Pack Intelligently
A great deal of successful traveling hinges on knowing what to pack, how to pack it — and what to leave behind.
Use a Checklist: How many times have you seen divers show up at a resort with way too much luggage — only to be missing something critical such as a dive mask or regulator? Few things are more frustrating than arriving at a your destination only too discover you are without crucial items.
A lot of this frustration can be avoided by using a checklist when packing. You can save your customers potential trouble by providing them with just such a checklist ahead of time. If you don’t already have one, you can download a generic dive travel checklist (PDF, 1 Page, 40K).
Fewer Clothes/More Dive Gear: If there is one generalization you can make about inexperienced dive travelers, it is that they tend to take too much in the way of clothes — and too little in the way of dive gear. You should counsel your customers accordingly.
The biggest omission less-than-experienced dive travelers tend to make is that they don’t take enough in terms of exposure protection. What divers need to understand is that, while it is difficult to be too warm under water, it is very easy to be too cold.
No matter how warm the water seems to be, most divers need a minimum of a 3mm, full-length wetsuit to be comfortable for any length of time. Once the water dips below 80 degrees, a 5mm suit is called for.
Cold can affect divers in ways they don’t anticipate. Wear less-than-adequate exposure protection and you may still exit the water without feeling absolutely miserable. But don’t be surprised if, after dinner, all you want to do is go to sleep. This can be very frustrating to a partner who was looking forward to a more “romantic” vacation.
Another area divers overlook in terms of equipment is spare parts. Your customers can’t assume the dive operation will have an infinite supply of O-rings, or the unique type of strap and buckle assembly their fins require. These are items travelers should take with them. That way, loss of a fins strap won’t mean the loss of a dive vacation.
What to Check, What to Carry On: Unfortunately, it’s virtually impossible to go on a dive vacation without checking luggage. There are some things, however, that your customers should never allow to leave their possession. These include:
- All travel documents, identification papers and valuables.
- Medications.
- Camera equipment and laptops.
Additionally, if there is any dive equipment, such as a prescription mask, that you or your travelers cannot be without, it should go into carry-on luggage. Despite your best efforts, checked luggage can always be lost or delayed. If you carry the right items with you on the plane, however, this need not be the end of your dive vacation.
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