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What To Look For
Scuba diving requires the assembly of several pieces of equipment if you want to stop renting equipment for every diving trip. The absolute minimum includes a dive mask, fins, wetsuit, snorkel, buoyancy control device and a regulator with its attached octopus. Even with this set of equipment, it is still necessary to rent weights and an air cylinder.
Common Pitfalls
In an urge to put their own kit together as rapidly as possible, many new scuba divers often take bargain hunting too far. There are two items in particular where quality should always override a low price tag: the regulator and the dive mask. A bad scuba mask limits your vision and ruins the entire diving experience. A good regulator, on the other hand, should be built to last and above all reliable. Your life depends on that piece of equipment working like it is supposed to.
Where To Buy
Most scuba equipment can be bought online, and in fact should be. Many dive shops substantially mark up their prices, so it pays to at least look online before going to the dive shop and looking at equipment. Dive equipment can be kind of like cars that way: the price on the shelf might be very different from the recommended retail price. However, there is one piece of gear that should always be tried on before it is purchased, and that necessarily means going to the shop: the dive mask. For dive masks, a good fit is everything, and you can only be sure of that by trying it on in the flesh.
Cost
Expect a good scuba mask and regulator combination to cost at least $450. Past that, bargain hunting can substantially reduce the expense of a wetsuit, snorkel and fins, especially as some of those items can be picked up used. However, your wetsuit needs will depend very heavily on where you intend to dive. Divers in Florida only need a shorty, which can be had for $40 to $60. A diver in North Carolina, on the other hand, will need a 5-mm full wet suit, which can cost $250 and up.
Accessories
One piece of equipment that is so useful that many divers consider it essential is the dive computer. Other good accessories are the dive knife, underwater cameras, underwater flashlights, and the underwater board and marker for writing messages too complicated for hand signals. Many dive mask manufacturers sell corrective vision lens masks for those who wear contacts or eyeglasses.
Insider Tips
Consider buying your entire kit at once. There are a number of online retailers that offer steep discounts for buying packages, and this could save between 20 and 50 percent depending on the individual items chosen.
