Frequently Asked Questions

We have an entire Getting Started Guide.

If you intend to rent, then just mask, snorkel, and boots/fins. Otherwise, see our complete guide to essential dive gear.

Yes, but most items go in checked baggage. Carry on fragile or high value items like your regulator, dive computer, and mask.

No. Dive knives, trauma shears, and sharp tools must be placed in checked luggage. TSA will confiscate them if found in carry on.

Not recommended. Even empty tanks may be accepted only with the valve fully removed, and the hassle usually outweighs the benefit.

Scuba diving is statistically safer than many common activities, including driving, skiing, and skydiving. The difference is that diving happens in an unforgiving environment, so small mistakes can escalate if not managed. Proper training, equipment checks, and situational awareness minimize risk.

Recreational diving focuses on no decompression limits and open water. Technical diving expands to:

• Decompression diving: Going beyond no stop limits.
• Trimix diving: Using helium based gas mixes for deeper dives.
• Overhead environments: Caves or wrecks where a direct ascent is not possible.

Teamwork means planning, communicating, and executing the dive together as a coordinated team, not merely swimming nearby. Strong teams assign roles, monitor each other, use signals or lights to stay connected, and support the group from entry to exit.

Stop, perform a controlled 360 degree search for up to one minute, and use your light if applicable. If you do not reconnect, ascend safely, deploy an SMB if needed, and wait on the surface. Review lost buddy protocols during the pre dive briefing.

Call a dive at any time, for any reason. If you feel anxious, unwell, overloaded, or just not right, signal your teammates and begin a safe ascent together. No justification is required. Healthy teams normalize this choice.

Use primary lights for signaling and reduce spacing. Common light signals include short flashes for attention, a slow circle for OK, and side to side sweeps for emergency. Confirm signals deliberately and maintain consistent team positions.

Stay together during ascent and the surface swim. Help teammates with fins or gear during exit, especially in cold or rough conditions. Once out, check on each other, confirm equipment status, and do a quick self check for fatigue or symptoms.

Maintain three points of contact on ladders, keep your regulator in until fully aboard or on land, and avoid crowding. Stay inflated at the surface and remove fins only when stable or when handing them up to crew.

In most real world conditions, use your regulator. Gas use is minimal and a reg keeps you breathing comfortably in chop or current. A snorkel can help on long, calm surface swims but can be a liability in rough water.

First make the diver positively buoyant and confirm they are on their own regulator. Use a push tow, tank valve tow, or underarm tow as conditions dictate. Move slowly, communicate clearly, and do not let a panicked diver compromise your safety.

It is the least secure place to keep a mask - it can fall off easily in waves or when boarding. The idea that it signals distress is a myth. Better options: keep it on your face, around your neck, or spin it backward so the strap rests across your forehead.

Surface inflation keeps you positively buoyant, conserves energy, and improves safety - especially while waiting for pickup or swimming. You do not need full inflation, just enough to float comfortably. If the power inflator fails, be ready to orally inflate.

Focus on buoyancy control, trim, mask clearing, controlled descents, and an unrushed safety stop. These foundations keep you calm, in control, and safer underwater.

Dial in weighting, control breathing, and use small BCD adjustments. Stay relaxed and aware of trim and breath cycle to hover without rising or sinking.

Hold neutral in horizontal trim, check above, add a small puff of gas to the SMB or use an LP inflator, and release while managing the spool. Practice to avoid runaway ascents or losing the reel.

Either donate your primary (long hose) or offer an alternate octo. Maintain calm, keep eye contact, control ascent, and monitor gas together.