Traveling Abroad with Gear

Chances are you don’t live in a tropical paradise that offers full-time access to amazing diving opportunities, but don’t let that deter you from traveling to such places. I personally don’t live anywhere near half the places I've dreamt of diving so I pack up my gear and go to them.

Living in Piedmont North Carolina has its perks but when it comes to scuba diving there is slim pickings. Unless you enjoy zero visibility diving in muddy lakes then where I live is perfect but otherwise you’ll need to get in a car, train or plane and hightail it elsewhere for that great dive vacation.

In five years of diving I've only dove outside of the United States twice, only transporting gear once. The notion of leaving thousands of dollars of scuba gear in the faithful hands of the airport can seem a bit daunting which is why many people choose to rent gear when traveling abroad. In the case where I dove in Costa Rica I decided it would be best to rent equipment rather than dealing with the hassle of transporting gear. Even though I chose not to bring along all of my gear I did bring the necessities, my mask, snorkel, boots and dive camera.

If you feel comfortable enough to bring all of your gear then there are a few recommendations I have. Obviously, don’t carry on a dive knife or anything that may be deemed as a weapon (spear-gun). I’m sure you can get it cleared but with the cost of specialized equipment I wouldn't want to risk having it confiscated. There is no need to transport your own weights or tank. It just adds extra pounds that you will have to pay for.

What I have determined from traveling by plane is that it is best to bring the bare necessities. Personalized equipment such as a mask and boots are invaluable because when scuba diving you want to be comfortable. If you need to bring along the other stuff then just consider what is worth packing, it may just save you a pretty penny.  

Dive Shops in the Salisbury Area

Having been traditionally from the Salisbury area scuba dive shops are hard to come by but with this entry maybe you’ll get some ideas of where to look. To be specific I live a little outside of town so the nearest dive shops are towards Claremont, Charlotte, and Mooresville North Carolina.

Let’s begin where it all started. My first training was through a small quaint shop in the town of Claremont just a skip and a jump away from Hickory. The DiveShop provides certifications through PADI so as I’ve mentioned in the About page of my blog I was first certified through PADI. You’ll find the shop operated by Gene Monday, a delightful gentleman that won’t try to force a sale on any customer. Rather, Gene will usually try to coerce you to have a seat and enjoy an episode of The Andy Griffith Show. In terms of service they provide adequate training but sometimes it may be difficult to complete in a predetermined amount of time. It took me several extra months until I was finally able to finish my open water certification. The Dive Shop while located in the mountains of N.C. is on island time like any other dive shop and you can’t really rush through good training. Personally, the small shop still serves as my go-to place when I need a gear tune-up.

A little further away is Open Water Adventures in Charlotte N.C. (45 minutes). This shop is really state of the art with a training pool located on site. In terms of convenience this would be my preference of a dive shop mainly because there is no hassle of trying to reserve a pool. The service is excellent with all employees taking the time to learn the customer’s names. The shop is different from the dive shop because they are an SSI certifying organization. In addition Open Water Adventures has a dive blog which can be accessed by this link http://www.openwateradventures.com/dive-blog/ 

Lastly is the Lake Norman Scuba which is located in Mooresville N.C. (30 minutes). Unless you come from a wealthy area I would recommend elsewhere for your training. While I personally haven’t trained under the staff at Lake Norman I have been a regular customer for several years and still many of the employees have no idea who I am, apart from another potential customer. As opposed to the previous two shops this one relies heavily on sales and is willing to push you out the door trying to get a sale. Honestly while the people are friendly I would rather shop at another store that appreciates and is willing to take the time to get to know their customers.

While there are numerous other store in the area I felt it would be more beneficially to tell about the ones I specifically associate with. Also I cannot vouch as well for other shops that may have been excluded in this review.