Feedback on Australia itinerary

[Scuba]

It's pretty much impossible to do carry-on only with scuba gear. I don't mind checking bags but if you are opposed to that you could also consider shipping like UPS, DHL, or even the airlines are offering baggage delivery. Obviously you have to offset that cost with the cost of rentals and the thoughts of cooties. The saying is, there are 2 kinds of divers - those who have pee-ed in their wetsuit and those who will. Most with over 10 dives are in the former category because it is just not a big deal.



If you are willing to kick a little harder and get full foot fins you can save a little on space by skipping booties and using shorter full-foot fins. I have always used full foot fins but as a divemaster the shop required me to use booties and strap fins because...more pieces of gear = more sales. So I have that setup but don't use it for personal diving. But my full foot fins are longer and don't fit in a carry-on.

If we were just going to dive, I would have no problem checking our gear. The issue is that we’ll be flying from Sydney to Tasmania to Melbourne to Kangaroo Island to Cairns to Brisbane. That’s a lot of flying schlepping SCUBA gear that will only be used in one of the destinations. Prefer to avoid that.

 

[SecondAttempt]

If we were just going to dive, I would have no problem checking our gear. The issue is that we’ll be flying from Sydney to Tasmania to Melbourne to Kangaroo Island to Cairns to Brisbane. That’s a lot of flying schlepping SCUBA gear that will only be used in one of the destinations. Prefer to avoid that.

I get it. Here is what I would do. I would go to your local shop if you have a relationship. If not I would pick the largest shop within a reasonable drive even if in another city. I would ask if they would be willing to help you ship you gear to Australia then receive it back and hold it for you for the return. Dive travel is so common I doubt this would even be an unusual request.

For the Australia side, ask them for recommendations for a shop or tour operator. The dive community is not exactly small but it is highly networked and there is a good chance your local shop will be able to recommend a shop in Australia. If nothing else use the internet. But call the Australian shop to confirm they will do this. I have several friends in Australia, mostly former coworkers. I would offer to help out but none of them are divers so they would not be much help. In my experience Australians are great people and will go out of their way to help out in a situation like this.

You will of course have to pay for shipping but I doubt it would be that much if you are not in a hurry. Both shops might charge you a nominal fee but I doubt it would be much. If it were more than $25 on each end I would be surprised.

I have not done this with scuba gear but I have with a road bike, bike shop to bike shop. A bike is also more complicated because they have to partially disassemble then reassemble and tune.

 

[Scuba]

I get it. Here is what I would do. I would go to your local shop if you have a relationship. If not I would pick the largest shop within a reasonable drive even if in another city. I would ask if they would be willing to help you ship you gear to Australia then receive it back and hold it for you for the return. Dive travel is so common I doubt this would even be an unusual request.

For the Australia side, ask them for recommendations for a shop or tour operator. The dive community is not exactly small but it is highly networked and there is a good chance your local shop will be able to recommend a shop in Australia. If nothing else use the internet. But call the Australian shop to confirm they will do this. I have several friends in Australia, mostly former coworkers. I would offer to help out but none of them are divers so they would not be much help. In my experience Australians are great people and will go out of their way to help out in a situation like this.

You will of course have to pay for shipping but I doubt it would be that much if you are not in a hurry. Both shops might charge you a nominal fee but I doubt it would be much. If it were more than $25 on each end I would be surprised.

I have not done this with scuba gear but I have with a road bike, bike shop to bike shop. A bike is also more complicated because they have to partially disassemble then reassemble and tune.

Thank you, I’ll look into this.