All those who've been training through Ocean Quest will receive a 10% DISCOUNT on all equipment purchases and hire this Summer, so come down to the Porthcawl coastal centre. To arrange hire, please contact us first. There's no excuse not to be in the water!

All diving equipment is available for hire

Below you will find our invaluable guide to diving equipment and what to look for when buying. All of the mentioned items are available in our store at unbelievable prices.

For further information on any of these products please feel free to contact us by simply clicking the button on each heading. (please specify in your mail the product you are enquiring about)

Buying gear is the final step, the act that says "I'm committed to really enjoying diving." But you're not certified yet, how are you supposed to know what to buy?

Relax. With our advice and your instructor's help, we'll have you outfitted in no time. It's helpful to think of buying gear in two phases: first, the basic stuff you need for class; second, the major pieces of life support—regulator, BCD and dive computer. Let's start with the basics.

MASK
What It Does: The mask creates an air space in front of your eyes that allows them to focus under water. The nose pocket allows you to equalize the air pressure in your mask as you go deeper. (You'll learn about that in class.)

What to Look For: A good watertight fit. Our experts have come up with this six-step plan for foolproof mask fitting:

Look up at the ceiling and place the mask on your face without using the strap. It should rest evenly with no gaps.

Place a regulator or snorkel mouthpiece in your mouth. Does the mask still feel comfortable? Any gaps yet?

Look forward. Place the mask on your face without using the strap and gently inhale through your nose. The mask should seal easily on your face. Caution: A strong inhale will close minor leak areas and invalidate this test.

Repeat the sniff test with a mouthpiece in place.

If the mask is still in the running, adjust the strap and put it on your face. Make sure the nose pocket doesn't touch your nose and that the skirt feels comfortable on your upper lip.

Put the regulator mouthpiece in one more time to make sure you can easily reach the nose pocket to equalize your ears.
Any mask that passes this test is a potential keeper. You'll find a whole range of options on masks, including side, top and bottom panes for a wider field of vision. Some also have purge valves for venting any water that leaks in, and others have quick strap adjustments.

These options (and a range of color schemes) are a matter of personal preference—just make sure the mask you choose fits right.

TIP: Clear or light-colored mask skirts let more light in and are generally more comfortable for new divers.

SNORKELS
It seems simple enough: a curved tube that lets you breathe while floating face-down on the surface. Yet, as you look at the wide variety of snorkels at your local dive shop, you'll see an array of options and features to choose from. Don't worry.
Stay focused on the basics.

What It Does: As a diver, you primarily use a snorkel to conserve air in your tank when on the water's surface.

What to Look For: Comfort. You want a mouthpiece that feels good in your mouth and that breathes dry and easy. The problem is, most attempts to keep snorkels dry also make them bulkier and harder to breathe through. The snorkel for you is one with a good compromise between ease of breathing and dry comfort. Remember, the bigger a snorkel is, the more drag it creates in the water. Also important: how the snorkel attaches to your mask. Look for a durable yet simple and easy-to-operate attachment.

TIP: If you don't plan on doing a lot of snorkeling, this is the one piece of gear you can skimp on. Get a simple, basic model and be done with it.

FINS
Fish don't have legs for the simple reason that fins are the best way to move through water. So if you're going to play in the fish's territory, you need a good set of flippers too.

What They Do: Fins translate power from the large leg muscles into efficient movement through water, which is 800 times denser than air.

What to Look For: Comfort and efficiency. When trying on fins, look for a snug fit that doesn't pinch your toes or bind the arches of your feet. If you can't wiggle your toes, the fins are too small.

Efficiency of fins is largely determined by their size and stiffness. Divers with strong leg and hip muscles can efficiently use a bigger, stiffer fin. Smaller divers or less conditioned divers will be more comfortable with smaller, more flexible fins. Finally, make sure buckles and straps are easy to use.

TIP: Don't skimp on fins. Choosing the right pair is important to prevent muscle fatigue and cramping. Good fins will enhance your enjoyment of diving; bad ones can ruin it.

Form-fitting exposure suits are usually made of foam neoprene rubber (wetsuits) or spandex-like materials (skins), sometimes with fleece added.

