rinse once at the dive dock and again in the cabin. Then with our various hooks and hangers, we get the stuff hung up to dry either on the balcony or in the shower. Most of the newer ships have great ventilation in the shower and stuff dries pretty quick.

Also, there is a new site for divers... it's not as crowded as others and really geared well for cruisers who like diving. check it out! DiveCritic I think they are supposed to launch their site sometime over this summer.

 

Kinda looks like Cruise Critic - same colours, fonts, etc...

[Ottawa_cruise_man]

Rather than rinsing our gear in our shower and then carrying it, dripping, across the cabin, we rinse it in the shower by the the most convenient pool. Then we lay it across deck chairs. Once it stops dripping, we take it to the cabin and put it out on the balcony.

Ha! Good idea! :)

[WillW]

I'm in an interior cabin and diving 2 days in a row (Grand Turk and St. Thomas) but then have 2 sea days before I arrive back home. Any ideas on where I could put my gear to dry?

 

Hang in the shower and just take it down when the shower has to be used?

[Ottawa_cruise_man]

I'm in an interior cabin and diving 2 days in a row (Grand Turk and St. Thomas) but then have 2 sea days before I arrive back home. Any ideas on where I could put my gear to dry?

 

Hang in the shower and just take it down when the shower has to be used?

 

Like they said before, you can take it with you to dry in the sun on deck. Let yourself be pampered with colourful drinks with those little umbrellas in them - make a fun "activity"! :D