Packing and traveling with Scuba gear

[ccarter]

Great tips on packing the gear but what i want to know is what do you do when you get back to the cabin after the dive? We are mere mortals who will have an average cabin and balcony. Yes, i know the OS cabins have dive lockers built into the super duper decks but that won't happen in my lifetime. What do you all do with the wet gear? Any special tips?

[bruce-r]

Great tips on packing the gear but what i want to know is what do you do when you get back to the cabin after the dive?

If I didn't have a balcony cabin, I'd take my dive gear to the pool deck, rinse it in one of the showers there, then set it out in the sun to dry while I had a beer or two.

 

For packing damp gear, especially a wetsuit, I recommend the really, really large ziplock bags.

[gvre]

Quick tip. Nothing worse than a stinky wet suit or BC. If you dive your last day and your gear is wet we did the following to dry ours the last day on the Tahitian Princess. That day it was pouring rain so there was no sun to dry them. We filled the tub and rinsed our stuff. We took our booties and wet suits up to the self serve laundry and tossed them in the dryers. This worked out great. They were dry in one cycle. It cost $1.00. We let our BC's drip dry on the balcony for about an hour. Then we hung them up in the bathroom and put the hair dryer in the pocket and weight compartments. We just left it in them and it took about an hour to dry each one.

 

Tahiti Dive Photos at: http://new.photos.yahoo.com/gvre/album/576460762355072518#page1

[cruiseguy1016]

I hope this isn't a double post, the first attempt timed out.

 

Here's what I do. I pack the mask and snorkel and leave the rest of the gear at home. I rent the gear from the dive operator. I know what you're thinking....Why would I rent gear that has been used by all those people? It must be worn out and unsafe. Think about it. If you were a dive operator, would you rent gear to people that was potentially unsafe? No! Imagine the liablity associated with that. All reputable dive operators have very good maintenance policies to ensure that their gear is safe and reliable for their clients.

 

Renting the gear solves 2 problems, how do I pack all this stuff? and what do I do with it in my tiny stateroom? I used to pack all my gear (mine and DW's) and lug it through the airports. I realized that renting was the better way to go and life has been so much simpler since.

 

This is just the other side of the coin. Somthing to think about. Good Luck!

[Loves_Dogs]

My son insisted on putting his computer, reg and mask in his carry on and sure enough, he did get pulled aside for extra screening. He packed his BC, booties and fins in a checked bag. I did not let him bring his dive knife. Being a new diver, I do not have my own BC or reg yet, but I put my mask in my carry on and packed my booties and fins in a checked bag. I LOVE diving, but it sure is a pain traveling with all that gear!

[w&k]

After two fly/dive trips last year, I have changed the gear packing method.

 

Our rolling dive bag is just a bit too big for the airline checked baggage, but we got it on the plane the first time with a LARGE tip. On the way back, we used the luggage valet and it squeezed through.

 

For the fall trip through the Panama Canal, we flew out to California, then rented a car and drove home from Ft. Lauderdale. We sent most of the gear out in a box with Cruiseshippers.com. Very nice, awesomely convenient, but a bit spendy for San Juan.

 

So...while we were in California, we bought a cheap rolling bag, and it's currently residing in the living room, with 2 full sets of BC's, booties, fleece skins, wetsuits, snorkels, computers, mesh bags, 3 masks and a set of walkie talkies down one end.

 

I originally had the regulators in the case too, but it was over 50#. I'm debating on pulling out the fleece skins and wetsuits into my clothes duffel, putting the regs back in, and thus eliminating the carry-on where they are currently residing.

 

Decisions, decisions... but I have decided the mesh backpacks are much easier to handle than the big rolling bag. We do a 'gear and beer', stick the BC's, regs & fins back in the bags, and they sit nicely in the shower until the next morning when we add the masks & booties & suits, and head out for another dive day.

 

This time next week we'll be putting it into practice flying to San Juan to catch the Empress 11-day.

 

Have a great trip!

[cruzegirl]

Wow.... I guess we all pack differently..... And yet almost the same... I dive in California most of the time so I have a BIG Body Glove rolling bag. It can carry all the regular stuff: fins, BC, weight harness, wetsuit, booties, gloves, hood, maks/snorkel.... I can also carry my camera gear in there but that usually goes in a dry carry bag.....I also have side pockets for extra reg. batteries, knife, save-a-dive kit and regulator.. I used to take all this on any trip. For me as a newer diver (I'm going on 2 years now, guess I'm not so new), I wanted "my" stuff. I felt much more secure as I knew it's history, how it was taken care of and how it works. But in December, after getting charged going and coming home for overweight, I'm re-thinking things....lol.. Going I was 5lbs over and coming back I was 2lbs over.. :confused: Really annoyed me as the person in front of me who checked their luggage and were 10lbs over, weren't charged.. :eek: hmpf...... lol....

So since it's warm water diving I'm doing most of the time when I travel and need less stuff, I got a small carry on type bag that also can be a back pack.. Let me tell you, carrying that large bag I used from before wasn't easy to carry across sand in Grand Cayman:cool: . So I want to make it easier. I'll have my dive skin, shortie, fins, snorkel/mask, regulator and I'll try to bring my BC as well as camera gear.... If the BC won't fit, I'm going to try to get out of the habit of "needing" my BC and try to use rentals.....We'll see....