DIVE HAPPY

Diving Komodo in Indonesia can be exhilarating and challenging. Here's a round up of the extra safety items you need in your kitbag before a scuba diving trip to Komodo

Yesterday I headed down to Dive Supply, one of Bangkok's diving equipment shops, to stock up on gear for my forthcoming scuba diving trip to Bali and Komodo in Indonesia. It felt like I was gearing up to enter a warzone.

Diving here in Thailand is a fairly relaxed affair - besides the basic BCD, reg, mask and fins, you don't need much else - not even a wetsuit most of the time. I've been happy using a RalfTech 3 mm sports vest and boardshorts for all my dives in Thailand, Malaysia and Borneo, with the only drawback being having no protection against getting stung by tiny jellyfish at Lankayan in Borneo.

Komodo, however, is meant to be a bit more different. Temperatures can vary quite a lot, so I thought I better invest in the first real wetsuit of my 7 year diving career. On top of that, a thorough read of the Komodo Dancer website, the liveaboard I'll be on, spelled out that Komodo's dive conditions required extra safety gear. Given that you're in the open ocean and can be easily separated from your group - and also surface away from them too - it's imperative that you have adequate signalling devices to let the liveaboard easily locate you.

Here's what the Komodo Dancer site says:

An SMB (inflatable signaling tube), DIVE ALERT (air horn), and MINI-STROBE ARE MANDATORY EQUIPMENT FOR EACH DIVER. We suggest that you bring your own, although the M/V Komodo Dancer does stock a limited supply available for daily or weekly rental. BE ADVISED THAT WE REQUIRE AT LEAST TWO LIGHT SOURCES FOR ALL NIGHT DIVES. We strongly recommend the use of chemical (Cyalume) light sticks. You may bring your own or purchase them on board. Additional recommended equipment: dive computer, dive light (with extra batteries or charging unit). Water temperatures can range from approx. 22°C (72°F) to 28°C (83°F), with this in mind a 3 mm or 5 mm wetsuit is recommended. Dive skins will not be sufficient for most divers.

Here's what I bought:

ScubaPro Everflex 3mm Wetsuit - easy to get in and out of and plain black, the ScubaPro has zips on the arms and legs too. I'll have to see how I get on with it in the water, but it fitted well in the shop.

Aqua Tec Scub-Alert Surface and Underwater Air Horn - A very useful piece of kit, making a sound audible up to half a mile away on the surface and also works underwater too, although I'll be endeavouring to never use it down below. If you want an air horn, check it works both above and below the water - some models only work below.

Safety Sausage - usually I borrow this from whichever boat I'm on, but I thought it wise to finally invest in my own.

Trident Reef Hook - for hooking onto the reef in super strong currents - obviously to be used with care

Backup Dive Light - a compact diving light to act as a backup to my excellent Underwater Kinetics Sunlight SL4 dive light, which is pleasingly small as well

Pelican Mini Flasher - tiny flashing strobe light to attach to my tank for night dives

Dive Knife - I managed to lose my previous knife while diving in the Similan Islands as I used to stash it in my BCD pocket, rather than having it attached. You can guess the rest. This time I got one that attaches to the BCD.

Let's hope I'm all set. My only concern now is getting all my dive gear including all this new stuff, plus my camera and housing, onto the plane without getting grief about being overweight...