This may get me thrown off the board (!) but I do not plan to buy...
Ha! They will have to throw us both off the board,
@happyharris !
For what it is worth, as a fellow new diver I'm also reluctant to invest much money in gear right now. When we were first OW certified, the dives in the course is all that could afford to do that year along with the course fees, and it was nearly a full twelve months before we were able to dive again. While we were "hooked", the true "obsessing" for me didn't come until a little later. It's been in full force for a while now, with no signs of it stopping soon. The bug hit you early - that's a good sign you'll want to stick with it.
I prefer having my own fins because I like how they fit and they are for me the right balance between power and manueverability. And 100% I agree with the recommendations to get your own dive computer. Especially as a new diver, you don't need anything fancy. I went with an ebay refugee that was very inexpensive - inexpensive enough that even if I had to throw it away tomorrow I wouldn't cry over it, I've already gotten more than my money's worth out of it. It gives me my NDL (rarely even a factor with the kind of diving that I do), a visual indication of my ascent rate with a warning if I'm going too fast (really this is the primary reason I wanted a computer), and dive time and depth from which honestly at this point I can already estimate my gas usage throughout the dive in my head without even looking at my SPG and be within 100 PSI (of course I do look at my SPG, I just find it a good mental practice especially on deeper dives to see if the depth is affecting me).
Beyond that, I can definitely see both sides of the "rent vs buy" argument. One of my dive buddies did some diving in Mexico (not Coz and not cenotes) between trips to visit us here and truly hated her rental equipment - she started investigating buying her own the day she got back, but hasn't pulled the trigger on anything yet. So my take from that was that if I was traveling around a bit to dive in various places, I can see a big advantage in having my own BCD (or BP&W if I chose to go that route, still undecided) set up the way I like it, rather than relying on the luck of the draw at a previously unknown dive op. On the other hand, not having my own equipment means I could possibly "play the field" and try out different brands and models without commitment. Maybe the op in Barbados (that you already have a relationship with from your Discovery dive) has different brands/models and would be willing to let you try them out, doesn't hurt to ask.
Embrace the obsessing! It maybe isn't totally healthy, but it is a lot of fun. And remember that all our recommendations on SB or those you read on any other internet resource are just that - opinions based on our own experiences, which doesn't make your own conclusions any less valid.
Most importantly, ENJOY YOUR TRIP. And please let us know how it goes.
