Dive gear has a way of accumulating. You start with a mask, fins, and wetsuit — the basics that instructors recommend you own rather than rent — and within two years you have a spare regulator, a surface marker buoy in three different colours, a torch with a backup torch and a backup to the backup, a dive knife you’ve never used, and a mesh bag full of miscellaneous accessories that seemed essential at the time of purchase and now live at the bottom of your gear bag.
I’m describing my own gear bag. I’m not proud of all of it. But I’ve also, through trial and error and some expensive mistakes, developed a clear view of what actually matters, what’s nice to have, and what the dive industry sells you that you probably don’t need.
The Gear You Should Own (Not Rent)
Mask. This is the single most important piece of personal gear, and the one that makes the biggest difference when it fits properly versus when it doesn’t. A mask that leaks constantly, or that fogs despite treatments, or that creates pressure points on your face after twenty minutes — it doesn’t matter how good the dive site is, you’re not going to enjoy it.
The fit test: place the mask on your face without the strap, inhale gently through your nose. The mask should suction to your face and stay there without the strap. If it doesn’t, that mask doesn’t fit you. Try another one.
Lens quality matters more in a mask than price. Low-distortion tempered glass lenses make a visible difference to what you see underwater, particularly at the edges of your field of view.
Fins. Rented fins are usually functional but often the wrong size, and fins that don’t fit — too loose, causing blisters; too tight, causing cramps — make diving unpleasant. If you dive regularly, owning fins that fit your feet precisely is worth the modest cost.
Split fins versus paddle fins is a genuine debate. Split fins generate thrust through a different mechanism (the split allows the blades to flex into a propeller-like orientation on the power stroke) and are generally more energy-efficient for slow, relaxed diving. Paddle fins produce more power and are better for diving in strong current. I use paddle fins for current diving and splits for everything else.
Wetsuit. The correct wetsuit thickness depends entirely on where you’re diving. In tropical Australian waters (northern GBR, Coral Sea), a 3mm shorty or full suit is appropriate for most people. In subtropical waters (southern GBR, northern NSW), 5mm full suit. In temperate waters (southern NSW, Victoria, South Australia), 7mm or a drysuit.
A wetsuit that’s too thin means you’re cold, which means you consume more air and your attention is on your discomfort rather than the reef. A wetsuit that’s too thick means you need more weight to achieve neutral buoyancy, which adds mass and reduces efficiency. Get the thickness right for your diving location.
BCD. The BCD (Buoyancy Control Device) is your life jacket, your air tank holder, and your trim system all in one. Jacket-style BCDs are the standard for recreational diving — they’re comfortable, buoyant, and easy to use. Back-inflate BCDs put all the buoyancy behind you rather than around you, which gives a more natural underwater position but can tip you face-down at the surface (manageable with practice).
Fit matters: a BCD that’s too large will shift around on your body during the dive, affecting your trim. Size it for your torso, not your chest measurement.
Regulator. Your regulator is what keeps you alive. This is not the place to economise on quality, though it is also not the place to spend more than you need to. A mid-range regulator from a reputable manufacturer — Aqualung, Scubapro, Mares, Apeks — will breathe beautifully throughout your recreational diving career, provided it’s serviced annually.
The first stage (which attaches to your tank) and second stage (which goes in your mouth) are the critical components. The alternate air source — a second second-stage, often called an octopus, on a longer yellow hose — should be easy to find quickly in an emergency. Bright yellow colouring is standard for this reason.
The Gear That’s Nice to Have
Dive computer. I’ve listed this as “nice to have” rather than essential because rental computers are available at virtually every dive operation, but a personal computer that you use consistently — calibrated to your personal conservatism settings, tracking your complete dive history, familiar to you in its display and alarms — is genuinely valuable. The difference between someone else’s computer and your own is the difference between a rental car and your own.
Dive torch. Essential for night diving, very useful for daytime diving (illuminating the interiors of crevices and overhangs, restoring colour at depth). A good primary torch and a small backup are standard kit for any diver who dives regularly.
SMB and reel. A surface marker buoy — the inflatable tube you send to the surface before ascending — is mandatory equipment for any diving in open water, where the dive boat needs to know where you are. In Australian diving conditions, an SMB is standard issue rather than optional.
What You Don’t Need (Yet)
Dive knives are sold as essential safety equipment. In practice, recreational divers rarely need them, and the scenarios where they’re actually useful (entanglement in fishing line or nets) are uncommon. A small titanium line cutter or dive scissors is more practical and less cumbersome.
Underwater scooters (DPVs — diver propulsion vehicles) are useful on specific sites and completely unnecessary on most. If you’re diving in places where they’re standard — long wall dives, cavern systems — the operator will provide them.
Anything with “dive” in the name that serves a function adequately addressed by normal equipment: dive slates (a pencil and a piece of plastic does the same job), dive flags (provided by operators), underwater lights of excessive wattage (adds weight and value only in very specific circumstances).
Gear Care
Salt water destroys metal and degrades rubber. Rinse everything thoroughly in fresh water after every dive — mask, fins, wetsuit, BCD, regulators. Regulators get dunked in a freshwater bucket with the dust cap securely in place; don’t press the purge button while the second stage is in water. BCDs get thoroughly inflated, rinsed inside and out, and stored partially inflated.
Wetsuits get rinsed, hung on wide hangers (not folded), and dried in shade rather than direct sunlight, which degrades neoprene.
Good gear, properly maintained, lasts a decade. Badly maintained gear lasts until it doesn’t.
