Equipment Question

My girlfriend and I are planning on taking our OW course here in town and then completing our check-out dives in Cabo San Lucas in June. She doesn't know this yet and I want to surprise her with some basic equipment for christmas and then tell her about it then. My question is what basic equipment should I get? Like mask, fins, etc. Anyone have any brand recommendations? Does that matter? Where's a good place to get them? I'm not lookin to get any actual scuba gear yet, buoyancy control and whatnot, until we've dove a few times and I'm confident it will be worth the money. Any advise would be greatly appreciated!!

Everything you are talking about is about to set you up for certain failure. FIT is key and you wont know that without her trying things on.

Give her like a gift certificate and let her have the fun of opening it....and then going shopping.

Will I didn't think of that!! Good thing I decided to post that!! K so any ideas on a place to get the gift certificate?

Rich is right. Certain scuba gear needs to be fitted - mask is the best example of that. What you will need initially for your class is mask, snorkel, fins, and booties. The only thing that doesn't need to be fitted in that list is the snorkel. Maybe you can buy a snorkel and a gift certificate for the rest and wrap that up. Booties and fins vary in size depending on the manufacturer. They usually run a size or 2 off either way.

On another note, why complete your check outs in Cabo? Why not do them locally and do the dives in Cabo as totally fun dives. Part of the check out dives are skills. Depending on the dive and number of divers, you will spend anywhere from 10-25 minutes demonstrating those skills to your instructor. That's 10-25 minutes you're not swimming along the reef in Cabo and enjoying it. You can complete the entire course in Arizona, including the check out dives in Lake Pleasant. If you want more information on this, let me know. We teach at the lake on a regular basis. In fact, if you want to come out one weekend when we're there, we'll take you on a Discover Scuba Dive for no charge so you can see how you like it. Just let us know ahead of time so we can bring extra gear and tanks with us.

ffbsm85:

Will I didn't think of that!! Good thing I decided to post that!! K so any ideas on a place to get the gift certificate?

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There are quite a few shops in town so it depends on where you live. Read my previous post. We have a few extra fins and masks that we use for Discover Dives. You can come out and see what we have and try it on, and dive.

Guessing from your profile that you're out near Luke, the two westside divestores in the Phoenix Metro area are Inland Water Divers in Goodyear or Scuba Specialties at 43rd Ave/Bell Rd.

The complete Phoenix/Tucson divestores list is here

Two choices.....one will get you grief here. Support a local lds and if the prices are fair...buy there. Check out size at local lds and buy on line.....that will get you killed here.

Def do your qual dives locally so you can go to Cabo and do some real diving.

Another option is to price gear on line, then go to the LDS and ask them if they will come close to matching the prices you find. Remember that you are getting a chance to try on the gear and receiving face to face customer service, so an extra $50 or so for the package for that service and convenience isn't uncalled for. I'm willing to pay $10-20 more for an item for the convenience of picking it up locally, and about $50 for a package deal. Anything more than that and I'm going www. Even if I choose the wrong size the first time, shipping will cost me less than $10-20 for the exchange.

FWIW, Saguaro Sports in Mesa will match online prices and then some...

Brand's not important. Fit is. A lot of the local stores will let you jump in the pool with their gear to try it out. I agree with buying from your local store. If prices are much lower online, ask for the manager and see if they can come close to the price. If so, it's worth paying a little more for the advice, ability to try on the gear, convenience, etc.