What They Do: Exposure suits trap a thin layer of water between the suit and your skin to insulate against heat loss. Even warm water can rob your body of heat 25 times faster than air (that's another fact you're likely to be tested on in class). The thickness and type of exposure protection you need depends on dive conditions. Simple Lycra suits provide little thermal insulation but do help protect from scrapes and stings.

What to Look For: Fit and comfort. Exposure suits should fit snugly without restricting movement or breathing. Reject any suit that's too loose, however. Gaps at the arm, leg, crotch and neck allow water to circulate and defeat the suit's ability to prevent heat loss.

TIP: As long as a wetsuit fits correctly it will do the job. If you're going the budget route, your choices will usually be limited to basic models. Bright colors and graphics aren't necessary but do make you more visible to other divers.

BUOYANCY CONTROL DEVICES
The BCD is the most complex piece of dive equipment you'll own and one of the most important. So choose carefully based on the style of diving you'll be doing most.

What It Does: What doesn't it do? It holds your gear in place, lets you carry a tank with minimal effort, floats you at the surface and allows you to achieve neutral buoyancy at any depth.

What to Look For: Correct size and fit. Before you try on BCDs, slip into the exposure suit you'll wear most often. Look for a BCD that fits snugly but doesn't squeeze you when inflated. The acid test: inflate the BCD until the overflow valve vents. The BCD should not restrict your breathing. While you've got the BCD on, test all valves for accessibility and ease of use, then make sure the adjustments, straps and pockets are easy to reach and use.

Pay particular attention to the inflator hose. Is it easy to reach and extend over your head? Make sure there's a clear distinction between the inflate and deflate buttons and that you can operate them easily with one hand.

Our Advice: This is an important piece of equipment that you can expect to use for many years. Don't skimp; go for quality. Test as many different models as you can in real diving situations before buying. Rent them if you have to.

REGULATORS
The good news: Among major-label regulators—the kind sold in dive stores—there is no junk. Regulators have been perfected to the point that even budget regulators can offer high performance. However, you must do your homework before buying this vital piece of gear.

What It Does: Converts the high-pressure air in your tank to ambient pressure so you can breathe it. A regulator must also deliver air to other places, such as your BCD inflator and alternate second stage.

What to Look For: High performance. The best regulators can deliver a high volume of air at depth, under heavy exertion even at low tank pressures. Some regulators also have diver-controlled knobs and switches to aid this process, so it's important to understand the controls and how they work.

Comfort. Look for a comfortable mouthpiece and make sure you select hoses of the right length for you.

Try as many regulators as you can in real-world diving situations. Breathing on a regulator in a dive store tells you nothing about how it will perform under water.

TIP: You've got to do your homework to find the best regulator available for your budget. Talk to our dive store personnel, experienced divers and most of all, read reviews scientific tests and ratings.

DIVE COMPUTERS
Nobody enjoys working the dive tables, but they're an invaluable tool for safe diving. Dive computers are an even better tool for the same reason a laptop is better than a slide rule.

What They Do: By constantly monitoring depth and bottom time, dive computers automatically recalculate your no-decompression status, giving you longer dive times while still keeping you within a safe envelope of no-decompression time. Computers can also monitor your ascent rate and tank pressure, tell you when it's safe to fly, log your dives and much more. That's why dive computers are almost as common as depth gauges these days.

What to Look For: User-friendliness. The most feature-packed dive computer does you no good if you can't easily and quickly access the basic information you need during a dive: depth, time, decompression status and tank pressure. Some models have both numeric and graphic displays for at-a-glance information.

Mounting options are an important feature to consider and let you position computers on your wrist, gauge console, hoses or attach them to BCD's.

Some computers are conservative in their calculations, automatically building in safety margins; others take you to the edge of decompression and trust you to build in your own safety margins.

Before you buy, ask to see the owner's manual and check it out. Complete and easy-to-understand instructions are important, especially on feature-packed machines.

TIP: Begin with an honest evaluation of your diving needs—do you plan to use mixed gases someday to do decompression diving? Study the features of different computers and choose the one that offers the mix of features you need at the best price.

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