Checking in Dive Gear? Or Carry-on?

[MrMello]

Hey folks,

I'm pretty new to recreational diving, and I have my first destination dive trip coming up next Spring. I asked around in my dive club about luggage recommendations for dive travel and got some useful answers but one thing I'm torn on is whether I should carry-on most of my expensive dive gear or check most of it in?

I travel carry-on only whenever possible when it comes to regular travel, and I'm honestly terrified of the airlines losing a chunk of my expensive dive gear in transit. However, I've been told that many international destinations have extremely limited carry-on allowances, so in those cases I'd need to check bags regardless. I've also read somewhere that people have had the TSA stop them because of their regulators and forced them to check their carry-on?? Has anyone else been forced to check-in dive gear at security for oddball reasons like that?

This upcoming trip is just to Cozumel with a US airline, so I think I'm good with respect to carry-on allowance, but I'd like to hear other people's opinions on check-in vs carry-on.

Thanks!

 

[Marie13]

How much gear are you taking?

I’d carry on regs, computer, and mask if you’re a hard fit. Lights with lithium ion batteries must be carried on. Check everything else. Put an Apple AirTag or a Tile (depending if you have iPhone or Android) in your checked bag. There have been many cases of people using those to find lost or misplaced (by airline) bags.

A friend had recommended an REI brand wheeled duffle and I used that for my trip to Playa del Carmen for full cave class in August. It worked well. My checked bag didn’t get lost.

 

[mcohen1021]

I’d carry on regs. Computer

I carried on 4 dive computers for our group on our last trip, and one of the oceanic computers was reading ALT when we turned it on



it was very weird , computer was thinking that we had done some altitude diving

 

[Marie13]

I carried on 4 dive computers for our group on our last trip, and one of the oceanic computers was reading ALT when we turned it on

it was very weird , computer was thinking that we had done some altitude diving

I had two Perdix. No problems at all.

 

[Damselfish]

There are people who will try and carry-on everything for a dive trip. Personally I don't see how it's possible (while actually staying within the rules) and have no desire to try.

Lost luggage does happen but it's actually pretty unusual, and I think technology has improved the situation over the years. There are tons of existing threads on this subject with good information. And various ways to decrease your chance of issues. Some of this is location specific. No regulators in carry-on is a Philippines thing, not sure if it's an issue anywhere else. Non-US carriers usually have smaller size limits for carryons, and rather small weight limits for them that tend to get enforced. If you're on a small plane along the way you will probably need to check more for that flight and want to be prepared for it. OTOH, some carriers will give free or cheap allowance for a bag of dive gear. You have to figure out the best way to pack for each trip for you.

Pay attention to rules about different types of batteries. Cozumel it's illegal to take in Sudafed, much discussion about that here lately. There are different quirks for different destinations you should look into.

 

[Marie13]

And it goes without saying - avoid connecting flights if at all possible. When I went to PDC, I was able to fly direct into Cancun from Chicago O’Hare both ways. Paid extra to be on the one direct flight a day Southwest has. It made things much easier. The connecting flights seem to cause the most issues these days.

 

[Mr. Sunday]

Like Marie13 I carry regulators, computer, masks, and flashlights. Everything else gets checked.
I use a medium or large NorthFace Basecamp Duffle for the checked bag.

 

[boulderjohn]

I bring so much gear with me that putting it all in a carry on is simply not possible. I have never had a problem, but I did have a friend whose luggage with dive gear arrived a day late. It can happen, but I don't see if I have much choice. I do bring my computers and dive lights with me on the carry on, but I have had problems with that.

As an example, when I left Cozumel in June, my carry on got pulled in screening and given a through item-by-item check. Amazing as it might seem, the guy doing the checking of bags coming out of Cozumel did not know much about diving, and he acted like he was in the act of catching some kind of terrorist. He opened one of my computer cases and asked, "What is this? Some kind of camera?" I explained that it was a computer for diving, and he clearly had no idea why anyone would need a computer for diving. Then he opened the second computer case and wanted to know why on Earth I would be carrying a second one. He eventually got a supervisor to come over and clear me. For a while I honestly thought he was going to confiscate them.

 

[MrMello]

How much gear are you taking?

I’d carry on regs, computer, and mask if you’re a hard fit. Lights with lithium ion batteries must be carried on. Check everything else. Put an Apple AirTag or a Tile (depending if you have iPhone or Android) in your checked bag. There have been many cases of people using those to find lost or misplaced (by airline) bags.

A friend had recommended an REI brand wheeled duffle and I used that for my trip to Playa del Carmen for full cave class in August. It worked well. My checked bag didn’t get lost.

I like the AirTag/Tile suggestion. That'd at least give me some peace of mind if my luggage were to get "lost". I was planning on taking what you listed + BC which would be one of the toughest fits of course but overall I think folks here have convinced me to check everything minus the gear you listed. Computer definitely comes with me on the plane haha - mine will be tiny enough to easily justify.

 

[MrMello]

And it goes without saying - avoid connecting flights if at all possible. When I went to PDC, I was able to fly direct into Cancun from Chicago O’Hare both ways. Paid extra to be on the one direct flight a day Southwest has. It made things much easier. The connecting flights seem to cause the most issues these days.

Yeah - this bit worries me. I'm flying out of SFO and most flights go through Dallas via American to Cozumel... which is by far my least favorite airport. I've had flight cancellations there twice in the past 2 years. Though I think generally summertime is when the storms come through and cause a lot of those delays/cancellations. But yeah not having a direct flight option and going through Dallas doesn't make me happy.