Basic Gear For Snorkeling And Scuba Diving Fun

There's beauty in the ocean, and a whole world of life most of never see up close. If you've ever been swimming above a reef you know how amazing a sight the underwater environment is. If you didn't wear goggles or a dive mask, you only got a hint of that marvelous view.

The diving mask is the first piece of essential equipment for the scuba diver. Before starting the basic certification class each dive student gets a list of the gear she or he must buy before they begin their in water training sessions. Most of the scuba "outfit" you rent at the dive shop, but the shop doesn't make the mask, or the fins, available for rent because this gear is much too personal in nature for dive shop maintenance.

What scuba outfit is complete without the propulsion equipment? The dive fin is necessary gear for every scuba diver. Fins let you move through the water at your chosen speed, and give you maneuverability too.

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The Cressi-Sub Pro Light Swim Fins give you great speed for moving underwater against the resistance of the buoancy control device, and all the accessories you hang from it, due to friction.

I've dove with the Mares Quattro Scuba Fins for 10-years or so, and enjoyed every dive. In fact I have two sets of this scuba fin model, and I've never had a problem or complaint with them.

A snorkel isn't necessarily a "required" piece of diving equipment, but it sure is a tool that's nice to have when you're floating on the surface waiting for your dive buddy to gear up and enter the water for your dive.

This U.S. Divers Island Dry Snorkel lets you watch the sea life from above, and take in the colors of the reef, without the need to pop up for a breath of air while you're passing the time. And if the water's a little choppy your snorkel keeps you from swallowing mouthfulls of salt water.

Ever have a

little trouble reading your guages underwater? I keep a small thermometer attached to my dive slate so I can keep records of the water temperatures during my dives. Problem is that the focal point of my eyes changed on me over the years (or maybe those red lines and numbers in that thermometer shrunk on me).

What I'm trying to say is I need a little help reading that thermometer as I dive. The Fusion 2 Gauge Reader Mask is the perfect solution with +1.75 lenses built into the mask to make those guages, thermometers, compasses, and computers easy to view as you fin along.

The Oracle from Sherwood extends your field of vision downward for those times when you get hooked on a jutting tree limb or wreckage part.

When an object grabs you by the waist band of your BCD you really must stretch your neck downward to see what has hold of you. It's tough to see your waist area with the short masks we often use.

These evolving mask styles, with the taller lens profiles, provide a much larger viewing area with much more comfort.