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5 Packing Tips for Scuba Diving Vacations

By Jim Bartlett | Updated On January 30, 2017
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5 Packing Tips for Scuba Diving Vacations


Dive travel bag

Anyone who has taken a few scuba vacations knows: Anything bad that can happen on a scuba trip is likely to happen — unless you take steps to ensure Murphy’s Law doesn’t apply. Here are quick tips to help you steer clear:

1. Visualize your destination. Think about and research your destination for unexpected factors: different line voltage? Plug configuration for AC outlets? Consider things like power adapters, spare batteries and spare spring pins for your dive-watch wristband.

2. Inspect your dive gear. Go through everything and inspect it carefully. Check the dump valves on your BCD, test/replace all batteries, breathe on your regulators using a spare tank, and ensure your camera-housing seals are solid.

3. Use a checklist. Better to have everything on a comprehensive list you check off (drawing lines through any items you decide to leave home), than to forget to pack something you really need.

  1. Copy key documents. Make copies of passports, driver’s licenses, credit cards and itineraries, and pack those separately from the originals. Spouses should carry copies of each other’s key documents.

  2. ID bags inside and out. What if that luggage tag comes off? To ensure airlines know who owns the bag and how to get the bag to you, put a copy of your itinerary (with name, phone, hotel info, etc.) inside each bag.

Anyone who has taken a few scuba vacations knows: Anything bad that can happen on a scuba trip is likely to happen — unless you take steps to ensure Murphy’s Law doesn’t apply. Here are quick tips to help you steer clear:

1. Visualize your destination. Think about and research your destination for unexpected factors: different line voltage? Plug configuration for AC outlets? Consider things like power adapters, spare batteries and spare spring pins for your dive-watch wristband.

2. Inspect your dive gear. Go through everything and inspect it carefully. Check the dump valves on your BCD, test/replace all batteries, breathe on your regulators using a spare tank, and ensure your camera-housing seals are solid.

3. Use a checklist. Better to have everything on a comprehensive list you check off (drawing lines through any items you decide to leave home), than to forget to pack something you really need.

  1. Copy key documents. Make copies of passports, driver’s licenses, credit cards and itineraries, and pack those separately from the originals. Spouses should carry copies of each other’s key documents.

  2. ID bags inside and out. What if that luggage tag comes off? To ensure airlines know who owns the bag and how to get the bag to you, put a copy of your itinerary (with name, phone, hotel info, etc.) inside each bag.