Do you Travel with Your own gear or Not ??

[shugar]

if fins are a constant problem then BRING THEM... size 16 jezus krist! if it's tough finding rentals where caucasians go, imagine finding them in a country where the average height is 5'6" (size 8 shoes)...

anyway regarding the other gear: there are resorts, especially the upper-scaled ones or those directly affiliated with established LDSs with very reliable gear - they have access to new items and regular maintenance regimens...

it's best to ask the others here when you've decided or narrowed down on w/c resorts you're going to stay in...

on the other hand, everyone here says it's best to dive with your own life support (reg) and diving with a BC you know helps you with bouyancy and stuff... but there's weight of course...

if you dive in cold water then leave the wetsuit behind! the water here gets a FRIGID 28C in the rainy season, if you come in the summer you'll actually sweat at 60'! (and rentals are available if you do need one)... if you bring the dry suit you'll be a local sensation... lots of divers and boatmen here have never seen one up close

no one i know in the phils owns a tank, they're available pretty much where divers go, and LDSs or tech centers available to rent from if you go where no diver has gone before...

so determine your situation... where are you going? how are you getting there? how much other luggage do you need aside from your gear?

and not to nitpick on some of the comments but: it doesn't matter if you've spent $1,000 or $1,000,000 on your gear... every dive dest is different, it's best to pack your bags depending on what's comfy/confident for you and what's relevant to where you're going

hope this helps...

Jag

 

[Scuby Dooby]

mrstein,

I travel in and out of the phils with my gear quite a lot. In my opinion, defintiely worthwhile on a couple counts:

1 you know it will fit and works
2 you are comfortable with the gear and instead of spending your time fidgeting around getting used to and adjusting 'new' stuff with your own you will enjoy the dives alot more.

A few tips you might find helpful

- pack a separate, cheap bag with only dive gear (lots of good threads here on packing for a flight btw). You'll be surprised at how little room basic gear will take up. Try to make it an unmarked bag of some sort that looks like everyday luggage - no need to advertise that it's expensive dive gear.

- When you travel to a new dive location bring your bag of dive gear straight to the shop, unpack it and tuck the bag away somewhere secure. All shops will let you leave your gear there (locked up / secure) until the end of your trip. When you are about to leave town arrange to stop by the shop and get your stuff. Dont worry about carrying it back and forth everyday.

- If there are parts of your trip where you plan to head off doing other things than diving arrange to leave your gear with the hotel for a pickup later in the trip, most are fine with this and have a secure place to keep your bags (ie leave it in manila if you head off to banaue and pick it up after your trip). Just lock or zip tie the bag (another time having a non-descript bag is a good idea) and pick it up when you are are ready to head off diving / leave.

If you do it this way then you'll only have to pick up your gear when you change locations, not a big deal unless you are travelling by jeepney .

have fun!

PS Jag, I've been in temps as low as 22 during the winter so it does get a bit colder than that, I'm still ok in a 3 mil fullsuit though, YMMV.

 

[greatwolf]

mrstein,

PS Jag, I've been in temps as low as 22 during the winter so it does get a bit colder than that, I'm still ok in a 3 mil fullsuit though, YMMV.

Dived here in Sydney this winter, 15-17 degrees, 5mm suit. As long as I don't get out of the water, I'm fine. The warmest it gets here is 22 I think...

Would bringing a 5mm wetsuit to the PI be overkill? I don't really have another suit, and I don't want to hire one. It's December and January that I'm visiting.

 

[loko__loko]

have my own gear... except tank..

btw, my gears are in our stock room for 6yrs now.... it needs to be soak in saltwater!!

 

[Scuby Dooby]

Hi Greatwolf,

It's a bit tough to predict how warm someone else will be in a particular suit / temp. 22 / 23 is pretty extreme in the phils, even during Jan (coldest time) the usual temps i've seen tend to be more like 23 - 25 during that time of year. For me a 3 mil is almost always more than enough protection, 5 mil would be overkill. The only time i've actually felt the cold wearing my 3 mil was after a few straight days of divinig in 22 / 24 water and then doing a night dive. That was mighty chilly!

The good news for you is that you are visiting during the coldest months, if the 5 mil gets too warm then just unzip it during the dive and let some more water in.

have fun!

 

[_Bella_]

Would bringing a 5mm wetsuit to the PI be overkill? I don't really have another suit, and I don't want to hire one. It's December and January that I'm visiting.

I would say there are several more variables to consider than just water temperature. If you will be diving several dives a day you might become chilled. If the predicted weather is rainy and windy, you might become more easily chilled between dives. Then there's current and thermoclines to consider which may chill you quicker while you're in the water. I meet quite a few people at resorts and on live-aboards that dive 5mm in 26C water. These are 4+ dive a day types that don't spend much time dry. I dive a 3mm with a 4mm hooded vest in 26C and switch to a 5mm when I start getting colder later in the trip. I admit it's a lot of gear to travel with, but wetsuit fit is very important to me. I'd leave a BC at home and rent one long before I'd leave my wetstuits.

 

[midwestdvr]

Would bringing a 5mm wetsuit to the PI be overkill? I don't really have another suit, and I don't want to hire one. It's December and January that I'm visiting.

Went diving in the PI 2 years ago in December and wore a 3mm fullsuit. Water temp was around 79-84 Farenheit (don't ask me what that is in metric :06: ). Was very comfortable not too warm, not too cold. My philosophy is that it's much easier to get cool underwater than the other way around.

midwestdvr

 

[jonix]

have my own gear... except tank..

btw, my gears are in our stock room for 6yrs now.... it needs to be soak in saltwater!!

start soaking bro

btw, welcome to the board "friend of dan"

 

[f3nikon]

Dived here in Sydney this winter, 15-17 degrees, 5mm suit. As long as I don't get out of the water, I'm fine. The warmest it gets here is 22 I think...

Would bringing a 5mm wetsuit to the PI be overkill? I don't really have another suit, and I don't want to hire one. It's December and January that I'm visiting.

The water temps in the Philippines is not really a problem, its the comfort of having a thinner wetsuit UW and on the boat, that counts for me. I leave my 5mm at home and bring a US Diver brand warm water suit, the main body is 3mm and the arms and legs are at 2mm. Very easy to put on and take off (even when wet). Since we are near the end of our summer season I just bought this suit at a local Walmart for $30 new.

Dive Safe

 

[jonix]

The water temps in the Philippines is not really a problem, its the comfort of having a thinner wetsuit UW and on the boat, that counts for me. I leave my 5mm at home and bring a US Diver brand warm water suit, the main body is 3mm and the arms and legs are at 2mm. Very easy to put on and take off (even when wet). Since we are near the end of our summer season I just bought this suit at a local Walmart for $30 new.

Dive Safe

that's quite inexpensive! if only we had walmart here grrrrrr