The short answer: if you upgrade only one piece of dive gear, swap your 3 mm neoprene wetsuit for a Sharkskin or Lavacore suit. They keep me as warm as 3 mm neoprene, are far more comfortable, and are neutrally buoyant, so I no longer need extra kilos on my belt. That change alone improved my air consumption by at least 5%. Everything else below is the kit I carry on every trip, and why.
I have logged more than 1,500 dives and sailed on more than 30 luxury liveaboards, from Raja Ampat and Komodo to the Maldives, the Red Sea and the Galapagos. My dive bag has been refined over a long time, and a lot of gear has been left behind along the way. This is what made the cut.
My Dive Gear at a Glance
- Exposure suit: Sharkskin Chillproof or Lavacore full suit instead of 3 mm neoprene
- Dive computer: Mares Smart Air with a wireless tank transmitter
- Mask: IST Pro Ear, with sealed ear covers
- Fins: Mares Volo Race full-foot fins
- Feet: neoprene dive socks
- Current and safety: reef hook, pointer, Nautilus LifeLine marine rescue GPS, and my own nitrox analyser for remote trips
- Camera: smartphone in a DiveVolk SeaTouch 4 Max housing, with a DJI Osmo Action 6 mounted on top
1. The Suit: Sharkskin or Lavacore Instead of Neoprene (My Top Pick)
This is the single piece of gear I would tell every warm-water diver to change. I wear either a Sharkskin Chillproof full suit or a Lavacore full suit. For me they are equivalent to a 3 mm neoprene wetsuit in warmth, but they feel more like clothing than rubber: no squeeze across the chest, no fight to get in and out of it between dives, and they dry quickly on deck.
The real advantage is buoyancy. Neoprene is full of gas bubbles, so it makes you positively buoyant at the surface and compresses as you descend, which is why most divers in a 3 mm suit carry extra lead. These suits are neutrally buoyant, so you don’t need to add extra kilos of weight. Less lead means less air in your BCD to compensate and a more streamlined position in the water. Just changing my wetsuit improved my air consumption by at least 5%. If there is one thing on this list worth getting, it is this.
2. Dive Computer: Mares Smart Air with a Tank Transmitter
I dive with the Mares Smart Air, paired with the wireless transmitter screwed into the first stage on my tank. My tank pressure shows on my wrist next to depth and no-deco time, so I’m not reaching for a console gauge while I’m holding a camera in a current. On a liveaboard doing three or four dives a day, having air, depth and time on one screen makes each dive simpler.
If you can’t find the Smart Air, the Mares Quad Ci works the same way when you pair it with Mares’ LED Tank Module 2.0 transmitter.
I also recommend Garmin. If you want a Garmin, the newest model in the range is the Garmin Descent X30, a large-format computer built around an easy-to-read colour screen.
3. Mask: IST Pro Ear
I use the IST Pro Ear mask because it reduces the pressure on my ears. It has sealed ear covers linked to the mask, so your ears sit in a small pocket of air instead of being exposed to the water. On a single dive you might not notice the difference. When you do a liveaboard for two weeks, diving three or four times a day, it matters.
4. Fins: Mares Volo Race (Full-Foot, No Boots)
When I’m diving from a liveaboard, I use Mares Volo Race fins. Most liveaboard dives start from a tender, not a shore entry, so I don’t need boots, and not wearing boots gives me more control. They are lightweight, very ergonomic underwater, and I am often faster than people using freediving fins.
Please don’t use freediving fins when diving on reefs. They are so long that I often see people kicking and damaging the coral with them. On a reef, a shorter fin you can control is kinder to the reef and to the divers behind you.
5. Dive Socks: The Small Thing That Saves Your Trip
Under my full-foot fins I wear neoprene dive socks. Most people get blisters after a few days of diving three times a day, and once they start, every dive hurts. The socks are a lifesaver, and they take up almost no space in your bag.
6. Current and Safety Gear
Reef hook
A reef hook is very useful on strong-current dives, like the channels of Komodo or the Maldives. You hook onto dead rock, inflate your BCD slightly and hang in the current watching sharks and mantas pass, instead of grabbing the reef. Always hook onto bare rock, never live coral.
Pointer
I carry a pointer because it helps me stabilise while taking pictures. One fingertip of steel on a patch of dead rock or sand keeps me still for a macro shot without my hands, knees or fins touching anything alive.
Marine rescue GPS
I dive with the Nautilus LifeLine Marine Rescue GPS. If you surface far from the boat in a strong current, it broadcasts your position to vessels nearby, including your own. I hope never to need it, and I don’t dive remote sites without it.
Nitrox analyser
When I dive in very remote areas, I bring my own nitrox analyser. Most good liveaboards analyse every tank, but far from anywhere I want to check my own gas mix myself before I set my computer.
7. My Underwater Camera Setup
My main underwater camera is now my smartphone in a DiveVolk SeaTouch 4 Max housing. Its gel-filled touchscreen membrane lets me use every native camera mode underwater, exactly as I would on land. I explain how it performed over nearly 20 dives in Raja Ampat in my Xiaomi 17 Ultra and DiveVolk housing review. If you decide to buy one, my DiveVolk partner link gives you 6% off all housings, lenses and trays.
For video, I mount a DJI Osmo Action 6 on top of the DiveVolk housing. I used GoPros for years (the 7, 8, 11 and 13), but they kept breaking and freezing underwater, and I find the image quality better on the DJI. Before you dive with any action camera, check its depth rating and use the manufacturer’s dive case for scuba depths.
One small but essential extra: anti-fog inserts. I cut one into small pieces and slip them inside the housing tray. In the tropics, this is what stops my screen from fogging up halfway through a dive.
If you shoot with a phone, the UWACAM app shows you colour-corrected images live while you shoot. Code LUXURYTRAVEL gives new yearly subscribers 20% off.
8. Sunscreen: Make It Reef-Safe
Whatever you put on your skin ends up in the water. I’ve written a separate guide on reef-safe sunscreen for divers: what the label really means, where reef-safe sunscreen is now the law, and what to pack.
Where This Gear Gets Used
Most of my diving happens on liveaboards. If you’re choosing a boat, start with my best Raja Ampat liveaboards, best Komodo liveaboards and best Maldives liveaboards. For everything else that goes in the bag, see my liveaboard packing list.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a Sharkskin or Lavacore suit replace a 3 mm wetsuit?
In warm tropical water, yes. In my experience they are equivalent to a 3 mm neoprene wetsuit, far more comfortable, and neutrally buoyant, so you can dive with less lead. Switching improved my air consumption by at least 5%.
Are freediving fins good for scuba diving on reefs?
No. Freediving fins are so long that divers often kick and damage the coral with them. A shorter, controllable fin such as a full-foot Mares Volo Race is better on the reef.
What is the Pro Ear mask for?
The IST Pro Ear mask has sealed ear covers linked to the mask, which reduces pressure on your ears. That matters most on long liveaboard trips with three or four dives a day.
Why don’t you use a GoPro underwater any more?
I owned the GoPro 7, 8, 11 and 13, and they kept breaking and freezing underwater. I now use a DJI Osmo Action 6 mounted on a DiveVolk phone housing, and I find the DJI image quality better.
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