Gearing up

Scuba diving requires a fair amount of specialized gear. For our certification dives students will be diving in much colder water, so it’s important to have environmental protection. For example, this lovely wetsuit that Marisol is modeling! In Roatan we will need much thinner wetsuits, and it’s likely some of us won’t need a wetsuit at all! Yes, the water will be lovely and warm!

Marisol models her wetsuit, superhero style!

We also need hoods, or we loose a lot of heat from our heads. Again, it’s not something we need in Roatan, but we will to complete training. Unfortunately, they aren’t very glamorous!

Dolores models a hood!

Tina tries on a BCD

In addition to wetsuits, we also need what is known as a Buoyancy Compensator Device (BCD).  This allows you to adjust for the pressure of the water as we descend into the ocean. In short, it’s a very important piece of safety equipment because it makes sure we ascend to the surface after our dives!

Masha & Marisol demonstrate their masks fit!

The other pieces are fins and masks! Each one needs to fit individually. Comfort is very important when you’re breathing underwater. The mask helps us to be aware of our surroundings and read our gauges.

Here’s Lizbeth modeling a mask!

Dolores & Hayley try on fins!

Also, fins need to be powerful enough to push us through the water, particularly if there’s a current!


Now that gear is fitted, our next stop is getting everyone PADI Open Water certified!