The equipment you will be wearing

Mask

The mask gives you an air space in front of your eyes so you can focus underwater, and covers your nose so you can equalise. It is fitted on the boat: a mask that seals without the strap being tightened is the right one, and the instructor will show you how to clear water from it — the skill that turns a nervous first dive into a comfortable one.

Fins

Open-heel fins worn over neoprene boots give you propulsion with slow, long kicks. Fitted so they do not rub, and sized to you — a fin that slips is a fin that wastes air. Beginners are shown the frog kick and flutter kick in the briefing; the instructor does most of the work on the first dive.

Wetsuit

A neoprene wetsuit in your size keeps you warm and protects your skin from the rock. The Mediterranean is warm at the surface, but two dives with a surface interval between them cool the body more than people expect, and a wetsuit is what makes the second dive as pleasant as the first.

BCD — buoyancy control device

The jacket that holds the cylinder on your back and lets you float at the surface, hover at depth or descend by adding and releasing air. On a beginner dive the instructor operates it for you; certified divers use it the way they were trained. Every BCD has an inflator, a dump valve and quick releases that are shown to you in the briefing.

Regulator

The regulator takes high-pressure air from the cylinder and delivers it at the pressure you need with each breath. It has a primary second stage you breathe from, an alternate second stage for your buddy, a pressure gauge that shows how much air remains and a hose to the BCD inflator. Breathing from it is checked on the boat before every dive.

Air cylinder

A filled cylinder of compressed air for each dive. The instructor or guide monitors air consumption throughout, and the briefing covers the air signals: how to read the gauge and how to say 'half a tank' or 'low' underwater.

Weights

Lead weights on a belt or in the BCD offset the buoyancy of your wetsuit and your body so you can descend and hover. The amount is set by the instructor for your build and suit, and adjusted if the first minutes in the water show it is wrong.

Dive computers and your own equipment

Certified divers are welcome to bring their own mask, regulator or dive computer; ours are on the boat for anything left at home. On beginner dives the instructor plans and monitors the profile — you do not need to bring or operate any instrument.

Surface and safety equipment

The dive boat is your surface support for the whole day: the place you are briefed, kitted and checked, the place you rest and off-gas between dives, and the crew that stays with the divers throughout. The emergency procedures for each dive — signals, controlled ascents, the surface routine — are covered in the briefing, and diving insurance for the day is included.

A thermal inner suit (diving undergarment) or any extra neoprene layer is not included in the price and is available as an optional extra on request. Everything above is included in both dives. See the beginner dive or the certified experience.