Diving in the Philippines...Minimilist diving gear question?

[Fastnail]

Hi All,

I shall be visiting and diving in the Philippines for one whole month late December and early January 2020.

I normally dive Sidemount Solo, however, I realise this may not be possible and I will have to switch to dive open circuit with a dive operator/buddy system and use some rental gear. so my thoughts were to downsize my own diving gear to fit into one suitcase and rent open circuit gear as little as possible.

Have any of you experienced having the basic travel gear to dive and travel at the same time?

For example, my OMS Slipstream fins are heavy and too big so any recommendations for a replacement set of smaller fins or other fins or a minimilistic BCD with weight pockets as I hate diving with a weight belt.

I hope I have conveyed my questions correctly for your understanding and look forward to any replies of your experiences.

Much appreciated.

Fastnail.

 

[grantctobin]

Which SM harness are you using? If it's a minimalist harness (a la Deco harness), I'd just bring that and a cam band and save buying more gear. If it's a Nomad/SMS75/SMS100/etc, I wouldn't bring it.

If you're set on backmount and budget agnostic, I'd do the following:
VDH/Oxycheq/HOG 18# wing
Oxycheq soft plate
1piece harness with pair of 2 or 4lb trim pouches and minimum D-rings.
ScubaPro GoSport full foot fin

DO NOT bring any gear in carry-on baggage while travelling around the Philippines.

 

[Centrals]

Bring all your SM gear + rigging for the tank. Not every operator is SM friendly.
Keep the regs in the check bag and you can get away with hand carry your Slipstream.
7kg is the standard allowance for hand carry. But normally it is NOT enforced so you might get away with slight excess but there is NO guarantee on that.
Good luck

 

[Searcaigh]

Hollis F2 fins are great to travel with and fit in a suitcase easily.

I'd always use fins that require boots as I frequently do shore diving, and without boots this not going to be a nice experience.

 

[CanadaDan]

Most of my gear is geared towards travel.

• Aqualung Outlaw BCD with the optional quick release weight pockets. Super small and simple. The 12lb wing is perfect for diving single AL80's (HP100's require the optional larger 25lb wing).
• Used to have the Apeks Flight regs (crazy light but I traded up to the somewhat heavier XL4+ for colder water here at home as the Flights froze on me a couple of times)
• Mares X-Stream Fins with spring straps and full soled boots for comfort on ladders, decks and walking out to boats in shallow water. Fit in my suitcase and don't weigh much. Really fast fins but lousy for back fining.
• If the trip warrants it I bring my 3mm Bare Reactive full suit (perfect for repetative dives on a liveaboard or freshwater cenotes). If I'm on a leisure trip with my girlfriend I just pack my shorty for a couple of tropical ocean dives a day

Everything else is standard stuff but the above items were all chosen for weight and size.

 

[aviator8]

DO NOT bring any gear in carry-on baggage while travelling around the Philippines.

Curious why.

 

[Barmaglot]

Airport security in the Philippines does not allow regulators in cabin luggage; I suppose they consider them a blunt weapon or something.

 

[aviator8]

Airport security in the Philippines does not allow regulators in cabin luggage; I suppose they consider them a blunt weapon or something.

I did not know that, thanks.

 

[Bowers]

A small sidemount harness and renting a single tank would be super light and packable. For backmount the oulaw is the most compact bc i know of.

 

[UTscuba]

I've just returned from a short trip to the bahamas and had similar constraints to you: solo, sidemount, lightweight, warm salt water. However not been to the Phillipines, so can't speak to airline/airport protocols.

I picked up a Hollis SMS 50 on ebay pretty cheaply and took that with me. Despite the negative reviews it seems to attract, it worked perfectly for me. Think it has around 20lbs of lift, but I didn't get close to maxing it out. I added a couple of weight pockets on the belt, which were semi-ditchable (requires unzipping so not perfect) and that plus the internal pockets gave me enough weight. It was small enough I could roll it up like a taco and put my reg bag in the middle and it fit in my hand luggage.

I took my regular fins (also OMS slipstreams) but they were heavy and maxed out my checked luggage weight, but the Indigo Tac fins are on my radar as a lightweight travel fin:

https://www.indigo-industries.com/tac-fin