How we recommend
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Get trained
This page explains what training agencies, standards bodies and diving medicine bodies publish. It is not a substitute for training and certification from a recognised agency, and it does not replace medical advice.
Certification first
The course comes first, and it decides what gear is used and how. PADI describes its Open Water Diver course in three parts: knowledge development, confined water skill practice and open water dives. Its 2018 blog gives five confined water sessions and four open water dives for Open Water Diver. Other agencies structure their entry courses differently; see certification levels.
After the course, a card is what opens the door. PADI's blog (updated November 2024) says divers must have proof of certification, and Wikipedia (secondary) notes that dive shops, charter boats and resorts may ask for a certification card before filling cylinders, renting equipment or taking someone diving. Buying gear does not replace that card.
Own or rent?
PADI's blog (Sarah Wormald, 2016) says owning gear is not usually necessary to start diving or to join trips. The exceptions it names are remote areas and liveaboards, where storage is limited and a diver may need at least their own mask, snorkel, fins and wetsuit. It lists these points:
| Owning, as PADI (2016) lists it | Renting, as PADI (2016) and DAN (2023) describe it |
|---|---|
| Comfort and fit; knowing your own kit, such as where the alternate air source and surface marker buoy are and how the computer works; specialised features; using basic gear for other water sports. | Lets a diver try different equipment before committing, so a kit can be built gradually. PADI says mask fit matters most. |
| Drawbacks: airline baggage limits, storage at home, not being able to test fit in the water before buying, and taking on maintenance such as regulator servicing and computer batteries. | DAN's Alert Diver (2023) says divers using rental gear should allow extra time to learn it, should be able to read a rental computer's key displays and alerts, and should check its gas setting and transmitter pairing, because some computers keep the previous user's settings. |
Not everyone frames it the same way. SSI and the equipment maker Mares ran a campaign in October 2020 called "Safer Than Home" that promoted owning equipment over renting; that is an agency and maker marketing position, which we could see only as a search summary. Some rentals also depend on training: BSAC says that without its Drysuit Diver card, resorts and dive centres may refuse to rent a dry suit.
A PADI blog, seen only as a search summary, says many dive shops require students to own a mask, snorkel and fins; we could not confirm that, and the training school can say what it requires.
Our picks by category
Dive masks
PADI names fit and comfort as the deciding factor in choosing a mask, ahead of price or colour, and recommends trying masks on at a dive centre. A scuba mask needs a silicone skirt that encloses the nose, because the mask airspace has to be equalised on descent, and PADI's gear page says lenses are typically tempered glass or a strong composite. The masks and fins guide covers volume, skirts and lenses.
Best for: Every new diver, before the first course
Mask defog
PADI says a new lens usually carries a manufacturing residue that has to be cleaned off to reduce fogging, and that a defog product goes on before each dive.
Best for: Anyone with a new mask
Snorkels
A snorkel is for breathing at the surface while floating face down. The European standard is EN 1972:2015. Whether a snorkel is on the kit list is set by the course.
Best for: Divers on boat and shore dives, and snorkellers
Dive fins
PADI (2019) describes full-foot fins, worn barefoot, as light and suited to warm water, and open-heel fins, worn over boots, as more powerful with heavy gear, warmer and better for walking. It recommends carrying a spare strap, because a broken strap makes a fin unusable.
Best for: Divers who want fins that fit every dive
Dive boots
Open-heel fins are worn over neoprene or dry-suit boots, and PADI notes that the fins may need to be a size larger to allow for the boot, so the right fin size depends on the boot.
Best for: Anyone choosing open-heel fins
Wetsuits
PADI says thickness is the main factor in warmth and that a wetsuit should be snug without being overly tight, with no large gaps; DAN adds that beginners often choose suits that are too loose. The wetsuit guide explains thickness and where the charts disagree.
Best for: Divers who dive often in the same kind of water
Dive logbooks
Wikipedia (secondary) separates the certification card, which records training, from the logbook, which is evidence of the range of a diver's experience. Agencies use logged dives as course prerequisites: PADI's blog (2025), for example, lists 40 logged dives to start Divemaster training and 60 to certify.
Best for: Every diver, from the first dive
What can wait
The regulator, buoyancy compensator (BCD), dive computer, cylinder and weights are life-support or heavy equipment. PADI (2016) says owning gear is not usually necessary to start diving, and how to set up, check and use these pieces is taught by your instructor. The BCD, regulator and dive computer guides explain what the standards cover and what the sources say about servicing.
For what each piece of equipment does, see the equipment section, starting with masks, snorkels and fins.
Sources
- PADI blog, buying scuba gear: pros, cons and practical advice (Sarah Wormald, 21 August 2016)
- PADI blog, diving without your PADI card (Megan Denny, updated 25 November 2024)
- Wikipedia, Diver certification (secondary)
- PADI blog, Scuba Diver versus Open Water Diver (22 October 2018)
- DAN Alert Diver, Renting Dive Gear (28 August 2023)
- PADI, dive masks
- PADI blog, how to choose a dive mask (Kacee S., 14 April 2015)
- PADI blog, choosing your scuba footwear (Danielle Schofield, 4 October 2019)
- PADI, wetsuits
- DAN Alert Diver, wetsuits (Terry Ward, Q4 2012)
- PADI blog, Divemaster requirements (Megan Denny, 16 April 2025)
- SSI blog, Safer Than Home equipment campaign (October 2020, search summary)
- BSAC, Drysuit Training
- PADI, Open Water Diver course
- Estonian Centre for Standardisation, EN 1972:2015