Dive Equipment

Dive Equipment

The dive equipment you will need will depend of the location of the dive and the type of diving you are going to be doing. But whether you are snorkeling or scuba diving, recreational divers will still need the same basic equipment: a mask, fins, snorkel and possibly a dive skin to keep warm.

When the body is underwater, it looses heat 60 times faster than it does on land. So the dive skin is an essential part of your dive equipment. You have two choices with a dive skin: a wet suit or a dry suit. A wet suit is better suited to warmer climates where as a dry suit is best used in oceans such as the North Atlantic and the Pacific.

Most dive equipment can be rented. In fact many divers prefer to rent a scuba unit when they are diving away from their home. A scuba unit will comprise of a scuba tank full of compressed air, the regulator that supplies the air to you and a buoyancy control device. New divers have many questions about the scuba tank, the main question being: how long will it last me underwater?

Unfortunately, there is no one universal answer. People breathe at different speeds and breathe faster when they are in the water. Also the deeper you descend, the faster the air in the tank will be consumed. There being no universal answer is the reason that tanks come equipped with a gauge that lets the diver know how much air they have left. An approximation would be that one tank would provide air for about one hour in calm, warm water at a depth of 20 feet.