Scuba Diving Equipment - Does Anyone Take Theirs?? Help!!!!

[tracy]

We are taking a cruise on Royal Caribbean's Enchantment the week of September 15, 2003 and I am trying to find dive excursions on my own for the ports of Belize, Key West (which not sure we have enough time since the port time is only 7 am until 2 pm) and Cozumel. Do most people take their own gear or do you just rent? We have our own gear. I was unsure about this. I have never cruised before.

Any advice or information is GREATLY appreciated. I am totally lost on all this. Any suggestions for places to dive/see etc. is greatly appreciated too.

Thanks,

Tracy

[LisaK]

Tracy, i would bring your own mask, fins & snorkel. Rent tanks. We snorkel and we bring our own gear (i like mine and i know where its been, if you know what i mean)

[tracy]

I am leaning more towards our BC's and Regulators etc. We would never bring our tanks and weights. I am seeing charges of anywhere from $10.00 to $16.00 per person for equipment plus the fees to dive. I was just curious if a lot of people bring their own equipment or for convenience use the equipment provided and eat the cost. But, yes, I agree with what you are saying about where the equipment has been!!!!

Thanks for responding!

[LisaK]

Tracy, i really don't know what equipment is involved in Scuba diving, if it is heavy, and cumbersome then i would say leave it at home and rent it on the island.

Hi Tracy

We are newly qualified but have our own regs, masks, snorks, and fins so they are going our only problem is from the UK we are only allowed an extra 5kg of baggage for "sports equipment"
AND
Maritime law forbids you taking your dive knives on board ship

Regards
Gray

[jimm]

My wife, myself and my 13 year old son all dive and have always brought our own gear with us when we cruise. That would be your mask, fins, snorkels and BC's. This is pretty much standard gear as none of the dive shops expect you to travel with your air or lead and will provide these at no charge when you get there. The cost savings isn't really the issue to us as the comfort and familiarity of using your own gear. If you're paying big bucks for the cruise, dive excursions etc. why would you want to be 100' under water wondering about the gear you're using, not to mention the confort issue of ill fitting BC's masks etc. For us flying out of Canada the equipment was checked as sports equipment at no extra charge. It is alot of gear as we also bring the snorkelling gear for our other two children and end up with two big dive bags that weigh in at 65 pounds each. Once on the boat and in the cabins (we always book 2) there is plenty of room to unload and store the gear. On the days we dive we each carry our own BC's and have a seperate small packsac for the fins, snorkels, masks and towels. Packed like this it is no problem to walk to the dive operators. One thing when security searches your checked bags going onto the ship they will confiscate your dive knife. This was never a problem as it was always available at the gangway when you are getting off the ship and you returned it when you got back on.

[Bruce]

1. Take your own gear. Sure it will add weight to your bags, but you will be more comfortable and feel more secure if you have your own and know how it has been used in the past and that it has been serviced annually (it has been serviced, right?) I took my own gear on my last cruise and will do so again on the next one.

2. Book your own dives. You will probably end up with a better dive experience than you would if you go with the ships excursions, and it will cost less too.

3. For a more informed answer, you can ask your questions here:

http://www.scubadiving.com/talk/list.php?f=1&collapse=0
it is a scuba diving message board, so there will be fellow divers to answer, not mainly non-divers from the cruise message board.

But better yet, use the search function first, the regulars appreciate it.

http://www.scubadiving.com/talk/search.php?f=1

Cheers,
Bruce