It is hard when you start diving to imagine where you are going with this exciting activity. Some divers can’t see past the desire to catch a crayfish. If this is all you intend to do, stop reading this blog, you don’t have the imagination to really enjoy diving.

First try and decide what you would like to do if money and time were not constraints. Is it wreck, Deep, night, cold water, photography or just tropical diving? Regardless, try and buy the best you can afford. Decide this by talking to an Instructor whose advice you really trust.

There has to be a reason to dive deep unless you are a bit odd. One reason is to dive on and in shipwrecks or on Archaeological sites. For this you need to have very robust and reliable equipment. Choose a BCD that will give you as uncluttered a profile as possible. Usually this is called a wing and harness system. The gear must be able to stand up to abrasion on rough edges of steel and wood.

If you decide to stay down there a bit longer you may need an additional gas supply. If that includes Nitrox then you will need a Nitrox clean regulator and cylinder. Are you going to choose one large cylinder, a supplementary slung cylinder or side-mount cylinders? To give you these options, select a harness with a D Ring system to support the weight – recreational BCDs won’t do that.

Deep, cold water, photography and wreck divers prefer dry suits. It is quite normal in New Zealand to dive in a dry suit all year round, just increase or decrease the thickness of your dry suit undergarment to suit the water temperature.

If you do increase the load of: cylinders, video cameras, torches, reels etc, make sure your BCD or wing has the lift rating you need. If it can’t lift you, it ain’t much use to you. If there is any faint dream of becoming a Rebreather diver, make sure your harness can be configured for a Rebreather, this is pretty simple. It should also be able to rig at least one sling tank.

The rule for regulators is simple, it should give you air at a greater volume than you can possibly need. Air gets denser with depth and therefore harder to breath. Have an adjustable flow rate so you can control your ease (work) of breathing.

If cost is a major consideration, come and see us and together we will design a plan to help get you what you want. Call us 04 233-8238